Ulster Football - are the critics that far off the mark?

[T Fearon]

Watched the Cavan Fermanagh game on Saturday night on tv. Have to say it was dire (amount of mistakes made and examples of lack of basic skills were there for all to see), the GAA equivalent of Institute V Dungannon Swifts in the Irish soccer league.

Is Ulster football really all its cracked up to be and is the  Ulster Football Championship really all that difficult to win, given this Fermanagh team almost won it last year. In short, have Spillane and all got it right?

[kevmy]

Well it depends.

Tyrone are imo the best team in the country and up until recently Armagh were right there beside them. You also have a glut of teams on a similar level. Of these 5 or so teams (Monaghan, Derry, Down, Fermanagh, Donegal) each can beat each other which means the games are competitive. This has unfortunately lead to bitterness creeping into the whole Ulster Championship. If you look at the other provinces there is generally a spread of ability in the teams and one is obviously better than the other. I think if Leinster for example got tight the same thing would happen.

[Zulu]

That's not true at all, only Tyrone or Armagh have won Ulster in the last 10 years and Tyrone are strong favourites to win it again this year so how is Ulster 'tight'? Ulster is the same as the other provinces, it has one or two outstanding teams and the rest are incapable of beating them. Now that Armagh are gone Ulster really only has one outstanding team that the rest of the country would fear, though Derry are coming good, so they might have two soon.  There are a lot of very poor teams in Ulster and outside of Tyrone, no exceptional ones.

[talktothehand]

i was at yesterday's leinster football game between the dubs and meath and to be honest it was absolutely shocking. the dubs going for 5 in a row says just how bad the standard is there at the minute. neither cavan nor fermanagh will be worrying the engravers this year!!

[Billys Boots]

Of these 5 or so teams (Monaghan, Derry, Down, Fermanagh, Donegal) each can beat each other which means the games are competitive. This has unfortunately lead to bitterness creeping into the whole Ulster Championship.

My own view is that Ulster is 'tight' only because it's very poorly refereed - as Zulu says, Tyrone are easily the best team, but could find themselves in 'danger' because Derry/Armagh/Monaghan might decide, tactically, to kick them off the field, and feel confident that they'd be allowed (by the referee) to do so. 

[ziggysego]

I've found Ulster football to be quite poor this year, with the only decent match being the Tyrone v Armagh game. Normally Ulster is much better, so hopefully this is just a blip and the Antrim v Donegal game will be much better.

[nrico2006]

That's not true at all, only Tyrone or Armagh have won Ulster in the last 10 years and Tyrone are strong favourites to win it again this year so how is Ulster 'tight'? Ulster is the same as the other provinces, it has one or two outstanding teams and the rest are incapable of beating them. Now that Armagh are gone Ulster really only has one outstanding team that the rest of the country would fear, though Derry are coming good, so they might have two soon.  There are a lot of very poor teams in Ulster and outside of Tyrone, no exceptional ones.

I don't see how Derry are coming good - what have they shown to suggest that they are a major force in Championship football?  Beating Monaghan?  I agree with Billy, I would be worried about the standard of refereeing and the man in the middle will have a big say in the Tyrone and Derry match, he could let Derry spoil Tyrone or let the two teams play football.

[full back]

I've found Ulster football to be quite poor this year, with the only decent match being the Tyrone v Armagh game. Normally Ulster is much better, so hopefully this is just a blip and the Antrim v Donegal game will be much better.

I hope you are taking the p1ss ziggy

[Zulu]

I don't see how Derry are coming good - what have they shown to suggest that they are a major force in Championship football?

Well they've played in the last two league finals, beat Monaghan this year and ran Dublin very close 2 years ago (I think) and they have plenty of quality players. Now you can dismiss the league and say Monaghan or Dublin aren't great but they are both teams which would be regarded as top 8 by most so this suggests Derry are one of the better teams outside of the top two. And for all those who dismiss the league, the final is generally contested by two of the better teams in the country and Derry are definitely one of those.

[rrhf]

How good was Limerick V Clare yesterday?

[saffron sam2]

Now that the anti-football employed by both Monaghan and Fermanagh is no longer a feature of this year's Ulster championship, I feel that the overall quality of the remaining games will be much higher than some of the muck-fests we have seen so far this year. The only decent game thusfar has been the Tyrone - Armagh game, i.e. the only game not featuring either the Farney or Erne men.

[rrhf]

I have been advised to put a small bet on Antrim to take Donegal next weekend. 

[Zulu]

How good was Limerick V Clare yesterday?

The first half was good fare but the second half was fairly poor. Overall the standard of football wasn't great but I think Limerick will prove a tough nut top crack for any tean from here on in.

[Gnevin]

When Ulster is good it's very very good when it's bad it's shocking .

[Fuzzman]

There definitely seems to a lot less fight in the dog in the other provinces, maybe with the exception of Cork v Kerry & Mayo v Galway.

I think teams seem to taking it a lot easier this time of year with a view to trying to peak much later on in the summer when they know its definite knock-out
The team selections & overall effort put in yesterday by the Dubs & maybe even Kerry seemed verty lacklustre as if they couldn't give a damn if they went back door.