Down v Armagh - Newry - 20 March 2010

[T Fearon]

Yes, I will have a copy of the Times on hand to peruse prior to the thrown in and during the interval. After the encounter concludes, I will repair to an upmarket coffee house for a skinny latte and pear and avacado sandwich, and then journey back, chauffeur driven to my well heated abode, ignoring all vagrants, big issue sellers and anyone else outside the AB income bracket I might have the misfortune to encounter!

In otherwords, can people not take a fecking joke

[dodgy umpire]

Hilarious jokes aside, where did you get those odds for the match?

[Overthebar!]

is the match on tv?
down by 2

[Sandy Hill]

Those are Paddy Power's odds.

[norabeag]

I reckon the large crowd will inspire both sides and I've seen very few Armagh Down damp squibs in league or championship (though admittedly the one sided affair in 1999 came close).

Surely also O'Rourke is cast in the position of Jose Mourinho (Inter Milan V Chelsea) in that he will simply love to win this one to prove a point.

1991 was not just a damp squib it was a borefest of rank bad football

[dodgy umpire]

Those are Paddy Power's odds.

Cheers

[T Fearon]

Mel Hughes in Portadown, son of the legendary Frank, brother of Gregory, Hugo and John,all constituents of the Hughes Bookmakers chain, prominent in both Newry and Warrenpoint.

[T Fearon]

Nora, quality wise,the football might have been bad in 1991, but it was by no means a damp squib. It was keenly  contested, hard fought with the outcome in the melting pot right to the very end.

A damp squib is where both teams simply go through the motions or, contrary to expectations, one side romps to an easy victory

[Trevor Hill]

1991 was not just a damp squib it was a borefest of rank bad football

91 was a poor game, but 92 was worse. Down went to the Pathetic Grounds as reigning All Ireland champs. Armagh just couldn't raise their game for that one, though in fairness they were going through a barren patch that lasted for 118 years at the time. They couldn't even give the reigning champions a guard of honour for the game, so we kicked the round Armagh and got the respect we deserved that way. Then we have the 83 national league final were Armagh also failed to show up. The first meeting of these teams in a national final and big game nerves just got to the minnows. They still hadn't won a big game in Croke Park even though our association was about to celebrate its centenary.
Armagh were no match for the great Down teams until the end of the 1990s. Since then they have won the odd game here and there and have to be congratulated for winning their first national titles. Some people, especially the morbidly obese, would have you believe that football was only invented circa 1999, but most of us know better. Saturday evening should put right the wrongs of the last decade and send the buckfast brigade back across the Clanrye river in the same way that they have done for the best part of a century, with their tails firmly between their legs. Normality will return on Saturday night for the followers of the Red and Black. The game is worth more than the 2 league points on offer, it is about more than local bragging rights. This game will remind everyone there and those who will be listening in from home and abroad that Down are once again on the up.

[Uladh]

There's never been much between Armagh and down. league or championship, no matter who is the perceived "better" is at the time.

Of course the game that bucks that trend is the 99 ulster final when an emerging armagh wiped the floor with down, ending petre McGrath's resign (pete didn't realise it for another while though).

That drubbing was in the early stages of armagh's current unbeaten run against down in national competitions. A run that must surey grate with the self styled aristocrats.

[Trevor Hill]

Is there any possibility of getting tickets outside the ground?? 

The Allianz GAA Football National League Division 2 game between Down & Armagh this Saturday (20th March) at 7:30pm is an all-ticket affair.

The stand is sold out but terrace tickets can be purchased from:

• Down GAA County Board, Pairc Esler, 46-48 Main Street, Castlewellan, Co Down, BT31 9DP
• Armagh GAA County Board, Athletic Grounds, Dalton Road, Armagh, BT60 4AE

or from the following outlets:

• Smyths Music, Newcastle
• Loko, Bangor
• Carlin Music, Newry
• Skelton Travel, Lurgan
• Mac's Music, Portadown

Terrace tickets are £10 for this fixture with juvenile tickets available at £4.

[passedit]

Is there any possibility of getting tickets outside the ground?? 

The Allianz GAA Football National League Division 2 game between Down & Armagh this Saturday (20th March) at 7:30pm is an all-ticket affair.

The stand is sold out but terrace tickets can be purchased from:

• Down GAA County Board, Pairc Esler, 46-48 Main Street, Castlewellan, Co Down, BT31 9DP
• Armagh GAA County Board, Athletic Grounds, Dalton Road, Armagh, BT60 4AE

or from the following outlets:

• Smyths Music, Newcastle
• Loko, Bangor
• Carlin Music, Newry
• Skelton Travel, Lurgan
• Mac's Music, Portadown

Terrace tickets are £10 for this fixture with juvenile tickets available at £4.

Que?

[snatter]

or from the following outlets:

• Smyths Music, Newcastle
• Loko, Bangor
• Carlin Music, Newry
• Skelton Travel, Lurgan
• Mac's Music, Portadown

Que?

Are they seriously selling them in Bangor, but not in Downpatrick?

[T Fearon]

Trev at the risk of a feud ban, do complete the tale. Did not Down, after their momentous league final victory over Armagh in 1983, not tamely bow out of Ulster that year to mighty Fermanagh? In 1992 after beating an Armagh team that accorded far too much respect to them, were they not hammered in the next round by Derry (after which Sam was hastily bubble wrapped and sent back to Dublin pronto)?

At the end of the day, Down have the same number of All Irelands as Cavan and one more than Wexford, and none of the three have been on the radar for years, apart from Wexford who made an appearance in the semi final in 2008..

Do not despair, but instead welcome Ulster's top GAA County in the last decade to Newry, do not dwell in the past, do not live on memories.

[ballela-angel]

Tony - I am not trying to lengthen this discussion of past games unnecessarily, but all this banter between you and Trevor Hill reminded me of a most exciting end to a Down V Armagh Ulster final in 1961 when Armagh were up 7 points with 11 minutes to go and James McCartan pulled Down back into the match to win by a point! - Again, thanks for stirring the old memory cells