Ard Mhacha v An Dún - Cluiche Ceannais Rionn 2 - Pairc an Chrócaigh 25/4/10

[naka]

any news on Ronan Clarke

[armaghniac]

from the Indo

ARMAGH boss Paddy O'Rourke  faces a nervous wait today on the results of a test on injured forward Ronan Clarke, with less than three weeks to go to the Ulster Championship opener against Derry.

Clarke made his long-awaited comeback from an Achilles tendon injury when he came off the bench in the last round of the league against Donegal, but he had to be pulled from last Sunday's Division 2 title win over Down after aggravating it again in a club game and is having a scan today.

"He had been back in full training for a fortnight and we felt we had held him back long enough so he played a full game for the club 10 days ago," O'Rourke explained.

"But as soon as he played a match, it flared up again."

Armagh are desperately hoping that this is not a substantial set-back but the fact that they sent him for a scan indicates they are worried.

"It doesn't seem to be too serious but we will not know until we get him scanned if he is going to be out for a period of time or could be back training on Thursday. Hopefully the latter is the case," said O'Rourke.

However, he admitted that if Clarke has to go back in a boot-cast "then he could be out for another five or six weeks".

The Orchard County pulled Clarke from the league final 48 hours beforehand as he woke up last Friday feeling pain in his Achilles again.

"The doctor just felt it was a massive risk and it is probably getting very close to the championship for him. We were very keen to get him on the field but we have to keep him healthy," O'Rourke added.

His only consolation, apart from Steven McDonnell's brilliant vein of form, is the rise of Gareth Swift and good back-up from super-subs like Malachy Mackin and Stefan Forker.

O'Rourke is insistent that his team are not dependant on their two marquee forwards and, apart from giving Aaron Kernan a new centre-forward role, has urged others to shoot more often.

"I have encouraged them to go for the score and just give them the confidence. Nobody is going to give off to any lad for missing. You have to give them the freedom to go out and do it and I think that once lads know that you want them to have a go, and that is okay if it doesn't work out for them, they will go for it," he said.

[mountainboii]

I can't see Ronan lining out against Derry, he just hasn't had enough game time. He was very rusty when he came on against Donegal and I reckon it'd take him a few club games to get back into the swing of things. It's a lot more important to have him 100% for the latter stages of the Ulster Championship and/or the qualifiers, so if he needs to be left out of the Derry match to be make sure of this, so be it.

[Apple Crumble]

I can't see Ronan lining out against Derry, he just hasn't had enough game time. He was very rusty when he came on against Donegal and I reckon it'd take him a few club games to get back into the swing of things. It's a lot more important to have him 100% for the latter stages of the Ulster Championship and/or the qualifiers, so if he needs to be left out of the Derry match to be make sure of this, so be it.

Anyone starting the Derry thread?

I'd like to but my Irish isn't the best!!!!!

[gerryg]

Not long home here, I'm  happy with the way Armagh played today overall, their heads didn't drop for a second when they went behind and I was impressed with the way they kept battling to regain the advantage where once they would have been content with going in at half time 1 point down or even level.

A few comments on individuals;

Hearty's kickouts were varied and showed some intelligence today, he was at fault for the goal though

McKeever was superb today, he reminded me of Geezer at times

Finn Mo was my MOTM, his workrate and tracking back I felt were second to none and he proved that he can be very dangerous and tackle well

Mal Mackin had a chance for a goal but took the point

Henderson was fairly anonymous

Anyone know why Clarkie didn't start?

cant understand why you thought henderson was anonymous i was at the match front row of hogan & watched match later on tv, i thought henderson was out in front of his marker every time & set up numerous easy chances with good lay offs which resulted in at least four points, should have been more if the chances had been converted, only took one shot on he probaly shouldnt have, maybe he should have been more selfish & tryed for his own scores he would have gotten more recognition for that,

[mackers]

Not long home here, I'm  happy with the way Armagh played today overall, their heads didn't drop for a second when they went behind and I was impressed with the way they kept battling to regain the advantage where once they would have been content with going in at half time 1 point down or even level.

A few comments on individuals;

Hearty's kickouts were varied and showed some intelligence today, he was at fault for the goal though

McKeever was superb today, he reminded me of Geezer at times

Finn Mo was my MOTM, his workrate and tracking back I felt were second to none and he proved that he can be very dangerous and tackle well

Mal Mackin had a chance for a goal but took the point

Henderson was fairly anonymous

Anyone know why Clarkie didn't start?

cant understand why you thought henderson was anonymous i was at the match front row of hogan & watched match later on tv, i thought henderson was out in front of his marker every time & set up numerous easy chances with good lay offs which resulted in at least four points, should have been more if the chances had been converted, only took one shot on he probaly shouldnt have, maybe he should have been more selfish & tryed for his own scores he would have gotten more recognition for that,

Agree 100%, the only shot he had was from a pass from Finn Mo when Finn had a better angle himself.

[stew]

Very disapointed with the result but im sure the turn coat from Burren is happy enough winning a league where McDonnell has been outstanding.

You dont know enough to know fcuk all Charlie.


Please tell me you're not serious.

should hope is he serious. o,rourke is a traitor. plian and simple. he should hand back his all Ireland medal.

I'd dare say you posted this to stir the sh-t Charlie & I wasn't going to respond but then I saw it was from a soccer head who's knowledge of Gaelic Games would be similar to your beloved Glasgow Celtic's trophy cabinet, so I thought I had to say something.
You really ought to catch a grip of yourself ffs, POR was nothing but loyal to his County as a player & manager & as far as i Know he literally begged the CB at the time for another year in the job.
POR owes his County nothing, the true Gaels of Down are proud of his achievements & wish him well in the future.

to put it in soccer parlance he is mo johnstone. a turncoat. and trust you mournerambler to take the bait, so predictable, i will retire now for another few months and then come back to annoy you some more. YOU c**k.

Stay retired you muppet, fair play to O'Rourke, I will tell you this, if McGeeney had managed Armagh, got the road and ended up going to Down I would wish him well, as long as he never won the fcukers the AI I would be fine with it and I could never wish that man ill, how you can talk about O'Rourke in those terms defies belief, I take it you are too young to remember big Paddy Gracing HQ in the red and black and winning AI titles for fun with Burren

too young i fathered you ya ****.

Notice this man doesn't have a club... he's one of those shits who follows the county for about ten games a year and think they know it all

you just stick to throwing your petrol bombs in dalton, i know you.

[bennydorano]

Who is then?

My own preference would be Brian Mallon and if not him then Swift. I think you need a player there with some directness about them. Kernan holds on to the ball too long and allows defenders to funnell back. Id sooner see his brother playing there and thats saying something.

Fair enough, it seems you're not alone with this opinion. Though I'd wonder is this quick, direct ball a bit overrated. We've been using it for years and while it work back around 2002, success has dried up in recent times. Perhaps more measured, possession football is a better route to go down. It doesn't seem to have done us any harm so far this year, and McDonnell's form wouldn't suggest he has suffered through lack of ball. I'd be of the opinion that Kernan is playing an important role in this new system. In previous times the player in his position would have been under orders to release the ball into the FF line as quickly as possible, which resulted in a lot of shit 50/50 balls being thrown on top of Clarke in particular. Kernan seems to have more licence to take his time and make sure the ball is retained first and foremost, which allows the previously bypassed wing forwards and wing backs to join the attack.

Cannot agree at all, if you look at yesterday's game again the best passing into the FF line came from the wing forwards, AK was a passenger, when he did get the ball I didn't see him making much use of it bar a sidewards fist pass, pish -pure and simple.Club loyalties aside i think the good from of Nippy and Vernon is disguising the fact that the CHF is not doing his job.  Gerard O'kane (whom I would expect at 6) will devour AK.

But what are our options Benny, would you play Nippy or Vernon in CHF? Personally I wouldn't start shifting either of them about as both of them seem to be starting to believe that they belong on the county team.  I don't think anybody's saying that AK is the perfect CHF but nobody else jumps out. AK seems to be getting grumpier on the field and getting involved in niggly sh1t on the field that he never has done before. Presumably borne out of frustration.

My preferred option would be an in-form Brian Mallon at chf, but he's not in form and AK will play 11 in the championship, as always I hope he prove's the doubters wrong.

[Sandy Hill]

Things about the game (apart from the win) that brightened my day;



• Our defence
• the apparent return to form of Andy Mallon
  
• the definite continuing top form of S McDonnell
• the fact that we had 7 scorers and a total of 17 scores (a few years ago we were averaging 11 pts per game)
• Jamie Clarke

What I didn't like;



• Hearty's f><kin about - he's going to cost us dear someday soon


All in all, a great day at the office!

[stew]

Things about the game (apart from the win) that brightened my day;



• Our defence
• the apparent return to form of Andy Mallon
  
• the definite continuing top form of S McDonnell
• the fact that we had 7 scorers and a total of 17 scores (a few years ago we were averaging 11 pts per game)
• Jamie Clarke

What I didn't like;



• Hearty's f><kin about - he's going to cost us dear someday soon


All in all, a great day at the office!

Hearty costs us dear every year, he is a liability, he is prone to the major gaffe and his dead ball kicks couldnt find an Armagh man if his life depended on it.

[John o connor]

There has been some rubbish posted about the match since yesterday   >:(As much as it pains me to say it Armagh deserved the win they looked fitter, hungrier,and more fluent in attack,so well done POR hope they gave you the deserved credit after all the initial crying about a Down man getting the Armagh job . MC Donnell was unmarkable at times yesterday ,fantastic player however i would be concerned for Armagh  ( not really ) if he picked up an injury.
From a Down point of view M Clarke has played 8 or 9 games in three years so give the man time there is a lot more to come . Benny gave his usual effort yesterday ,again another goal to add to the tally is there anyone better currently at getting the 3 pointers ? Thought once he got into the game big King played well and looks a perfect foil for ambi or dan later in the season. I think to many Down fans however are getting carried away with the display , apart from R Clarke that was Armaghs Full team yesterday wereas we were missing D Raff, Ambrose, Gordon and Luke Howard and argueably one or two more. Our lack of experience in headquarters also told IMO and certain players just did nt step up on the day , combine this and the fact Armagh are 2 weeks closer to Championship Football we should nt lose sight of the improvement since last season. Lastly and most controversially I am sure Daniel Mc Cartan is kicking him self for the stamp at the end of the match but no one has mentioned onTV in the slow motion you can clearly see A Kernan deliberately land both knees in the middle of Dans chest on the way down so there are 2 sides to every story

There didn't seem to be 2 sides to the story when McKeever was hung after the Marshes!?

Have to say now did nt see M Clarke thump the ribs of Mc Keever before hand did you ? As i said Dan will be kicking himself for reacting but look at the replay its clear to see why

[lawnseed]

well the result and the match we needed with Derry just around the corner. overall i was very pleased. armagh were fitter and really well coached. the lack of panic when they fell behind was very noticeable. Stevie is a legend, and mckeever does geezer to a tee, finnian mo is a class act reminds me of Tomas o Se, and now the best bit of all, 'Arron kernan was good' he worked his ass off released the ball quickly etc all the criticism over the league campain he simply blew it away. THIS is what we want! I still don't think hearty is the man he doesn't really look comfortable although the goal wasn't all his fault the buck stops with him, also we were gettin a roasting in midfield for most of the game and Paul didn't vary his kickouts enough that meant he put himself and his defence under more pressure . down were winning midfield and even they kicked short a few times. apart from coulter down were toothless, wee mccomisky did a bit but come championship and the inevitable hard hitting some defender will put him in a sandwich. what about mal mackin? out of the blue! great stuff, and just what he needed a confidence booster.
ps what about hearty kicking into the crowd on purpose for a change hes great value i'll give him that

[ogshead]

Very disapointed with the result but im sure the turn coat from Burren is happy enough winning a league where McDonnell has been outstanding.

Please tell me you're not serious.

should hope is he serious. o,rourke is a traitor. plian and simple. he should hand back his all Ireland medal.

I'd dare say you posted this to stir the sh-t Charlie & I wasn't going to respond but then I saw it was from a soccer head who's knowledge of Gaelic Games would be similar to your beloved Glasgow Celtic's trophy cabinet, so I thought I had to say something.
You really ought to catch a grip of yourself ffs, POR was nothing but loyal to his County as a player & manager & as far as i Know he literally begged the CB at the time for another year in the job.
POR owes his County nothing, the true Gaels of Down are proud of his achievements & wish him well in the future.

to put it in soccer parlance he is mo johnstone. a turncoat. and trust you mournerambler to take the bait, so predictable, i will retire now for another few months and then come back to annoy you some more. YOU c**k.

Stay retired you muppet, fair play to O'Rourke, I will tell you this, if McGeeney had managed Armagh, got the road and ended up going to Down I would wish him well, as long as he never won the fcukers the AI I would be fine with it and I could never wish that man ill, how you can talk about O'Rourke in those terms defies belief, I take it you are too young to remember big Paddy Gracing HQ in the red and black and winning AI titles for fun with Burren

too young i fathered you ya ****.

Notice this man doesn't have a club... he's one of those shits who follows the county for about ten games a year and think they know it all

you just stick to throwing your petrol bombs in dalton, i know you.

Your comment just proves you don't know me

[drici]

TG4 are showing the Armagh match again at the moment instead of Cork v Mayo.

[armaghniac]

TG4 are showing the Armagh match again at the moment instead of Cork v Mayo.

Wise move! Match implies a game where the outcome is in some doubt.