Derry v Armagh Championship

[oakleafgael]

The game was exactly what I thought it would be, two packed defences limiting the chances of a decent match. From a Derry perspective we where terrible but where still only a kick of the ball behind Armagh, what that says about both teams will become clearer as the summer progresses. Our lack of a full back was telling for the goal, Clarke was cute enough to get in behind and get away with the nudge he needed to win the ball before taking the chance very well.

Regarding the penalty, although the Armagh dispossessed Bradley he also planted his right forearm into his back.

Cassidy has always insisted that he should be judged on Championship results as thats what its all about. There will be rumblings for his head after todays performance. It was obvious to me that we needed to be shooting from the 45 yard line whenever we got the chance as the ball inside wasnt always on but the man best equipped for that was left on the bench till to late. Im away off for the post mortem, thats one thing we do well in Derry.

One last thing, the ref was very poor today. Inconsistent with the hand pass rule and with his bookings. Both Andy Mallon and McDonnell did well to last the full 70 min.

[PatDaly]

Pre-Game Build Up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbxdRsyKRu4

First Half Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tallowman3#p/a/u/2/YKQThWlNq3w

Half Time Analysis:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tallowman3#p/a/u/1/3sVJxEnsH_g

Second Half Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tallowman3#p/a/u/0/R9mAw_-ZMJ8

[Orior]

Important comments on the match from Mrs Orior

1) She doesnt like the Armagh hooped socks

2) Why did some Derry players have hooped socks and others didnt?

[Ulick]

Mine reckons the Armagh team "are better looking than the Derry boys - and that is important!" and she "could put that Hearty boy in my pocket and run away with him".

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Decent victory. Far from a vintage performance but we were comfortably the better side over the 70 minutes. Good to see us winning a tight Ulster championship match with Clarke unavailable and without being completely reliant on Stevie. I was surprised to see how deep we dropped at times, that wasn't the way we played in the League but at the end of day, it was effective rather than pretty.

Thought Charlie Vernon was excellent, when given the opportunity to run at defences he's a huge asset. Great pass and finish for the goal which was the one big highlight in a disappointing second half.

[Armaghgeddon]

Decent victory. Far from a vintage performance but we were comfortably the better side over the 70 minutes. Good to see us winning a tight Ulster championship match with Clarke unavailable and without being completely reliant on Stevie. I was surprised to see how deep we dropped at times, that wasn't the way we played in the League but at the end of day, it was effective rather than pretty.

Thought Charlie Vernon was excellent, when given the opportunity to run at defences he's a huge asset. Great pass and finish for the goal which was the one big highlight in a disappointing second half.

I thought the second half was very enjoyable. It takes skill to both attack and defend. Towards the end it was vintage Armagh heart in mouth ending. I hate it but love it too.

[mountainboii]

Armagh's performance might not have been great today but I'm delighted with the win. Probably our best result for about 4 years in championship football, although it has to be said that Derry were fairly pish. TBH, I couldn't give a shit how it looked on TV. Infact, after a fine league campaign playing with more attacking style, it's encouraging to see that we can still dig out scrappy, dour games when we need to. Celtic Park, on the first championship Sunday, in your first real game under new management, is not the place to be attempting Samba football. Plenty of time to play nice football later in the year. 

Thought Armagh looked good from 1-9. Solid displays by Mallon and Donaghy on the Derry dangermen. Not sure how Mallon was given MOTM as Eoin Bradley got round him a couple of times, but he did as good a job as most will do on him. Half backs did well again, kept their men quiet and attacked well. McKeever is very good in the sweeper role. Thought Vernon mixed the sublime with the ridiculous. Great run and point in the second half, but he still hasn't rid his tendency to fumble a lot of ball. Toner and Lavery are improving all the time. Pity Lavery had to go off as I thought he was going nicely. Toner is putting in consistently solid displays for the first time this year, great to see. Martin hadn't much to do on Lynch when he came on, the ball hardly went near them.

Thought the forwards were more patchy. Was encouraged by Henderson's display. He looked the real deal today, getting out in front a lot. Derry coped well with McDonnell in open play, but his frees were excellent. It looks like he's put some serious work into them in the last couple of years, used to be very inconsistent. Great goal by Clarke, will do his confidence the world of good. Brian Mallon must be looking over his shoulder at him. Thought Kernan did well, was very busy and involved in a lot of attacks. Mackin and Swift didn't set the world alight. Swift was a particular disappointment.

[Bogball XV]

Decent victory. Far from a vintage performance but we were comfortably the better side over the 70 minutes. Good to see us winning a tight Ulster championship match with Clarke unavailable and without being completely reliant on Stevie. I was surprised to see how deep we dropped at times, that wasn't the way we played in the League but at the end of day, it was effective rather than pretty.

Thought Charlie Vernon was excellent, when given the opportunity to run at defences he's a huge asset. Great pass and finish for the goal which was the one big highlight in a disappointing second half.

I thought the second half was very enjoyable. It takes skill to both attack and defend. Towards the end it was vintage Armagh heart in mouth ending. I hate it but love it too.

Armagh were certainly not comfortably the better side (if they were it wouldn't have been a tight ulster game with your hearts in your mouths at the end), they played to their system, Derry didn't have the guile to break them down, I think Monaghan probably will, they'll play to their own system and Armagh showed very little going forward today, even with Clarke back you really need to up your game - where will it be?

[Armaghgeddon]

Decent victory. Far from a vintage performance but we were comfortably the better side over the 70 minutes. Good to see us winning a tight Ulster championship match with Clarke unavailable and without being completely reliant on Stevie. I was surprised to see how deep we dropped at times, that wasn't the way we played in the League but at the end of day, it was effective rather than pretty.

Thought Charlie Vernon was excellent, when given the opportunity to run at defences he's a huge asset. Great pass and finish for
the goal which was the one big highlight in a disappointing second half.

I thought the second half was very enjoyable. It takes skill to both attack and defend. Towards the end it was vintage Armagh heart in mouth ending. I hate it but love it too.

Armagh were certainly not comfortably the better side (if they were it wouldn't have been a tight ulster game with your hearts in your mouths at the end), they played to their system, Derry didn't have the guile to break them down, I think Monaghan probably will, they'll play to their own system and Armagh showed very little going forward today, even with Clarke back you really need to up your game - where will it be?

Ive acknowledged it and Paddy O'Rouke acknowledged it. Armagh stopped attacking, they were happy stopping Derry from getting into scoring range. If Armagh do attack theyre more than capable of beating Monaghan. Look at how tight Armagh's defence have been. They restricted Donegal to 6 points in the NFL. Kildare to 5 and Tippereary to 1 point in the first half of that game. 

[EC Unique]

3 things that are clear after watching today's game:

1.  Armagh are a poor side who will not be in the Championship in the later stages.

2.  Derry are brutal.

3.  The new handpass rule is destroying the flow of the game. Both teams suffered badly because of it.

[Main Street]

Regarding the penalty, although the Armagh dispossessed Bradley he also planted his right forearm into his back.

Looked more like the forearm clattered into the side of Bradley's head.

[tyssam5]

Pre-Game Build Up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbxdRsyKRu4

First Half Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tallowman3#p/a/u/2/YKQThWlNq3w

Half Time Analysis:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tallowman3#p/a/u/1/3sVJxEnsH_g

Second Half Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tallowman3#p/a/u/0/R9mAw_-ZMJ8

Sound like it's getting like Match of the Day in that watching the highlights is enough. Derry's dodgy FB line looked to be the difference there.

[Bogball XV]

3 things that are clear after watching today's game:

1.  Armagh are a poor side who will not be in the Championship in the later stages.

2.  Derry are brutal.

3.  The new handpass rule is destroying the flow of the game. Both teams suffered badly because of it.

the thing to remember re the handpass rule is that it will be forgotten about by the start of June.

Ive acknowledged it and Paddy O'Rouke acknowledged it. Armagh stopped attacking, they were happy stopping Derry from getting into scoring range. If Armagh do attack theyre more than capable of beating Monaghan. Look at how tight Armagh's defence have been. They restricted Donegal to 6 points in the NFL. Kildare to 5 and Tippereary to 1 point in the first half of that game. 

Armagh did what they had to do (and they are good at it) and if Derry had been in the same position and did the same I'd have taken it, but it is ruining the game as a spectacle, the cynicism shown by Armagh with rugby style tackles in the mid sector of the field has to be punished appropriately if the game is to continue being watchable, sin bins and team fouls might be experiments that could be tried out at some stage.  Club football is eminently more watchable than the majority of county football (only the best 2 or 3 sides and the naive like Galway can counteract this style of play). 
I still think you'll struggle again against Monaghan.

[Armaghgeddon]

You sound like Armagh were more cynical than Derry. You may have ground for that with Fin (havent seen it yet) and I didnt agree with the Mallon tackle on the sideline either but to scorn the entire team because of it? Remember Eoin blatantly tipped McKeever on purpose in the second half. Then dragged Kernan to the ground. One Derry player started a scuffle with McKeever after sending the Derry player into next week. Not to forget when one Armagh player was through on goal there was a blatant foul. Im not making out that Armagh are angels, theyre far from it. But dont try making Derry out to be the victim here. Both teams were deliberate in their cynicism.

[mountainboii]

Other things:

The refereeing was very frustrating today, and had a massive impact on the quality of the game. I don't just blame Deegan, who's been decent in the last couple of years. There seems to have been a directive of some sorts from Croke Park to clamp down on physicality. I've seen it all through the league, it's a widespread problem. It's no longer possible for two players to come together and for a free not to be awarded. The referees are also much too card happy. In my eyes, men should only walk if they do something deliberately dangerous or violent. There are too many lads getting red cards for a couple of jersey tugs. The handpass is a joke too, every ref has a slightly different take on it. As Kieran McGeeney said a month or two ago, it's impossible for coaches to coach the game when the interpretation of the rules are constantly changing.

Also, a crowd of 10,000 for a clash between two of the top 10 teams in the country was very poor today. Armagh had decent representation, easily outnumbering the Derry contingent. Must have been disheartening for the Derry players to have had so much of the advantage playing at home gives you nullified like that.