Derry v Armagh Championship

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Poor game of football yesterday. Armagh were negataive, below par but did what they had to do. As for Derry, I don't know where the go from here, they were absolutely clueless. The only fella they had showing int he forward line was Eoin Bradley, who will miss their next game.

As for Armagh, I thought A Kernan, Toner, Mc Donnell, Hearty, Donaghy & Mc Keever were our best performers. I though POR messed about far too much with the team selection. Vernan needs to play MF or HF, as hes not suited to CHF. I thought ANdy mallon had a nightmare agian, 3rd match in a row & Mal Mackin, might be better suited to an impact sub role. Henderson tried hard, but he does'nt deliver when it matters, i think he might just have lost his place to young clarke.  Room for improvement..... that performance certainly would'nt beat monaghan.

Strange how people's views differ - Mallon was MOTM on RTÉ, unless you mean Brian?

I'd start Jamie Clarke against Monaghan after two very effective cameos in a row.

Will Eoin Bradley miss any matches due to a 2nd yellow? Was this his second red of the year?

[BerfArmagh]

I was referring to Andy... i think hes a great player, but thought he was lucky not to recieve a couple of yellows in the first half as he was continually fouling. Then again, Bradley is a handful & Andy is always tasked with marking the oppositions most dangerous forwards.... Maybe on reflection my assessment is a bit harsh

[mackers]

I'd leave Clarke on the bench and let him come on, his lack of physicality would be shown up at the start of the game (esp against Monaghan). I'd wait for the game to break up a little and then get him on. He was pushed off the first ball easily by McGuckian in front of us. Obviously he showed his class when scoring the goal.
It's a real pity about Ronan Clarke, if he was in that FF line along with McDonnell now.......we'd definitely be in business.
On Andy Mallon, thought a number of the frees given against him were harsh and backs up the theory that any physical contact was being blown up too quickly. I'd say if Pat McEneaney had've been reffing the game most of the frees conceded by A Mallon wouldn't have been given.  I'm not saying the ref was biased as Armagh got a number of soft ones too. He received a soft one himself at the tail end of the first half.

[mountainboii]

Did no one else think Henderson did fairly well? I've never been one of his fanboys, but I thought he looked the business yesterday. He was our best forward in the first twenty five minutes, winning every ball thrown into him. His point in the second half came after an excellent take too. If Jamie Clarke is to come in, I'd perfer it be for Brian Mallon.

[mackers]

Did no one else think Henderson did fairly well? I've never been one of his fanboys, but I thought he looked the business yesterday. He was our best forward in the first twenty five minutes, winning every ball thrown into him. His point in the second half came after an excellent take too. If Jamie Clarke is to come in, I'd perfer it be for Brian Mallon.

100% agree, Henderson was playing well and was harshly taken off.

[thewanderer]

Berf watching the match with blue tinted glasses. lets be honest nippy who i like as a player had a poor game. he was at fault in the build up to the goal, missed a couple of chances for points and was not effective in winning any kickouts. as for andy if your marking derrys best player and restrict him to 1 point i think you have had a good day, he let bradley get the ball at times but them hounded him back out the field. rte have proper analyst's who cant be all wrong unlike you. but at least u admitted it. c,on armagh

[mountainboii]

Celtic Park have shite toilets, a shite one way system to get to the shite toilets, a shite microphone for the poor girl from Lavey singing the National Anthem, and a shite scoreboard that thankfully started to work for the senior game.

Wasn't 100% on the minor result until the lads started walking off the pitch as the scoreboard seemed to have a life of its own. That poor girl was warming up with the mic on for about 15 minutes during the two games, only for it not to work when it was actually needed. The Bogside in generally is a horrible place, full of dog shit and drunks on corners. Also, all those useless stewards standing inside the ground scratching themselves could've been better utilised on the streets outside directing people to the way in.

[regal]

I think for the next few years you could split Ulster into 3 categories:

Top three - (Monaghan / Armagh / Ulster) These teams will be winning Ulster titles and playing football to least August

Middle three - (Antrim / Donegal / Down) These teams are progressing and will probably reach an Ulster final in the next few years without winning anything

Bottom three - (Cavan / Fermanagh / Derry) Perhaps a bit harsh to include Cavan here as they have young talent coming through. But all 3 are fairly dire and lacking talent / motivation / discipline / fight

[brokencrossbar1]

Poor game but given that it is the first game of the championship and there was an awful lot at stake it is to be expected. 

Delighted for big Paul, he had a good game and looked assured. His kickouts were consistent although I nearly had twins when he went on that solo run out the field. 

The backs as a unit did reasonably well.  Mckeever was very strong but needs to leave some of his ego in the dressing room.  He will end up getting sent off before the year is out by sticking theh chest out at the wrong time.  Mallon and Donaghy did well on the Bradley's as they are fine footballers, but Andy was not man of the match. 

Around the middle Toner did well, as did Vernon.  Why did Lavery go off, was he hurt?  Mal Mackin is very willing and will work hard but his option taking is poor and he is not the brightest bulb in the box.  Would not have him as a starter as I reckon he could be more useful in the loose play in the last 20 minutes as he can forage and carry well. 

That was Aaron's best game this year in my view.  He covered a world of ground and took 90% pf the right options.  Swift is a nice footballer but needs to harden up a bit but he has the potential.  McDonnell was good and showed fine leadership and I thought Henderson put in a good shift and should not have been taken off.  Brian Mallon should have though and his game has gpne back unbelieveably in the last 3-4 years.  I wouldn'y be rushing to bring in Jamie from the start as I think he is still a bit slight for the game but his goal was very good and his "Darby-esque" collection of the ball showed a maturity and cleverness that great players have.  He will be a key player for the year ahead but must be cotton gloved I feel.

The one thing that was noticeable about Armagh was that they are very much a team.  They have a plan, they stick to that plan and no one deviates from that plan.  They all work extremely hard for each other and it is definietly a case of the sum being greater than the parts.  Don't get me wrong they are good players but outside of McDonnell there are no real standout stars.  The difference is that the rest of the players know their jobs and do it repeatedly.

Derry on the other hand looked very individualistic, rudderless and leaderless on the field.  Eoin Bradley, Lynch and the 2 in the MF tried hard but to be honest much of the play was very disjointed and without a gameplan.  Cassidy will find it hard enough to get things going for the Back Door.  They have six weeks to the next game and that could work either way really, it all depends on what heads the lads have.  The Bradley's may have their eyes on Boston already

[Hoof Hearted]

I think for the next few years you could split Ulster into 3 categories:

Top three - (Monaghan / Armagh / Ulster) These teams will be winning Ulster titles and playing football to least August

Middle three - (Antrim / Donegal / Down) These teams are progressing and will probably reach an Ulster final in the next few years without winning anything

Bottom three - (Cavan / Fermanagh / Derry) Perhaps a bit harsh to include Cavan here as they have young talent coming through. But all 3 are fairly dire and lacking talent / motivation / discipline / fight

is this a select ?

[regal]

I think for the next few years you could split Ulster into 3 categories:

Top three - (Monaghan / Armagh / Ulster) These teams will be winning Ulster titles and playing football to least August

Middle three - (Antrim / Donegal / Down) These teams are progressing and will probably reach an Ulster final in the next few years without winning anything

Bottom three - (Cavan / Fermanagh / Derry) Perhaps a bit harsh to include Cavan here as they have young talent coming through. But all 3 are fairly dire and lacking talent / motivation / discipline / fight

is this a select ?

Sorry I've always struggled to recognise them................... tyrone

[Armaghgeddon]

The one thing that was noticeable about Armagh was that they are very much a team.  They have a plan, they stick to that plan and no one deviates from that plan.

Disagree brokencrossbar1, they did deviate from the plan, POR said that they werent instructed to play defensively and that they should have went on to attack and score more. But apart from that I would agree 

[INDIANA]

good result for armagh. Terrible game for the neutral though. Like watching 2 teams trying to mud wrestle at times. Derry were very disappointing.

[take_yer_points]

Did anyone watching on RTE hear O'Rourke at half time? After making a comment comparing one or both of the teams to the Harlem Globetrotters he came out with something along the lines of "If you painted them black you wouldn't know if they were basketball players or Gaelic footballers." Classic line!

[Armaghgeddon]

Did anyone watching on RTE hear O'Rourke at half time? After making a comment comparing one or both of the teams to the Harlem Globetrotters he came out with something along the lines of "If you painted them black you wouldn't know if they were basketball players or Gaelic footballers." Classic line!

Did he not say that about the Kerry team of the 70's? And then Puke went on to say that his Kerry team did as much kick passing as they did hand passing?