Ard Mhacha v Dún na nGall - 26ú Meitheamh

[armaghniac]

I see on the Armagh club thread that Francie scored a goal for Cross, on home turf he could be our new full forward.

Will this be all ticket, perchance?

also interesting quote in the paper today from Jack O'Connor
"It would be up there with the Armagh All-Ireland quarter final win in 2006," beamed O'Connor afterwards. "We were facing a mountain at half-time, we were four points down, facing a strong wind and Cork were playing serious football and appeared to have the legs on us. But from somewhere we just dug it out."

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/sport/defiant-kerry-keep-meeting-the-challenges-122435.html#ixzz0qrjRru3a

[lawnseed]

the kerry lads do respect armagh, darragh o sea said mcgrane was the toughest nut of his career. interesting that in a pole i read of the greatest gaa matches. the 2000 matches against kerry were in the top 10 ever played including hurling. we must have been doing something right

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

I see on the Armagh club thread that Francie scored a goal for Cross, on home turf he could be our new full forward.

Will this be all ticket, perchance?

also interesting quote in the paper today from Jack O'Connor
"It would be up there with the Armagh All-Ireland quarter final win in 2006," beamed O'Connor afterwards. "We were facing a mountain at half-time, we were four points down, facing a strong wind and Cork were playing serious football and appeared to have the legs on us. But from somewhere we just dug it out."

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/sport/defiant-kerry-keep-meeting-the-challenges-122435.html#ixzz0qrjRru3a

Probably though they'll not really be needed. Won't be at all surprised if they end up slashing the capacity for the standing side of the pitch. I think Cross can probably hold 10,000 at a push. Couldn't see there being many more there than our usual League crowd. The extra few you'd expect for a championship match will probably be cancelled out by the diminished crowds Saturdays always cause. 6 or 7 thousand I'd say.

[jobo11]

lawnseed i take it your from cross. ak not a centre forward and has no leadership qualities but a good footballer all the same.armagh by 4

[balladmaker]

When are the refs announced?  Lord, don't let it be Sludden!

[Orior]

lawnseed i take it your from cross. ak not a centre forward and has no leadership qualities but a good footballer all the same.armagh by 4

And if he cannot defend, then where would you play AK?

(btw, is your name Stephen Kernan?)

[mrgaa1]

the fact that the match is at 3:30pm and live on RTE will ensure about 6-7,000 with not a whole pile coming from Donegal. 
I can't see the team changing much from previous unless injury dictates so.  All throughout the league the team has been pretty constant and to make whole sale changes would be dangerous.  However I'd expect more subs to come on during the match to get more championship time.
Armagh did very well in Ballybofey but remember Donegal were to play the All-Ireland U21 final the following Wednesday and took Murphy off when things were going badly.  I'd expect a different Donegal performance given they have an opportunity to play Armagh again in Crossmaglen and try and avenge that humilitiating defeat - their backs are to the wall and there is only one way out.....

[drici]

their backs are to the wall and there is only one way out.....

On a similar note - a phrase I've often heard is "rats as big as cats". Again, I have dealt with rats in all locations from inner city hospitals to rural farms and I have never seen any of these leviathan rats. My favourite one has to be "if you corner a rat, it will go for your neck". This one is easy to explain. Rats have very poor eyesight and if chased into a corner, pursued by a burly farmer wearing a big winter coat, may, in a panic, try to escape by heading for the nearest point of light. Where is the narrowest part on the silhouette of the farmer? You guessed it - the neck. All the rats I ever cornered tried to escape along the wall past my ankles.

(comparingteamstorodents.com)

[illdecide]

Ryan Henderson hurt his medial ligament against Madden on Sunday and will be out for 3-4 weeks at the very least.

[Skiddybadoo]

Wouldn't be too confident of a win. The league result was an abberdation and Donegal had given up the fight in the first half. They also had an u-21 final on the horizon and some of those players will make a difference esp McHugh. While Don will miss Molloy it will give their injured players that wee bit more time to recover. I think we will be in for a very rough afternoon. In saying that, Armagh are capable of winning so good luck to all the squad.

[Ulick]

"We owe Armagh one" - Cassidy

Published Date: 15 June 2010
By Alan Foley
Donegal have suffered numerous heartbreaks at Armagh's hands down the years but captain Kevin Cassidy and manager John Joe Doherty are relishing the chance to face the Orchard County in the first round qualifiers on Saturday week.
The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) met yesterday to finalise the dates and times of the pairings but at the time of going to press no venue has been announced.

Donegal were hammered 2-16 to 0-6 the last time they bumped into Paddy O'Rourke's team in the last league game of the season at Letterkenny in April. That result, and the subsequent Division Two final win over Down, made Armagh one of the favourites for the Ulster championship before they were heavily beaten by Monaghan in Belfast.

Under the management of Joe Kernan, Armagh defeated the north-westerners during five successive championships between 2002 and 2006, with the only Donegal success coming in the 2007 Ulster quarter-final in Ballybofey.

"Armagh gave us a real battering in the league and of course we'll be trying to put that right, but you could also say we owe them one for all those defeats down the years," captain Kevin Cassidy said.

"They'll also want to put that defeat to Monaghan behind them, so it'll be interesting. With that in mind, we're on an even playing field and will really look forward to the game. It's what the championship is all about."

Donegal manager John Joe Doherty, who last week said he would prefer a more difficult draw, insists that the sort of pairing that was pulled out of the hat on Sunday night can ignite his county's campaign.

"It's probably the biggest of all the first round ties," Doherty said. "Last year we had two Division Four teams at home in Carlow and Clare and it was painful stuff to watch from us at times.

"It took a big draw in Derry and a good win to get us going and we're facing a similar game now. It should be no problem motivating ourselves. Donegal teams have plenty of motivations for all those defeats against Armagh for the last decade or so."

Armagh manager O'Rourke confirmed Ronan Clarke is certain to miss the Donegal game after the former All-Star suffered an Achilles' injury setback, while they also plan to appeal Brian Mallon's red card against Monaghan. Donegal's Dermot Molloy will miss the game after he was given a retrospective four-week ban for a late challenge on Down's Damien Rafferty in the Ulster championship quarter-final.

Meanwhile, the Donegal hurlers, who defeated Warwickshire on Saturday, will also be in action on Saturday week when they take on the winners of Cavan or Fermanagh in the Lory Meagher Cup semi-final.

[mackers]

It is vital that Armagh get off to a flying start, if they can get ahead Donegal have a tendency to implode especially with Armagh's excellent recent hsitory against them. They have to use their physicality (legally) as there are a number in the Donegal ranks that don't like that side of things at all.

However if we give Donegal a sniff they have enough class players to beat us, we have to come out of the blocks flying.

If Henderson is out along with Mallon, our forward options which weren't plentiful to begin with are stretched further.

Front six of Swift, AK, Dyas, S Forker, Stevie and J Clarke???

[Orior]

Mal Mackin - brilliant club player - but how do we best utilise his talents on the county scene?

[jobo11]

And if he cannot defend, then where would you play AK?

I would put him on the bench, luckly we haven t got colm watters fit . he will definately be armagh s number 11 in the near future.

[jobo11]

Mal Mackin - brilliant club player - but how do we best utilise his talents on the county scene?

I think mal mackin needs to play a more central role in the team. his best football days were when he lined out for Armagh in 2005 at centre forward i recall only for an injury he had to retire for the season.