Ulster Senior Football Club Championship 2011

[crossfire]

Should have been a straight red for Kernan. Dirty act.

A bit rich coming from a Tyrone supporter.

[imtommygunn]

I didn't think AK did that much but if he got anything it should have been a straight red. Either he struck or he didn't is my point there - not that he deserved a red.

Cross defended in numbers and Ballinderry defended as individuals and I think that cost them to a large extent.

I don't think the Kernans up front get enough credit for Cross. Stephen has been very useful last two games. Clarke was that bit quieter today, though still effective, so they'd to stand up.

I also didn't think Ballinderry knew their best team until the last 15 or 20 minutes which didn't help them.

[Archie Mitchell]

Big Enda was a joy to watch today. He can climb for a ball. The catch he made to set up Ballinderry's last point was superb. He should have been in midfield from the start.

Very enjoyable game of football. The damage was done in the first 20 minutes and Cross were never going to let that slip (though who know's what would have happened if Ballinderry had drew level with a few minutes to go).

Cross are a superb outfit and no matter who they play or who is playing for them they go out and get the job done. Have to give credit to Ballinderry too they way they came back in the 2nd half and made a real game of it despite being a man down and so far behind on the scoreboard.

[lawnseed]

i thought ballinderrys hard tackling/double manning on clarke was counter productive far too much attention to him when he wasnt doing too much especially in the second half. but thats the problem when you play cross some other guy will come from nowhere and do damage. enda muldoon gave the cross midfield a lesson in ball winning and managers will spot this weakness in crosses armory. but john mac is liable to tog out and shore it up.... theyre a class team great attitude.

[imtommygunn]

McKenna is generally able to mix it with most fielding wise. He'll not come up against many with the ability of Muldoon so not sure that's somewhere that can be exposed.

Reminded me very much of cross-burren game last year.

[Throw ball]

On a different note there has been discussion about rule changes. Watching todays game one I would love to see is that more than two people are not allowed to surround the man with the ball.

With all due respect that's a daft suggestion.
What next - goalkeepers not allowed to stop the ball unless it's straight at them?

To be fair that is exactly the thought I had when I read it suggested by one of our newspaper pundits but on thinking about it the idea has grown on me. Something to reduce fouling and speed up the game has to be welcome. It may not work I agree. Then again when soccer introduced the back pass rule it probably appeared stupid that a keeper could not handle the ball;or, when rugby introduced the new tackle rule it appeared silly that once you tackled a player you had to let him go!

[sammymaguire]

Burren will need to step up their performance if they are to give this comp a real rattle. Their 7 point margin of victory was a tad harsh on a dogged battling Roslea display. Certainly the better team in most areas of the park, especially around the middle but with 5 mins remaining the game hung in the balance with only a point between the teams.

Nice to have the luxury of having an International Rules player at wing half too. Still sign of a good team to turn on the style when the pressure was on, but I would imagine that Latton could test them even further but they would not get within 6 points of classy Crossmaglen.

[isourboydownyet]

have to say i enjoyed yesterdays match,the pattern of the game has already been covered but have to give credit to ballinderrys 2nd half performance but cross just looked that bit better and were able to pick off important scores.thought the harney sending off was harsh and how the cross physio with the orange bid didnt get emptied is beyond me for he acted a complete bollicks and doesnt do cross any favours by his behaviour along the line.

[Mont]

Over th hr cross were the better team. Shamrocks will have plenty of regrets about first half mind you.
Few pts

Mc kenn a went down easy but he was caught with a rabbit punch so it had to be a yellow

Why no straight red for kernan if he was caught punching?

The 2 managers were at it the whole game with sly shoulders into each other, think cross came of better in that as well

Cross physio got involved with a shamrocks player, few lads were looking across the fence to him!

Was sludden that bad that he deserved to get put on his arse after the game by the sub?

The cross machine rolls on. Nothing left in ulster to worry them

[brokencrossbar1]

In relation to Sludden, I thought he did very well.  He got all the big calls right, 2 sendings off were right, penalty seemed like a right decision and even though he favoured Ballinderry slightly in the early stages of the second half it wasn't too bad.  I think he handled the game well but he was helped by 2 sets of players who went about the game the right way with plenty of hard hitting which rarely went over the edge.  I certainly wouldn't have any complaints about him.

I didn't see the any incidents on the sideline, which physio was it? Heavy lad or thin lad?  Also was McKindless having a shouldering match with Tony or Gareth?  In fairness to him I could think of easier things to be at than that

[oakleafgael]

Better team on the day won, no complaints from Ballinderry I would think. They have only themselves to blame as for some reason in the first half they completely changed the way they have defended all year. Why Muldoon wasn't at midfield for the full game will remain a mystery.

Sludden did well enough, he wasn't well served by his umpires in the first half when Wilkinson was punched in the mouth as clear as day, just after Hearty had saved his goal effort. It was a spiteful enough slap which was uncalled for.

[Joxer]

BCB,

Couple of questions,

Pretty obvious,  but do the Cross mangment focus totally on kick passing? Eerything yesterday was off the boot and it is great to watch.  Takes some fitness too to play that type of football.

Also,  Has Stephen Kenan being called into the county this year? Thought he controlled the game yesterday and is probably Cross best player this year.

On yeserdays game,  Cross never panicked.  When Ballinderry got the goal,  they just ploughed away and nearly responded with a goal themselves.  Their defence is still a bit suspect.  James Morgan had a rat game as did Paul McKeown.  Thought O'Callaghan was lucky enough to stay on the field with some clumsy tackles but he is turning into the Donaldson type player, not letting anyone down the middle which is working.

[passedit]

Was sludden that bad that he deserved to get put on his arse after the game by the sub?

No i thought he reffed the game very fairly and well. He set out his stall early that he would take no oul shite and the two boys that got the line had better known better. Thought the one dimensional kickouts of the Balinderry keeper really killed them in the first half before Muldoon came out to take the bad look off them. Both sides missed really good goal chances and I thought Giligan's wide when a point down near the end was a real momentum killer for Balinderry.

On the discipline front there appeared to be a bit of a handling on the terrace below the stand? I was on the far side of the pitch so can't be sure how bad it was?

[brokencrossbar1]

BCB,

Couple of questions,

Pretty obvious,  but do the Cross mangment focus totally on kick passing? Eerything yesterday was off the boot and it is great to watch.  Takes some fitness too to play that type of football.

Also,  Has Stephen Kenan being called into the county this year? Thought he controlled the game yesterday and is probably Cross best player this year.

On yeserdays game,  Cross never panicked.  When Ballinderry got the goal,  they just ploughed away and nearly responded with a goal themselves.  Their defence is still a bit suspect.  James Morgan had a rat game as did Paul McKeown.  Thought O'Callaghan was lucky enough to stay on the field with some clumsy tackles but he is turning into the Donaldson type player, not letting anyone down the middle which is working.

Yes Joxer, they do an awful lot of work on kick passing, its the way the game is coached throughout the club so it is not that hard to keep it going.  Also their fitness training is something else.

I would imagine SK will be asked onto the county and probably will go because the one thing about all the Kernans is that although Cross is no 1 in their eyes, Armagh is a very close no 2 and they are very proud county men.

PMK and James had quieter games yesterday but importantly they won a few very crucial balls at crucial times.  Danny and Fiddler in the HB line are old fashioned Cross half backs, like JD as you say and they don't ask questions, they just give answers!!!  They will though need to pick their game up for Burren.

[brokencrossbar1]

BCB,

Couple of questions,

Pretty obvious,  but do the Cross mangment focus totally on kick passing? Eerything yesterday was off the boot and it is great to watch.  Takes some fitness too to play that type of football.

Also,  Has Stephen Kenan being called into the county this year? Thought he controlled the game yesterday and is probably Cross best player this year.

On yeserdays game,  Cross never panicked.  When Ballinderry got the goal,  they just ploughed away and nearly responded with a goal themselves.  Their defence is still a bit suspect.  James Morgan had a rat game as did Paul McKeown.  Thought O'Callaghan was lucky enough to stay on the field with some clumsy tackles but he is turning into the Donaldson type player, not letting anyone down the middle which is working.

Yes Joxer, they do an awful lot of work on kick passing, its the way the game is coached throughout the club so it is not that hard to keep it going.  Also their fitness training is something else.

I would imagine SK will be asked onto the county and probably will go because the one thing about all the Kernans is that although Cross is no 1 in their eyes, Armagh is a very close no 2 and they are very proud county men.

PMK and James had quieter games yesterday but importantly they won a few very crucial balls at crucial times.  Danny and Fiddler in the HB line are old fashioned Cross half backs, like JD as you say and they don't ask questions, they just give answers!!!  They will though need to pick their game up for Burren.

Or Latton......

Burren will wipe Latton off the field!!!