Ard Macha v An Dun 24/03/12

[Onion Bag]

He has his eye on down with championship coming up

[fitzroyalty]

Scrappy affair but still exciting to watch, could have went either way but too often the Down forwards were looking for the perfect score (thankfully), Laverty is too one-footed and turns back on himself so much when the score is on. Can't understand why they put high balls into their full forward line either in the first half, Armagh just lapped it up - tackling in full back line was excellent.

Brian Mallon stood out for me, covered a lot of ground, Rafferty showed well as did Stevenson, lorded a few points from frees and got involved often; acquitted himself really well for a NFL debutant.

Disappointing to see Carragher stretchered off, same for Grugan to pull up again, he had pinged a few lovely passes in the short time he was on.

[Sandy Hill]

Just back home from a fantastic match, carragher must be the unluckiest man on earth, 2 broken legs in 3 seasons and was going well too, scored a fantastic point.
But what really made my night, I had the pleasure of sitting beside Peter the great!!

Who is that?

[Ulick]

Peter McDonnell obviously.

[eriugaMS]

For me MOTM had to be Donaghy. He lapped up everything that came into the full back line ably assisted by A Mallon. How many times did Donaghy look exposed 1 on 1 and come out with the ball. Excellent full back display.

Your heart has to go out to Carragher. Was putting in a good shift and just seemed to land awkwardly.

A lot of poor performances from Armagh Too.  For me Dyas does not cut it at this level. he gets the ball and slows down and loses momentum. He gives terrible passes and pulls out of tackles.

David Lavery did nothing when he came on and was rightly taken off. Big Kingham was similar.

James Lavery did really well in the second half and helped us to win back midfield. I know he gets some stick from a few quarters but he can field a ball and that is what we needed.

Rafferty was lively all night and a great distribution. Good hands and held possession well. Great game from him.

Stevenson hit a few class frees. Had a good night also.

Had to laugh at a few Down head the balls in the crowd. Most rose tinted supporters i have seen for many a year.

Good win but still a lot of places up for grabs.

The two man full forward line did their chances for the summer no harm tonight

[mountainboii]

The rollercoaster rolls on. Fantastic effort tonight, soured only by that horrible injury to Pete Carragher. The lad is probably the most naturally talented midfielder we've produced in a decade but he just has no luck. From the early soundings of things, it could be a break in the same place as last time, so you'd fear that he'll be out for a long time.

The next person that questions Paddy O'Rourke's loyalties, or the players' commitment to the man, needs a boot in the hole. Well played tonight with a sensible defensively orientated game plan. Though, how he and the men round him looked at Anto Duffy, who was clean bucked, for the last fifteen minutes I'll never know.

But for the two early yips, McEvoy had a good game. Two good saves and some clever, varied kickouts.

Full back line were excellent. Struggled a couple of times with the flight of the ball in a strong breeze during the first half, but came out on top in most battles. Donaghy is a class act. Thought Dyas had one of his better games; very composed on the ball but could back himself to shoot a bit more often. Not so sure about Paul Duffy nor Moriarty, they look like the two most likely to drop out for any returning Cross men. I don't like the way Duffy is content to let his man win the ball uncontested and then try to stand him up, and Moriarty is still a free machine (though, his point was very well taken). McKeever was superb; well know for the darker arts, but, as that equalising score demonstrated, a very talented footballer to boot.

Thought Carragher was motoring nicely before the injury, which makes it all the worse. Vernon was just alright. Lavery put in another solid substitute shift.

Brian Mallon is playing well, more consistent than he has been for a while; has a very strong claim for the CHF spot come the Tyrone game. Anto Duffy is a very useful outlet, usually full of running and an option for the odd kick out. But I thought he was a passenger for the last 15 tonight; he stopped tracking runners and laid the ball off as soon as he could when he got it. Grugan looked tidy on the ball in his short spell. Pity he had to go off, but at least it didn't look like a recurrence of the previous injury. If Rafferty could score more he'd be a serious addition; great movement and good hands, but doesn't back himself often enough. The point he did hit show he has it in him. Stevenson was a welcome surprise. Came from nowhere to make a match winning contribution. With a ref that thought he was in the middle of a netball game, having a good freetaker was crucial; Down had theirs and luckily enough we included one of our own.

Could have went either way, but with the players we're missing, every success in this division deserves to be met with a good dose of praise. Though, the way things have been going this year, we'll probably have half a dozen lads suspended or injured during the week and then get tanked and relegated up in Ballybofey.

[Scarface]

Great result for Armagh tonight. Thought they played really well - were very hungry for it. Brian Mallon was very good as was B Donaghy and A Mallon. McKeever as solid as ever and kicked a quite inspirational point. Lavery really helped the midfield win some ball again and put in a few nice shoulders which he could do even more. Felt sorry for Pete Carragher. It happened close to where I was sitting and you could hear the crack. Nothing malicious in it just a bad collision and the leg looked pretty bad. Hope he recovers soon. High intensity for a league game and was well worth the admission price I thought.

[winsamsoon]

This was a good result for Armagh but i'm still wondering how the hell they pulled it off. Beating a down side that beat dublin(who tanked Armagh) think it is fair to say the Athletic grounds suit our lads to a tee. Few points though , 1/ Armagh will never again be as lucky ie the break of the post for the penalty ( which was rightly awasrded for a foot block) and the scores they hit will simply not all go over the next day. Three scores standing out Moriarty, Mc Keever and mallons with the left peg. 2/At last Armagh have woken up and realised that the way forward in football is not ogres and power houses. Young Stevenson is a clinking prospect as are a few of his brothers and everyone of them are small but highly effective players. Great to see that lad get his chance and it will be a step backwards if he is dropped for the next game. I would like to see a few of these other big men phased out of the Armagh team and a few other footballers brought into the first 15. Rafferty aswell had a great game and it will only do wonders for him 9again not an overly big man but has a footballing brain and is mobile. The more options you have in gaelic football the easier the game becomes. IMO Vernon offers nothing, gets the ball and just ducks the head and the amount of possession he looses is shocking. Lavery will never do at midfield and he is similiar to vernon and hasn't the brain to catch the ball and lay it off(if he could do that he may be effective) for me a team has to be mobile and strong down the middle and i think Armagh have the squad there to make a very good team but O'Rourke needs to utilise the players in the correct positions. The cross contingent wil further stregthen this team and the summer isn't jut looking as bleak as was thought by some. so good win but must build now on it. Also hope that lad Carraghers injury isn't as serious as feared. i wish him a speedy recovery. 

[Leo]

I am sorry I didnt do a screen capture. Dive of the year. It was an afterthought at that.

the penalty was given because a Down man touched it on the ground!!

Touched on the ground or foot block - take your choice ,, but you have to say that the  ref could have taken it himself the way he was going, having failed to take action on  a series of heavy fouls on Danny Hughes and ignoring the "outstanding" second half push-in-the-back contribution of James Lavery. Did he over-rule the umpire on the point that wasn't?
Having said that it was a committed Armagh performance and Down must look at themselves, bombing silly high ball into Laverty for about 15 minutes in the firsy half, McKernan was woeful (apart from a deadly point) giving his man the freedom of the park in the first half and rank bad passing in the second, while the introduction of Ben O'Reilly who missed the sitter at the end was baffling.Poland was full of skill, vision and courage.
Good luck to the unfortunate Carragher - was playing well too.
Great displays by Donaghy & Stevenson for Armagh and I hope both teams stay up.

[PAULD123]

Congratulations Armagh who won a pulsating game that was full of energy and commitment. Whoever won this game would have had the fans leaving saying that they deserved it because the end result wasn't about who has the best players or the better chances. It was about after emptying the tank who produced that inch of effort more. Armagh did.

I doubt there are any Armagh supporters who would fail to agree that in the end Down had their chances to draw or even win. It was that close. But at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that in such a tight match one team manages to edge that little bit more from the game - Armagh.

From a Down prespective I have to say that I was very dissapointed with our LHS defence. We allowed Armagh to shoot time and again from that wing and most of the attacks came down there too. Dan McCartan was screaming at McKernan in the second half who twice allowed point scoring shots to be made without getting close enough to his man to block or even put him off. Other than that you have to say Down players gave a great effort, alothough the defenders were slow to help attack after a trun-over. Likewise Armagh players really showed fantastic desire and effort.

The saddest thing for me though is not the defeat but the injury to your man Rafferty. I wish him all the best and hope he can recover. It really put a bit of a black cloud over the night.

[Scarface]

It was young Carragher that got the bad injury mate.

[Sheedy]

disappointed with the loss last night. it says a lot for the fighting qualities, commitment and skill of the armagh boys that despite having so many players missing they could still put in a performance like that.

down played ok in patches but thought they were to loose in defence giving armagh forwards to much room. our half forward line was our most effective with mark poland and aiden carr again having good games. danny hughes done well despite getting no protection from a referee, who i  thought was really poor. need a big performance now in laois to avoid possible relegation.

[Dont Matter]

Armagh won so there's no need to run to the papers with any stories of abuse now.
Maybe Down have something to complain about? Did someone from Armagh call you Irish and you got offended?

[charlieTully]

Armagh won so there's no need to run to the papers with any stories of abuse now.
Maybe Down have something to complain about? Did someone from Armagh call you Irish and you got offended?

from the county that gave us the orange order and billy wright.

[alba2]

disappointed with the loss last night. it says a lot for the fighting qualities, commitment and skill of the armagh boys that despite having so many players missing they could still put in a performance like that.

down played ok in patches but thought they were to loose in defence giving armagh forwards to much room. our half forward line was our most effective with mark poland and aiden carr again having good games. danny hughes done well despite getting no protection from a referee, who i  thought was really poor. need a big performance now in laois to avoid possible relegation.

Aidan Carr having a good game - are you having a laugh? He hit some wonderful scores from free kicks - but carrying a lazy player who gets in no tackles nor makes little contribution to general play is a joke.  But then again - drop him and ross writes another article and it all gets embarrassing.  I thought we shoulod have had a goal in the first half - ball was maybe bit behind mc cartan for him to palm it home - but it was tit for tat in the second.  Think Mc Kernan needs wee while on the bench too until h learns how to defend.  Ambrose is slowly getting back to his best and put in another good shift as did Hughes and Poland.  Laverty in flashes was good - But the rest were average. Really thought against a second string Armagh team we would win in style and with ease - but maybe we just are not as good as we think.  Players and management need to realise this too and get back to basics - hard work, tackling, working together and winning.  James spends too much time shouting at officials about stupid things.  Sort out the players on your own team and let the officials do their own job.