@Steven McDonnell tweets a retirement announcement!

[BerfArmagh]

All the best in your retirement Stevie, a true great & a fantastic servant to Armagh... Pure class

[EC Unique]

Now Armagh fans know how we felt when Canavan retired. Massive loss to Armagh as Canavan was to Tyrone. Both were class acts.

[regal]

Best wishes to Stevie on his county retirement. Good article in the paper today alright. He may have won 'only' 1 all ireland but he can be proud of how played his football and how he conducted himself on the pitch - always played football in the right spirit.

It is only as the years roll on that I realise how special so many of that team (1999 - 2006) really were.

[heganboy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q3wZZHJAN4

On an aside, 40secs into that video was one of the less heralded turning points of the 2005 game. After Stevie's goal Paul McGrane brilliantly intercepted a Tyrone ball and then just stumbled so that the ball went out over the line. Tyrone then got a point instead of the ball going back up the field to follow on from the goal. C'est la vie!

Never a free either.

that could have been a classic game but for the refereeing.

and yes the entire county is still bitter over the "incident" but had the shoe been on the other foot I wouldn't have complained...

[EC Unique]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q3wZZHJAN4

On an aside, 40secs into that video was one of the less heralded turning points of the 2005 game. After Stevie's goal Paul McGrane brilliantly intercepted a Tyrone ball and then just stumbled so that the ball went out over the line. Tyrone then got a point instead of the ball going back up the field to follow on from the goal. C'est la vie!

Never a free either.

that could have been a classic game but for the refereeing.

and yes the entire county is still bitter over the "incident" but had the shoe been on the other foot I wouldn't have complained...

It was a classic game. Probably the best game in croke park of the last 10-15 years. Defenitly the best I ever was at. Just because the result was not as you wished does not mean it was a bad game.

[heganboy]

Just because the result was not as you wished does not mean it was a bad game.

ach I hear you but 'tis very hard to view it as a classic when you're on the wrong end of a result in a tight game, no matter how you get there.

[Orangemac]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q3wZZHJAN4

On an aside, 40secs into that video was one of the less heralded turning points of the 2005 game. After Stevie's goal Paul McGrane brilliantly intercepted a Tyrone ball and then just stumbled so that the ball went out over the line. Tyrone then got a point instead of the ball going back up the field to follow on from the goal. C'est la vie!

Never a free either.

that could have been a classic game but for the refereeing.

and yes the entire county is still bitter over the "incident" but had the shoe been on the other foot I wouldn't have complained...

Stevie was on fire that day, with a bit more support in the scoring stakes we would have won that game. Only Stevie could have scored that goal.
As someone has said it is only when great players are gone that they are truly appreciated.

[under the bar]

Never a free either.

that could have been a classic game but for the refereeing.

and yes the entire county is still bitter over the "incident" but had the shoe been on the other foot I wouldn't have complained...

Since when was pulling a players jersey never a free?  Get over it, best team in Ireland won the AI so you should have no complaints.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Stevie was on fire that day, with a bit more support in the scoring stakes we would have won that game. Only Stevie could have scored that goal.

I agree totally with what you say - but there is a moment in the second half in that match where Stevie run onto a ball at speed, in front of the Tyrone goals about 25 yards out, and under no pressure, blazed the ball wide of the post when going for a point. I remember hearing that he was haunted by that miss for a long time after.

If anyone recorded the Laochra Gael show last week about Oisin, check out Stevie's point in the first half of that match. A  long ball is played into him and he is marked by three Tyrone defenders - he wins the ball and under pressure, kicks a left-footed point from 40 yards.

An absolutely heart breaking defeat given that it was so self inflicted.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

An absolutely heart breaking defeat given that it was so self inflicted.

Ah jeez Rufus, I think that we had a wee hand in that infliction too! 

[Rufus T Firefly]

An absolutely heart breaking defeat given that it was so self inflicted.

Ah jeez Rufus, I think that we had a wee hand in that infliction too! 

Ah yes - we coughed the ball up and of course it still had to be put over the bar - but we got ourselves into a winning position and made  a series of unforced errors.

That was as desolate as I've ever felt after an Armagh match - I must've looked it too, for a Tyrone lad who I didn't know come over to commiserate by saying youse have had a great year - Ulster and NFL Champions. I remember replying that I would willingly swap places and he sort of gave me an, 'aye fair enough' look, before wandering off.   

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Fair enough, it was a very tough one to have lost, to be sure.

[mackers]

For me getting beaten by Fermanagh in 2004 was worse than the 05 semi defeat. Stevie said in the Irish News article that Armagh played their best football in 2005, I'd agree with that. Always felt that we were a better football team in 2005 than in 2002. We just got that bit of luck in 2002 that wasn't there in 2005. The addition of AK, Ciaran McKeever and Andy Mallon was a big boost to the 05 team.

[Fuzzman]

I'm a bit shocked but happy how well the Tyrone and Armagh fans are getting on in this thread over such a big match which obviously still hurts the Armagh following.

I think Armagh must be fair scunnered with Tyrone's rise to prominence in the noughties.
Having spent from 1999 to 2006 dominating Ulster and regularly getting to the AI quarters, semis and of course final in 2002 & 2003, they must be cursing their luck that their arch enemies and neighbours Tyrone chose a similar period to peak and actually out do their achievements.

With the huge risk of sounding condescending, I think Armagh's downright will to win, single mindedness, positive energy mullarky that they created around themselves certainly meant they were a team that were very difficult to beat. You could see how delighted Kerry were when they beat them in 2006 3.15 to 1.13.
The way they were such a focused serious team I think meant they never really shook off the shackles and played the type of football that would have suited Oisin, Stevie and then Ronan Clarke.

It's interesting to hear Stevie say 2005 was probably their best year as most Tyrone fans would also say the same. Most of us red handers would have to admit Armagh should have won that day in the semifinal as they were the better team. Of course there was an element of just reward for us as we felt hard done by in the Ulster final matches. Especially with karma coming back to punish McKeever for his treatment of Canavan to get him sent off. Sweet indeed that PTG would put over the free that McKeever gave away from a definite foul that might not have been given at different stages during the game.

I am of course biased against Armagh and I particularly don't like a lot of their players during the last 10 years especially Oisin but I have to say Stevie McDonnell was an excellent talented forward who worked hard and played very fair. I don't remember him crying or whinging much without good cause and maybe unlike players like Gooch & Donaghy took the aggro and just got on with it.

I'm glad we won't have to worry about your goals against us any more Stevie but thanks for the entertainment you did give us. You were a joy to watch even if ye did often cause us tears.


For any Southies not knowing the word scunnered
[http://www.d1020599.cp.blacknight.com/slang.ie/index.php?county=Antrim&entry=scunnered&letter=S[/url]

[tonto1888]

Id agree that 2005 was our best year. Ive never yet watched that gam,e again though, how we managed to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory is beyond me