USFC: Armagh v Tyrone @ MAG. 10/6/12

[Throw ball]

Didn't get to see it thanks to Premium Sports (&%@@#$ them), but from what I heard Tyrone seemed to maximize their points-scoring chances and deserved the win.  McParland sounded impressive.  Did anyone think that sticking King Kong in the square did any good?  Well, soft teams in the qualifiers--Kerry, Galway. . . . double drat!

The only thing of worth the big man on the edge of the square did today was con tyre ref into a free in and a yellow card for joe mc. After that he had the ball broken away from him easily enough.

I know he is from Monaghan but he must have Tyrone blood if he could con the ref like that!

Before the match I could not see how Armagh could get enough scores to win. In the end was gutted they did not. Progress I suppose.

In the minor match I think the inexplicable decision not to sent the Tyrone player of for a terrible  tackle and subsequent slap was the turning point. The Armagh player having to move out of midfield gave Tyrone a lifeline there won the game for them. Two good teams. Pity no back door in minor at this stage.

[Captain Obvious]

Didn't get to see it thanks to Premium Sports (&%@@#$ them), but from what I heard Tyrone seemed to maximize their points-scoring chances and deserved the win.  McParland sounded impressive.  Did anyone think that sticking King Kong in the square did any good?  Well, soft teams in the qualifiers--Kerry, Galway. . . . double drat!

The only thing of worth the big man on the edge of the square did today was con tyre ref into a free in and a yellow card for joe mc. After that he had the ball broken away from him easily enough.

I know he is from Monaghan but he must have Tyrone blood if he could con the ref like that!

Before the match I could not see how Armagh could get enough scores to win. In the end was gutted they did not. Progress I suppose.

In the minor match I think the inexplicable decision not to sent the Tyrone player of for a terrible  tackle and subsequent slap was the turning point. The Armagh player having to move out of midfield gave Tyrone a lifeline there won the game for them. Two good teams. Pity no back door in minor at this stage.

Yeah it's a pity Munster,leinster have back door maybe Ulster need to change it.

[NaomhBridAbú]

Paddy Heaney...at least 30 men out there today knew better than you.

great game - thought that Armagh were going to steal it in the end, but Tyrone did enough, and in some cases so did the referee, but i wouldn't let the MIB be the focus of a great game.

jamie Clarke is lethal - glad armagh don't have more firepower up front, but he is some player.
Cavanagh played the best game i have seen him play - solid and fearless, and for a change kept his mouth shut
Watched Gomley in the first half and thought he was of the pace, then with 5 minutes to go, he was hard at it, charging up the right wing...great to watch.

Armagh should do well thru the qualifiers if they play like that - and don't lose Aran Kernan...

Armagh men all around bitching about Grimley for some reason

Note to Heaney - Seems like Tyrone have a different tactic rather then playing through Peter Harte in 'straight lines'...4 days worth of his shite in the Irish News...cant wait to see what he has to write tmro

[heganboy]

both teams football were very well matched, but Tyrone's experience and know how won it for them in the end. Intelligent use of substitutions and injuries broke up the tempo when Armagh got on a good run. Armagh need a better game plan that what they have, there is enough talent in that team to actually compete. It is no disrespect to the players of Armagh to say that Crossmaglen seniors would have beaten that Tyrone team. Armagh unfortunately lacked cohesion, and that wee bit of know how to thwart Tyrone. A few years ago I would have ranted and raved about Tyrone buying frees and diving, but the futility of that argument is that every referee and back in the country is aware of it. The fact that Armagh's county players bought Tyrone frees by the bucket, and lacked discipline so much that Tyrone had the ball moved up a number of times, just shows that Armagh's preparation for this game left a lot to be desired.
Fair play to Tyrone, old heads did well, and it was great to see a very good game of football played in the Athletic grounds. Colm Cavanagh played very well and he and Harte did well to put the doubters in their place. O'Neill is a class forward, and was a pleasure to watch. Tyrone could do a bit of damage this year, and that was an exhibition of good skillful football.

As for the Kerry vs Cork game, not exactly great, Kerry will be in bother this year, and we may have seen the end of O'Connor. Don't quite buy Colm O Rourke's "terminal decline" line, but they will have to re-architect how they play. Donaghy was no "star" today, and the RTE insistence on deference to the Kerry team is absolutely painful, the great saves and great defending we kept hearing about was quite simply poor decision making from Kerry.

[NaomhBridAbú]

Just watched Mickey Harte talk to Tomas Kane
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/northern-ireland/18338503

After what has been going on in Mauritius, the fact that he can keep it together with such dignity?

You are some man Mickey Harte

[orangeman]

Paddy Heaney...at least 30 men out there today knew better than you.

great game - thought that Armagh were going to steal it in the end, but Tyrone did enough, and in some cases so did the referee, but i wouldn't let the MIB be the focus of a great game.

jamie Clarke is lethal - glad armagh don't have more firepower up front, but he is some player.
Cavanagh played the best game i have seen him play - solid and fearless, and for a change kept his mouth shut
Watched Gomley in the first half and thought he was of the pace, then with 5 minutes to go, he was hard at it, charging up the right wing...great to watch.

Armagh should do well thru the qualifiers if they play like that - and don't lose Aran Kernan...

Armagh men all around bitching about Grimley for some reason

Note to Heaney - Seems like Tyrone have a different tactic rather then playing through Peter Harte in 'straight lines'...4 days worth of his shite in the Irish News...cant wait to see what he has to write tmro

[/b]

More of it ? 

[orangeman]

both teams football were very well matched, but Tyrone's experience and know how won it for them in the end. Intelligent use of substitutions and injuries broke up the tempo when Armagh got on a good run. Armagh need a better game plan that what they have, there is enough talent in that team to actually compete. It is no disrespect to the players of Armagh to say that Crossmaglen seniors would have beaten that Tyrone team. Armagh unfortunately lacked cohesion, and that wee bit of know how to thwart Tyrone. A few years ago I would have ranted and raved about Tyrone buying frees and diving, but the futility of that argument is that every referee and back in the country is aware of it. The fact that Armagh's county players bought Tyrone frees by the bucket, and lacked discipline so much that Tyrone had the ball moved up a number of times, just shows that Armagh's preparation for this game left a lot to be desired.
Fair play to Tyrone, old heads did well, and it was great to see a very good game of football played in the Athletic grounds. Colm Cavanagh played very well and he and Harte did well to put the doubters in their place. O'Neill is a class forward, and was a pleasure to watch. Tyrone could do a bit of damage this year, and that was an exhibition of good skillful football.

As for the Kerry vs Cork game, not exactly great, Kerry will be in bother this year, and we may have seen the end of O'Connor. Don't quite buy Colm O Rourke's "terminal decline" line, but they will have to re-architect how they play. Donaghy was no "star" today, and the RTE insistence on deference to the Kerry team is absolutely painful, the great saves and great defending we kept hearing about was quite simply poor decision making from Kerry.

Do you seriously believe that ?.

Why don't Armagh field the Cross team then ?

[EC Unique]

It is no disrespect to the players of Armagh to say that Crossmaglen seniors would have beaten that Tyrone team.

Ah now come on. Let's not get carried away!

[orangeman]

Very frustrating day. Could have won both games but won nothing. Poor decision making from our own management teams and from both sets of match officials was our undoing.

We were probably beaten by a marginally better side in the senior game, but we weren't done any favours. It was strange that the same man that was so quick to reward each of Tyrone's swallow dives couldn't spot a push in midfield to save himself. It was also curious that two personal fouls were deemed sufficient to line Kevin Dyas, but Dermot Carlin's half dozen attempted rapes on Jamie Clarke didn't draw a single card. All you ask for is a bit of consistency. I hope Peter Harte's little finger is alright after his wee lie down and cry to get Dyas his second yellow.

The management team lost the head in their eagerness to get Kingham on the field. There was no call to go route one with so much time on the clock and with Clarke still causing ructions in the Tyrone defence. To change the focus of the attack away from our biggest strength made no sense.

Enough decent play to suggest that a run in the qualifiers is possible. Best for me on the day for Armagh were Clarke, Brian Mallon, Toner, Dyas before the two yellows, and the two Duffys. McParland also made a good impact when introduced. Some poor performances in defence.

Unlike in the senior game, Armagh were clearly the better side in the minor match, but defensive naivety from players and management let us down. The ref played a huge role in the result too, bottling an obvious call to send a Tyrone man off after an atrocious slide tackle on Armagh's best player, effectively taking him out of the game, which was followed five seconds later by a slap to the head of another Armagh player. It's a real shame that there's no back door for these lads.

Armagh could certainly have won both matches alright.

Tyrone defence enjoyed seeing Kingham coming on.

Once Armagh drew level, it looked like Armagh would go on and win given the momentum that they had built up at that stage.

I thought that after the ref sent off Dyas he brought Armagh back into the game with easy enough frees.

I do sympathise with you about Dyas's sending off - yellow cards weren't easy to pick up all day from Mc Quiilan. Armagh had serial foulers on their teams who didn't pick up a yellow all day. Dyas made it easy for the ref committing the same silly foul inside 2 minutes.

Armagh if they play like this should take a lot of beating in the qualifiers. Not many teams will want to meet them.

[seanaglis]

lets be honest...are any neutrals at all interested  in this ? ..... Such a boring fixture.

Thank god for Cork v Kerry.

You mike are a bitter twisted individual who knows f**k all about football

[gerrykeegan]

game over, Tyrone just upped it at the end..................and they have "go to players" what ever that is Tony

Players you go to when you need scores - self explanatory I would have thought!

Never heard it in all my years listening or watching GAA, I have heard it when watching sports from the USA

[Agent Orange]

Best game of the championship by far, Armagh looked like they could sneak it in the end but Tyrone just had that wee bit of guile to see them over the line. Thought Tyrone got more than their share of the decisions from the ref, but don't want to take anything away from their win.

[5 Sams]

Just watched Mickey Harte talk to Tomas Kane
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/northern-ireland/18338503

After what has been going on in Mauritius, the fact that he can keep it together with such dignity?

You are some man Mickey Harte

+ 1 The man has some strength

[Aaron Boone]

McQuillan very quick to hand any forward a free and any 50:50 call (plenty) went the way of the attacking team. As said, plenty of frees for Armagh after the sending off.

[Agent Orange]

Just watched Mickey Harte talk to Tomas Kane
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/northern-ireland/18338503

After what has been going on in Mauritius, the fact that he can keep it together with such dignity?

You are some man Mickey Harte

+ 1 The man has some strength

I find it very odd that he isn't in Mauritius. I know if I was in that situation I would be there.