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

[EC Unique]

McCrory on Clarke. I'm sure the papers will give him low markings tomorrow but when you're going man-for-man, no one will get the better of Jamie Clarke.

Conor Gorlmey did it last year and held him scoreless!

Gormley was part of a 2 man marking job last year as Tyrone were using a sweeper. Mc Crory did not have that luxury yesterday.

[NaomhBridAbú]

From the Irish Times....

MALACHY CLERKIN at The Athletic Grounds

ULSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL: Tyrone 0-19 Armagh 1-13: THE NAMES change and the faces get fresher by the year but for as long as Tyrone are cheek and Armagh are jowl, these days will still have a pull about them. They jammed 16,148 fidgety bodies into Armagh's little city bowl here yesterday and what played out was a bustling epic all of its own.

Gone (well, going) are the days when you held a finger up to one of these games to work out in which direction the All-Ireland wind might be blowing but no matter – a game this entertaining didn't need a regal context to speak up for it.

Tyrone ultimately breasted the tape but nobody was calling a winner five minutes from the end. A couple of soaring Brian Mallon frees – the second of which split the posts from all of 48 metres on 66 minutes – tied a game that Armagh could have long since given up on.

They might have lain down when Tyrone pushed four points ahead early in the second half with Aaron Kernan gone at half-time due to a hamstring problem; or they could have wilted when Kevin Dyas saw the line for a couple of silly yellow cards with 15 minutes to go.

Their excuses were neatly lined up if they'd felt like reaching out and pulling them off the shelf.

But instead Paddy O'Rourke's young side gave their people plenty to take home with them yesterday. Tyrone scored the closing three points to take the victory but they needed every hand on a shovel to dig them out of it.

In the end, they probably saw more of referee Joe McQuillan's benign side than Armagh did and Martin Penrose had no major trouble kicking two late frees to help them over the line. Although Mickey Harte claimed afterwards that he thought McQuillan leaned more so in the opposite direction, he knew well that Tyrone had the skin of their teeth to show off and no more.

"People got serious value for money out there today," he said. "People talk about blanket defences and this, that and the other and it's as if people have no right to change what they do, or experiment with what they do. Out there today, I mean, 1-13 to 0-19 tells its own tale.

"And it wasn't that it was very open either because there was plenty of good defending done as well. Football has a lot more to offer than some of those narrow-minded pundits might have you believe."

You'd have had to be churlish in the extreme not to have found plenty to enjoy here right from the outset. Though the first two scores were from frees, Joe McMahon's outside-of-the-boot effort for Tyrone was one of the points of the days.

That was in the third minute and we didn't see another free scored until the 20th, by which time Tyrone led 0-6 to 1-2.

A necklace of gleaming points from Penrose, Owen Mulligan, Peter Harte and the excellent Colm Cavanagh was answered by a point from the equally excellent Jamie Clarke and a fine goal from Aidan Forker. The game was fast-moving and precise, with clever kick-passing a feature throughout.

Tyrone pushed three clear by half-time with Stephen O'Neill, corner-back Dermot Carlin and Penrose again doing the needful and the feeling that they were ultimately going to have too much firepower was hard to shift.

Clarke was doing his best to keep Armagh relevant though and at times he was unplayable. He's such a willowy presence, a wind-chime tinkle in a foghorn world. Yet it's the rare defender who can make him appear less than fully-balanced and his ability to fashion accurate attempts on goal from half-chances is uncanny.

He finished the afternoon with five points – three from play – and all while drawing more attention from the Tyrone defence than any other Armagh player.

Cavanagh, Penrose and Joe McMahon were terrific for Tyrone but it was Clarke who had the strongest claim on man of the match.

Despite going four behind shortly after the break, Armagh found a rally from somewhere. Substitute Gavin McParland scored a couple of rousing points on his introduction and although Penrose hit back with two of his own by the 55th minute, the home crowd weren't heading for the gates just yet.

Even when Dyas saw his red card, it was only a prelude for Armagh to kick the next three points in a row to draw level. But those late Penrose frees allied to a couple of classy efforts from O'Neill and Harte saw Tyrone home.

In the end, Mickey Harte's side deserved it. A game whose pulse throbbed all the way to the end called for calm heads and Tyrone just about had more of them. Whatever their late-summer ambitions, here they were just delighted to get out of the Athletic Grounds alive.

'Twas ever thus. 'Twill ever be.

ARMAGH : P McEvoy; A Mallon, B Donaghy, D McKenna; A Kernan (0-1, free), C McKeever, F Moriarty; K Toner, M Mackin; A Forker (1-0), K Dyas (0-1), A Duffy; J Clarke (0-5, two frees), B Mallon (0-4, all frees), C Rafferty. Subs: P Duffy for McKenna, 19 mins; G McParland (0-2) for Kernan (half-time); J Hanratty for Forker (48 mins); C Vernon for Moriarty (54 mins); J Kingham for Mackin (57 mins).

TYRONE : P McConnell; A McCrory, Justin McMahon, D Carlin (0-1); C McCarron, C Gormley, Sean O'Neill; Joe McMahon (0-1, free), C Cavanagh (0-2); R McNabb, M Donnelly (0-1), P Harte (0-2), M Penrose (0-8, five frees), Stephen O'Neill (0-2), O Mulligan (0-2, one free). Subs: M Murphy for Justin McMahon (half-time); N McKenna for Mulligan (66 mins); R McMenamin for McCarron (68 mins); P McNeice for Donnelly (73 mins).

Referee : Joe McQuillan (Cavan).

Att : 16,418

Managers put referee front and centre


Two managers, one referee, no consensus. It would be hard to argue that Joe McQuillan had any great effect on this Ulster quarter-final yet both Mickey Harte and Paddy O'Rourke found themselves talking through gritted teeth about him in its aftermath.

It seemed a little incongruous – for Harte especially, seeing as the free-kick count had gone 24-17 in his side's favour – yet both men decided to raise the issue of the referee unprompted.

"It was a battle to the end," said Harte, "and I suppose Armagh nearly got themselves into a winning position after they had a man sent off. It was a bit ironical, they stepped it up at that stage and it took us a while to come to terms with the fact we had this spare man. Where was he, how do we use him, are we not using him?

"I suppose, I would say again, if you would look at the consistency of the man in the middle. It might have had an impact on the game as well. Maybe I'm looking at it through biased eyes, but I did feel we had a little bit more difficulty in getting a free, sometimes it went the other way."

O'Rourke could have pointed to more than just the free-kick stats – his side saw five yellow cards to Tyrone's one after all. Plus they finished the game with 14 men after Kevin Dyas was sent off.

To neutral eyes, there was little Dyas could have quibbled about in how he collected either yellow card.

Then again, we can hardly expect O'Rourke's eyes to be neutral.

"The players gave everything. They probably lost the game to slightly the better team but probably on reflection losing Dyas cost us the match. I think we could have pushed on in the last 10 minutes and won the game but it's very hard to do that when you're down a man.

"We lost Dyas who was having a good game and he's a good link player. I suppose you always feel that some of the decisions that go against you are a bit harsh. I don't think Kevin Dyas did anything to get a red card. I don't know if the referee ticked him beforehand or not.

"I felt Tyrone got a lot of frees and I wondered at the time if they were all justified. It seemed to me that Jamie Clarke was getting pulled and mauled a bit at the other end and found frees that bit harder to come by." Malachy Clerkin

[Man Marker]

In reply to some posts, Mc Crory got absolutely cleaned out yesterday. What it highlighted to me is how Tyrone have not got a man marker anymore, they use to have in Gromley and Ricey when they were in their plom, and this is one of the weaknesses in this Tyrone team. A team that brings 12 men behind the ball to protect their full bcak line and Mc Crory stills gets a cleaning out.

[tonto1888]

As an Armagh Ive no real complaints with the ref. Yeah there were a couple of decisions I felt were wrong, but thats football. Dyas was daft and probably deserved to be sent off which was a shame as he was having a good game. Mallon was very good, his best yet I think. Clarke is unreal, Id have loved him to have been about 8/9 years ago. Some of Toners fielding was sensational. Finnian was good but he doesnt half give away some silly frees. Overall, although we lost, Im quite optimistic about the future of Armagh football

[sheamy]

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

If he was of a mind he'd probably write how his Saturday prediction was spot on. He correctly predicted the result and the reasons for i.e. greater spread of scorers. As punters can't wait to see what he has to write he'll likely look for a pay rise too. You should send that post into 'off the fence' for the craic 

[Nally Stand]

McCrory on Clarke. I'm sure the papers will give him low markings tomorrow but when you're going man-for-man, no one will get the better of Jamie Clarke.

Conor Gorlmey did it last year and held him scoreless!

Gormley was part of a 2 man marking job last year as Tyrone were using a sweeper. Mc Crory did not have that luxury yesterday.

Gormley was a one man marker and there was no sweeper! Joe was the usual sweeper for Tyrone and he was full back.

[yellowcard]

Another fine example of Tyrones blatant cheating and gamesmanship yesterday. At least Brolly called it on RTE. Cynicism at its worst. On the game itself I thought that two mediocre teams put on a decent game of football which maybe lacked quality at times but not intensity.

[orangeman]

Another fine example of Tyrones blatant cheating and gamesmanship yesterday. At least Brolly called it on RTE. Cynicism at its worst. On the game itself I thought that two mediocre teams put on a decent game of football which maybe lacked quality at times but not intensity.

You'd hate to see the really bad teams go it in that case.

[rrhf]

The lovely thing about this board is there is an idiot for every day of the week. 

[NaomhBridAbú]

Another fine example of Tyrones blatant cheating and gamesmanship yesterday. At least Brolly called it on RTE. Cynicism at its worst. On the game itself I thought that two mediocre teams put on a decent game of football which maybe lacked quality at times but not intensity.

I can understand your empathy with the boggle-eyed bullshitter - as both of you are wide of the mark. I'd say at least one of those mediocre teams will be playing football in the later stages of the championship - and right now I'd be happy if that were Armagh.

lacked quality? some of the scoring from O'Neill, Clarke and Cavanagh will not be bettered this year. The ball into clarke was deadly. Peter Harte was marked brilliantly.Joe McMahon was his usual brilliant self.

tyrones blatant cheating and gamesmanship? get real. Watch a recording of the game again if that helps to give you balance.

[Moortown Spuds]

Tyroneman and Fuzz , I agree wholeheartedly! David Coldrick was simply put, not good. Tyrone made it easy for him by continually carrying the ball into the tackle. Sean Cavanagh is seems to have lost a considerable amount of pace, and seems to struggle to blow by players they way he used to , after dropping his shoulder. Bottom line, you wont be winning any All irelands with Colm Cav in the middle of the field, I strongly believe , that if he wasn't Sean's Brother, he wouldnt even be on the panel! Aidan Cassidy is average, as is Cathal McCarron. Mark Donnelly as stated was the standout performer, for the most part ploughing a lone furrow. Curran in goals hardly inspires confidence either. Young McKenna was also very average and for all the hype its games like today that he should be showing in.......should have been gone a lot earlier. Freetaking is at best sketchey! We are probably a coin toss everytime we get a free , whether we will score it or miss! The pace that had been evident throughout the league was not on show today, perhaps we got our pace a little earlier than most teams this year? Only positive....a good kick in the whole before the applemunchers!

Your typical a section of Tyrone supporters. Don't remember much chat from you when they won 12 games in a row and as soon as they lose one everyone is in for serious abuse. I don't even think you bothered going to the game? The lads put a lot of effort in and our the best in the county and don't deserve crap like that.

Colm Cavanagh played in a minor All Ireland winning team, played midfield for the u21s, played for Jordanstown and came on in the 2008 All Ireland final scoring the last point. So this is all down to him being Seans brother? He's had plenty of decent games this year when you didn't comment on him them. Despite being prone to errors he puts in a lot of work around the middle and is more than worth his place on the panel.

Niall McKenna starred on an All Ireland winning minor team a few years ago. But again he's picked cause of his name?

Anyone who thinks Mickey Harte picks players cause of their surname doesn't have a clue. Tyrone won't win every game they play and currently haven't got the best team in Ireland. So there's no point in these over the top reactions every time we lose a match.
[/quoteYes you are correct, I didnt get to the match, watched it on the box ( due to the fact I live 6000 miles from home now ) You miss the point about Colm and McKenna. By the time Colm came on the minor scene, Sean was Irelands youngest rising star, " the new Jack O'Shea?". So everybody had this anticipation about this younger brother that was coming along as well. As for McKenna, umm but did you know he had a slightly famous daddy? One of Tyrones greatest ever players. What I am NOT saying is that they cant play football, what I AM saying is that perhaps they had a slight leg up versus  A.N Other form Clonoe or Aghaloo etc??

For a fella only on the team because of who his brother is, i suppose he did quite well.

[Applesisapples]

Listened to Paddy O'Rourke being interviewed on the Beeb on the way home. He thought it was a great game...he was obviously neutral. Selections and decisions cost us. the players on the pitch gave it 100% some just weren't up to it. From the stands you just knew tyrone were always going to win. After Aaron Kernan went of Clarke got nothing until Hannratty came on, surely an indication that a couple of more Cross players such as Hanratty and Tony Kernan would benefit Clarkes productivity. Some of the younger lads played well today, Forker looked good and glad to see Finn Mo redeem himself and silence his detractors. Lots of hope but seriously need to up the ante on the line.

[Main Street]

did anyone hear what BRolly was saying about the game?

"Tyrone masters of the dark arts" 

I usually enjoy his words after games but he could give no credit to Tyrone and put their win down to buying frees. Let himself down today.

He is trying too hard to be contraversial.

Whatever about the few frees, Tyrone could not have bought their deserved victory. Tough on Armagh who kept plugging away and had their opportunities.
The game kept me away from Spain v Italy which was reckoned to be superb entertainment. That may be so but still not a patch on a competitive entertaining Ulster championship match.

[LeoMc]

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

If he was of a mind he'd probably write how his Saturday prediction was spot on. He correctly predicted the result and the reasons for i.e. greater spread of scorers. As punters can't wait to see what he has to write he'll likely look for a pay rise too. You should send that post into 'off the fence' for the craic 

Don't forget these other gems from Heaney. 
"Kingham will start full-forward" "McNabb is injured so McMahon will move to Wing Forward" & "Harte running from centre back".

[LeoMc]

Ronan McNabb not fit to start. Aidan Cassidy replaces him at MF with Joseph McMahon operating in the half forward line, playing McNabb's role. #leaked

Good call.