Armagh v Cavan Sun 8th June

[yellowcard]

the second them few cavan boys made a go for The Rock they may as well a signed their own death warrants, they picked the wrong man and the wrong team. was great to see every man bust their hole to go in and back up their main man, that told me a lot before a ball was even thrown in.

Would this be the same "main man" that the squad had the captaincy stripped from 'cos the they couldn't stand him?

Fill us in on that one will you please?

[Throw ball]

the second them few cavan boys made a go for The Rock they may as well a signed their own death warrants, they picked the wrong man and the wrong team. was great to see every man bust their hole to go in and back up their main man, that told me a lot before a ball was even thrown in.

Would this be the same "main man" that the squad had the captaincy stripped from 'cos the they couldn't stand him?

McKeever is Armagh captain.

I understand Cavan supporters sticking up for their team. That is only right. As an Armagh man I will stand up for my team too. But some of the comments particularly against McKeever are beyond acceptable. If he did stand behind the Cavan flag to rile Cavan then so what. As was discussed on the Cavanagh thread last year most players will try to get an advantage. Cavan were silly to go in mob handed. McKeever has a persona on the pitch that riles many. If he was so despicable an individual why was he picked as vice captain for his country. I am not a Cullyhanna man and do not know the man personally. What I do know, however, that is at county open nights and events he is very personable and absolutely great with the kids.

[Throw ball]

Sorry I should say I am not blaming Cavan supporters for the McKeever talk.

[imtommygunn]

There's barely a cavan supporter commenting here!

[Throw ball]

There's barely a cavan supporter commenting here!

A few only! I added the last post to make sure those here realised I wasn't getting at them.

[yellowcard]

Seems to be mostly Tyrone fans and a St Galls man (for some strange reason) commenting against McKeever. No surprise with the Tyrone supporters but who would have known that St Galls or Antrim had a rivalry with McKeever?

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

There's barely a cavan supporter commenting here!

You're correct there. The other thing is that most of them weren't even at the game

[The Bearded One]

Just an observation, from the footage I have seen as Cavan approached the parade Andy Mallon was down fixing his socks and another Armagh player was facing behind him - they hardly looked like men set up for a confrontation. When it did kick off more Armagh players stepped back from the melee than Cavan, again a suggestion they hadn't gone looking for this.

[mylestheslasher]

There's barely a cavan supporter commenting here!

You're correct there. The other thing is that most of them weren't even at the game

Were you at the game??? There was a large Cavan support there I can tell you. We didnt have much to shout about that is all. If you go back to these pages before the match you'll find there was a conversation going on about how few Armagh fans were even commenting on the match but now ye are all coming out of the woodwork.

Anway. The fight has been well covered but my take on it is Armagh intentionally went to the wrong flag. Ye have form for messing in a parade, McGeeney himself was on a Armagh team that was at the same shite in Clones against Cavan on 02 or 03. Cavan seen the position that Armagh stood in as a challenge and ran into them and the rest you can see. Ironically Cavan won this psychological battle as Armagh had to move and Cavan held the early lead. But that was as good as it got for us. We were terrible. Armagh played 13 men behind the ball (what happened to Grimleys attacking philosophy) but to be honest I was expecting it. Seems to have taken Cavan management by surprise as we didnt have a clue. Our kickouts and runs for kickouts were as bad as I've seen in a long time from any team and only our Full Back line held their own. Armagh should have won that game by 15 points and they will be worried about their misses. People say Jamie Clarke played well, In my opinion he did only ok as he was very wasteful.
With all the chat about the fight another thing was missed and that was  the performance of the referree Marty Duffy. Let me start by saying he in no way effected the outcome as Armagh were clearly miles better but he did show all that is wrong with new rules as he was completely incapable of implementing the rules. Here are some examples and I am sorry they are mostly Cavan ones but those stick in my mind more.

1- McKeever should have been given black card on 3 occassions. The last one he charged into Mackey with his fists up. Duffy pointed at him indicating he saw it and then gave him a yellow. Pathetic cowardly decision.
2- Half time scuffle. Keating missed a poor free. His marker runs over to him and starts mouthing into his ear. That is a black card offence. Keating enraged runs after him and charges into him and he gets the yellow.
3- Armagh get advantage, as the Armagh player pulls the trigger Duffy pulls him back for the free. Ball goes over the bar and the free is put wide.
4- 2nd half he throws up the ball and watches the Armagh midfielder bear hug Gearoid McKiernan 3 yards in front of him and then allows armagh run up  the field unpunished to score a point.
5- He follows  that up by giving Armagh a 45 which no one else on the pitch or in the ground could see.
6- When the game is over and there is nothing at stake, Marty decides he'll hand out the black card. Coward.

I am not saying he was biased to cavan, he is just absolutley diabolical ref that should be retired asap.

Best of luck to Armagh in the next round, ye will give Tyrone lots of it.

I'd just like to finish by saying I have never seen so many sober Armagh people in one place in my life. Surely a record.

[Wildweasel74]

C`mon lads hes not commonly knowing as a escapee from Duffy's circus for nothing, ever time our county get him in a game i tremble,

[StGallsGAA]

According to Tony Fearon Jamie Clarke is Armagh captain and since Tony knows more about Armagh GAA than the rest of you lot put together......

In fairness to McKeever all he did was headlock the Cavan no 7 for about 10 mins.    The only reason everyone is blaming him for the trouble is that it's usually his fault. ... according to Armagh people that is. .

[Throw ball]

Mylestheslasher I take your point on Duffy. I will say though that I think Keating got booked because he struck out - once at McGeeney as he ushered the Armagh player away. It is also nearly impossible for the referee to give a black card for verbals unless he hears it.

As for Clarke I would agree with you to some extent, but Armagh set up to use him more as a decoy and it worked.

[J OGorman]

There's barely a cavan supporter commenting here!

You're correct there. The other thing is that most of them weren't even at the game

Were you at the game??? There was a large Cavan support there I can tell you. We didnt have much to shout about that is all. If you go back to these pages before the match you'll find there was a conversation going on about how few Armagh fans were even commenting on the match but now ye are all coming out of the woodwork.

Anway. The fight has been well covered but my take on it is Armagh intentionally went to the wrong flag. Ye have form for messing in a parade, McGeeney himself was on a Armagh team that was at the same shite in Clones against Cavan on 02 or 03. Cavan seen the position that Armagh stood in as a challenge and ran into them and the rest you can see. Ironically Cavan won this psychological battle as Armagh had to move and Cavan held the early lead. But that was as good as it got for us. We were terrible. Armagh played 13 men behind the ball (what happened to Grimleys attacking philosophy) but to be honest I was expecting it. Seems to have taken Cavan management by surprise as we didnt have a clue. Our kickouts and runs for kickouts were as bad as I've seen in a long time from any team and only our Full Back line held their own. Armagh should have won that game by 15 points and they will be worried about their misses. People say Jamie Clarke played well, In my opinion he did only ok as he was very wasteful.
With all the chat about the fight another thing was missed and that was  the performance of the referree Marty Duffy. Let me start by saying he in no way effected the outcome as Armagh were clearly miles better but he did show all that is wrong with new rules as he was completely incapable of implementing the rules. Here are some examples and I am sorry they are mostly Cavan ones but those stick in my mind more.

1- McKeever should have been given black card on 3 occassions. The last one he charged into Mackey with his fists up. Duffy pointed at him indicating he saw it and then gave him a yellow. Pathetic cowardly decision.
2- Half time scuffle. Keating missed a poor free. His marker runs over to him and starts mouthing into his ear. That is a black card offence. Keating enraged runs after him and charges into him and he gets the yellow.
3- Armagh get advantage, as the Armagh player pulls the trigger Duffy pulls him back for the free. Ball goes over the bar and the free is put wide.
4- 2nd half he throws up the ball and watches the Armagh midfielder bear hug Gearoid McKiernan 3 yards in front of him and then allows armagh run up  the field unpunished to score a point.
5- He follows  that up by giving Armagh a 45 which no one else on the pitch or in the ground could see.
6- When the game is over and there is nothing at stake, Marty decides he'll hand out the black card. Coward.

I am not saying he was biased to cavan, he is just absolutley diabolical ref that should be retired asap.

Best of luck to Armagh in the next round, ye will give Tyrone lots of it.

I'd just like to finish by saying I have never seen so many sober Armagh people in one place in my life. Surely a record.

I'd have been surprised if Cavan didnt bring a big support. Usually do. Match not televised either

[naka]

Cavan had a big support with them
Was sitting beside two elderly cavan men
Have to say perfect gentlemen , we chatted about game and try seemed very knowledgeable about tactics etc
They also told me that dunne wasn't starting so were surprised when he lined up
Were scathing on the Cavan kick out policy and about the room Caolan and Eugene had
When game over they shook hands with me and that was it.

[general_lee]

Might seem silly but the row at the start set the game up nicely IMO.

Athletic Grounds was like a cauldron after that. Both teams raring to go but I think Cavan were a bit too psyched up. In terms of blame, both sides have to take some responsibility.. Cavan did start it though. 

They seemed to search for confrontation in the early stages, and even in the match the no3 (Dunne?) was constantly acting the bollox for the duration of the first half.

Genuinely fancied Armagh to win after last year's debacle, but never as easy as they did. Lots of things to work on, especially in the forward line, but a semi-final in Clones to look for, myles you can see plenty of buckfast enthusiasts out that day I can assure you