AIQF 2017 Tír Eoghain vs Ard Macha, Sat. August 5th @4pm

[tonto1888]

I see Mickey Harte coming out with the cute hoorism in the Irish news today. He seems to forget Forker got booked at the same time as Donnelly and managed to not get himself sent off.

[Armamike]

Wouldn't be the first time we've been painted as the bad guys in the lead up to a Tyrone game!  Mickey wouldn't be at the old mind games with the ref now would he? 

[seafoid]

A win for Tyrone is a must. They have to make progress after last year. They don't want to be another Ulster team who get stuck at the quarter final stage. For Armagh it is an adventure. You would expect Tyrone to win but if it is close it will be interesting.

[Applesisapples]

Armagh have nothing to lose on Saturday, a 4/5 point loss will be seen as progress and a good basis for next year. A win will make them hard prospect for anyone to face in the semi. Its a long time since an Armagh team has brought this much enthusiasm  back into the county and long may it continue. Tyrone on the other hand are the coming team, next big thing, the result will hang on there attitude. They will underestimate Armagh at their peril, though Harte is too cute for that. Heart (pun intended) says Armagh by 2, head says Tyrone by 4, I hope the heart is right.

[Applesisapples]

On an aside at this stage both Tyrone and Armagh attract an element who wouldn't know their local club if it bit them and they'll be their for the swally, I hope they don't let the Counties or OWC down.

[An Watcher]

I know someone mentioned this earlier but are both of Saturdays games on Sky?  Doesn't say anything on the skysports website

[omagh_gael]

On an aside at this stage both Tyrone and Armagh attract an element who wouldn't know their local club if it bit them and they'll be their for the swally, I hope they don't let the Counties or OWC down.

With it being a sell out double header there'll be less room for the Swally brigade. Whatever tickets were available on general sale were snapped up very fast.

On a separate note, how did the club ticket requests work for the Armagh ones? Most clubs in Tyrone had to have requests in by tuesdsy/Wednesday last week. Must be a quick turnaround for the Armagh/Monaghan county boards.

[Owen Brannigan]

What did Tyrone do to Down who beat Armagh in the 1st rd, same for Derry and Donegal; all playing in higher division that Armagh! Armagh have improved but will not trouble Tyrone!

Don't think Down can be used as the yardstick in this instance, they folded against both Tyrone and a Monaghan team they owned in Armagh. In both cases the secret was to put a lead of 5/6 points on them and they lose heart with no one on the bench as good as on the field.

[yellowcard]

I see Mickey Harte coming out with the cute hoorism in the Irish news today. He seems to forget Forker got booked at the same time as Donnelly and managed to not get himself sent off.

What did Harte say?

[LurganHoop]

I will add my name to the list of Armagh supporters saying Tyrone should win this with a bit to spare, but obviously secretly hoping Armagh can pull off the ambush of the Summer!
In all seriousness the Tyrone players will be very confident going into this one and rightly so. They have been playing at a high level all year and have their game plan down to a t. It's difficult to see too many chinks in their armour and how Armagh could rack up enough scores to win the game. Hopefully McGeeney will come up with something to trouble the Tyrone system...accurate fast ball into the forward line seems the best way to do so, so hopefully Murnin makes it as he is a serious ball winner.
Although Tyrone have been playing at a much higher level all year and have a bit more experience, Armagh having had 4 games in 5 weeks should stand to them and hopefully we will have an edge there in terms of match sharpness. Tyrone have not been tested so far so if (and it really is a massive if), Armagh can keep with them until 50 minute I wouldn't be surprised were Armagh to go on to win it as we have been finishing games extremely strongly.
What will the likely match ups be?

Charlie / Sean
Morgan / Donnelly
Shields / Harte
Murnin / McCarron
Jamie / McNamee
Soupy / Hampsey

Hopefully it's a great occasion and the winners go on to beat Dublin in the semi-final!

[Fuzzman]

I'm usually fairly level headed going in to any match as you can never tell what can happen. A day off shooting, a man sent off early, a wet day so harder to score from distance.

I was at the games on Sat night and to be honest I was expecting Kildare to be a lot better as I'd heard a lot of talk about them but to be completely honest, we've got a much easier quarterfinal draw than we did last year. I don't mean to be disrespectful to Armagh in the slightest as they have done very well to get back on the horse and arrive at this stage but as Beantown and a few others have written, Tyrone are at a totally different stage of their team development and this can be seen by how they have swatted teams aside with little fuzz sorry fuss. Many have said they've not been tested and that will be their downfall and maybe it will against a top 3 side but not against teams further down the ladder.

The game has changed so much tactically and physically. Watching teams like Tipperary, Down & Armagh is much more entertaining for most as they are prepared to kick the ball in long and risk losing possession. Whereas if you watch the top 4 teams, possession is king and they often don't let you have the ball. I was amazed on Sunday how much Roscommon just launched a big high hopeful ball into the FF line which more often than not came straight back out again.

Connaire Harrison ran Monaghan ragged the first day and he surprisingly did well again last Saturday. Tyrone totally took him out of the game and you would imagine the same will happen with Jamie Clarke this Saturday.

Saying all this however, I am really not sure if we are close enough to give the Dubs or Kerry a good game. I'd like to hope that we've progressed but it's not until you meet them and beat them than you can say for sure.

3 of the 4 provincial final losers all got beaten in round 4 of the qualifiers yet again with only Galway progresssing but it was still a great win for McGeeney and it will give Armagh a bit of belief in themselves.
Armagh gave Donegal a big scare back in 2014 when the just lost out by 1 point. Donegal went on to beat Dublin in the semi and then lost to Kerry in the final.
Maybe we should let Armagh take the Ulster reins from here on in? 

[yellowcard]

I will add my name to the list of Armagh supporters saying Tyrone should win this with a bit to spare, but obviously secretly hoping Armagh can pull off the ambush of the Summer!
In all seriousness the Tyrone players will be very confident going into this one and rightly so. They have been playing at a high level all year and have their game plan down to a t. It's difficult to see too many chinks in their armour and how Armagh could rack up enough scores to win the game. Hopefully McGeeney will come up with something to trouble the Tyrone system...accurate fast ball into the forward line seems the best way to do so, so hopefully Murnin makes it as he is a serious ball winner.
Although Tyrone have been playing at a much higher level all year and have a bit more experience, Armagh having had 4 games in 5 weeks should stand to them and hopefully we will have an edge there in terms of match sharpness. Tyrone have not been tested so far so if (and it really is a massive if), Armagh can keep with them until 50 minute I wouldn't be surprised were Armagh to go on to win it as we have been finishing games extremely strongly.
What will the likely match ups be?

Charlie / Sean
Morgan / Donnelly
Shields / Harte
Murnin / McCarron
Jamie / McNamee
Soupy / Hampsey

Hopefully it's a great occasion and the winners go on to beat Dublin in the semi-final!

Definitely wouldn't be playing Vernon on Cavanagh in this match given that he is his brother in law. I'd be putting McKeever in to mark Cavanagh for this match. McKeever is always able to handle Cavanagh and I don't think Cavanagh enjoys coming up against him.

[Main Street]

Won't it be an unmitigated disaster for Tyrone county football if they do not put a rising Armagh team in their place?
Sean Cavanagh was quoted as saying that losing to Armagh in 2014  "one of the most sickening" of his career. I think Armagh had been relegated to div 3 that year.

[Fuzzman]

It's on Sky sports arena 408.
http://tv.sky.com/tv-guide#/day/4

[Taylor]

Fuzzman - I have the same apprehensions about meeting the Dubs. We havent been really tested since Mayo last year and if we played like that we would not be able to compete with the Dubs. Saying that I do think our balance between defence & attack is much better this season.

Going back to Saturdays game - while Armagh did finish strongly they did look shattered come the end. You have to wonder what is left in the tank for this weekend given the high intensity we are guaranteed to bring.