Armagh V Cavan

[bert and ernie]

Fair play to Cross for giving the green light on Tony and Stephen.

No doubt that Cross only did it because they felt it would be in their own interests. Worked well for Armagh though.

Was thinking that, were the two Kernans not carrying injuries, it was probably to give them a good competitive outing, as you say though worked well for Armagh.

[Uladh]

THE Kernan dynasty is alive and well in the Orchard county. Joe Kernan may have stepped down as manager, but sons Tony and Stephen proved yesterday that the name still has a big part to play in the fortunes of Armagh football.

Tony Kernan (21), making his senior debut, was sprung from the bench at half-time and hit five wondrous points, while the elder Stephen announced his arrival after 52 minutes and bagged two brilliant scores.

Those seven points went a long way to overturning Cavan's five-point half-time lead, with the industrious Martin O'Rourke also prominent in the Orchard county's thrilling second half comeback. Afterwards, Tony and Stephen Kernan smiled like Cheshire cats before being wrapped up in cotton wool again for Crossmaglen's All-Ireland Club semi-final later this month.

Peter McDonnell's side fully deserved their one-point victory in Division Two, even though they'd trailed by such a wide margin at half-time.

Cavan came flying out of the blocks and forged ahead by 1-4 to 0-1, thanks to a hat-trick of points, two frees from impressive wing-forward Martin Reilly and a goal and a point from Seanie Johnston.

In the 18th minute, Jason Reilly's goal attempt came back off the upright, but Johnston reacted quickest to poke the rebound home from close range.

At the other end, chances rained down on the Cavan goalposts but Stevie McDonnell missed two gilt-edged frees, Ronan Clarke had a goal chance saved by the excellent James Reilly and midfielder Gareth O'Neill should have bagged a three-pointer in the 32nd minute, but flashed his shot wide.

The home side clocked up seven wides in the opening 35 minutes, but their approach play was impressive, even if it didn't translate to the

scoreboard.

However, Armagh's centre half-back Aidan O'Rourke, who returned after a year in the wilderness, played with confidence and industry,

hitting perhaps a dozen probing balls forward, with Martin O'Rourke, Brian Mallon and Paddy McKeever showing plenty of enterprise on the three-quarter line.

Keith Fannin and Lorcan Mulvey were cautioned in the opening half for cynical fouls, while Anthony Forde made good use of possession along the Breffni men's half-forward line.

But Forde was forced back into a more familiar centre-back role in a defensive

re-shuffle for the start of the second half after Fannin was withdrawn shortly before the break.

But it didn't matter to Tony Kernan, who excelled once he was thrown into the fray for the second half, while Ciaran McKeever tightened up the wing-back area.

The younger Kernan needed only a few seconds before finding his range in the 36th minute and, after Seanie Johnston tagged on another free for the visitors, Armagh hit four unanswered points.

Despite James Reilly's 58th minute penalty save from McDonnell, the Armagh machine was purring with efficiency and they finally edged ahead in the 69th minute when Tony Kernan split the posts with a fabulous 50-yard free.

Seconds later Stephen Kernan grabbed his second point to ensure that Peter McDonnell got his first NFL campaign off to a winning start.

MATCH STATS

Armagh: C McKinney; E McNulty, B Donaghy, F Moriarty; G Smith, A O'Rourke, P Duffy; G O'Neill (0-1), P McGrane; M O'Rourke (0-1), B Mallon, P McKeever (0-2, frees); G Swift, R Clarke (0-2), S McDonnell (0-1) Subs: T Kernan (0-5, 0-3 frees) for B Mallon (h/t), C McKeever for G Smyth (h/t), S Kernan (0-2) for P McKeever (52), K Toner for G Swift (57)

Cavan: J Reilly; M Hannon, R Dunne, K Fannin; B Watters (0-1), P Reilly, J McCutcheon (0-1); L Mulvey, J Cunningham; M Reilly (0-4, 0-2 frees), R Donohue, A Forde; J Reilly, E O'Reilly, S Johnston (1-4, 0-3 frees) Subs: M Lyng for K Fannin (33), G Pierson for J Reilly (46), S Brady for E Reilly (62), M Cunningham for R Donohue (70)

Referee: C Reilly (Meath).



Irish News

[Uladh]

A very good performance from armagh i thought, despite the apparant closeness of the game. obviously the forward line needs to become a bit more economical but i'm sure that'll come with games. it was powerful to see McGrane patrolling the middle again and armagh created a ton of chances from ball he won. tony kernan certainly proved his worth on his debut with some fantastic kicks under pressure. good performances all round but excellence from duffy, McGrane, m o'rourke and tony kernan. the first half could have been a whole lot worse too if it weren't for a o'rourke. promising glimpses from s kernan too when he came on.

away to west meath in a fortnight and a win could roll the wagon on rghtly

[orangeman]

Now - hands up lads   - who said that Stephen Kernan wasn't up to IC football

I seem to remember this topic raging after the Derry game last year - apologies on a postcard please ! 

[umgolaarmagh]

First game of the year,

He didnt stand out in Ruislip last week,

Though maybe with JK not managing then it might relaese some pressure of him and could prove to be a good year for him

Time will tell

[orangeman]

Isn't it ironic that the 2 Kernan boys come on and win the game for Mc Donnell  ?

[David McKeown]

A couple of observations I had on the game.

I thought after the Cavan goal, Armagh were excellent yesterday and controlled most of the rest of the game.  That said I thought the entire full back line struggled for some reason which is something that will need to be looked at.

I thought our best player today over the 70 minutes was Paul Duffy

The refereeing today I thought was very inconsistent and seemed to favour Cavan in the first half but more than favour Armagh in the second.

The number of misses by the Armagh forwards was worrying but the number of chances they created was superb.  Roll on the Westmeath game to see if we can build on this.

[cavan4ever]

A couple of observations I had on the game.

I thought after the Cavan goal, Armagh were excellent yesterday and controlled most of the rest of the game.  That said I thought the entire full back line struggled for some reason which is something that will need to be looked at.

I thought our best player today over the 70 minutes was Paul Duffy

The refereeing today I thought was very inconsistent and seemed to favour Cavan in the first half but more than favour Armagh in the second.

The number of misses by the Armagh forwards was worrying but the number of chances they created was superb.  Roll on the Westmeath game to see if we can build on this.

I'd agree with you there i though we got some handy decisons in the first half but from the very start of the second half he mad sure Armagh were going to get back into the game.  Armagh were the better team though and only for poor free taking and great goalkeeping would have been at least level at half time. 

[Donagh]

Good performance by Armagh yesterday. Once Clarke and McDonnell shake of that ring rustiness we should surely be capable of getting a head of steam gathering and challenging in this division. Jazus but thon Seanie Johnston lad did some gurning.

[mackers]

Thought Armagh played reasonably well, McKinney was very unlucky for the goal, thought he got a touch on the first effort which would have been an excellent save. Moriarty did very well on Johnstone who was Cavan's best forward, Paul Duffy & A O'Rourke were outstanding in the half back line. O'Neill continued to show his potential and M O'Rourke did a great job for us.

Good day at the office for the manager as the substitutions and positional changes worked a treat and he can't be held responsible for the glaring problems of the first half which was poor shooting. Cavan keeper had a great game and only for him, we would have been out of sight halfway through the second half.

Finally, some of the Cavan tackling was off the map, esp. in the first half, and a team with an established freetaker would kill Cavan if they continue with that tactic.

[altovito]

Moriarty did very well on Johnstone

r u stevie f**king wonder?moriarty was behind every time + fouled nonstop.the lad tries hard but is nt county material.m orourke was suprisingly good + used the ball well.r managers fraid to take stevie mc d off? was very poor yesterday-any other player would have been warming the bench.oneil showed well.mc keever steadied the defence.look at our fb line compared to monaghans ff line,we wud b destroyed.2 kernans were very good when introduced

[Hardy]

We saw a rare sight in yesterday's game. The Cavan goalie stayed on his line for the penalty - and still saved it. Diarmuid Murphy was out at the edge of the small square on Saturday night when he stopped the Donegal penalty. The ref passed no remarks at all, as is the norm, so who could blame Diarmuid?

[gander]

r managers fraid to take stevie mc d off? was very poor yesterday-any other player would have been warming the bench

It was Stevies first match of the year, prob better to give him as much game time as possible to get the sharpness back.

[Abble]

stevie has been disappoingting not only yesterday but most of 07 also.  i don't think it has anything to do with rustiness. for a forward of his calibre to be missing some of the straight-forward frees he's taking is pretty inexcusable.

tony kernan came on and was slotting over frees for fun and none of them were easy.

it's plain to see tony kernan is a lad who works on his frees and stevie by the look of things aint. a lot of games are won and lost on frees and there are probably 4 possible great free takers available...but by the look of it tony kernan could give them all a lesson.

[el_cuervo_fc]

I thought overall yestarday there were some promising aspects.  Young O'neill played well in the middle, Ronan showed up well in the full forward line showing how good he is at winning the ball.  I thought M O'Rourke done well and won a lot of frees for us.  The Changes in the second half worked a treat with the two Kernans leading the way.

I thought C McKeever done well when he came on as well.  Did anyone see his dive?