Armagh Vs Dorty Dubs

[David McKeown]

Clarke was clearly hurt before the goal so fair play to him to score it, hopefully its not too bad an injury but he left with ice on his calf. Tony Kernan looked in very bad shape being carried off after the game. As far as Clarkes goal went it looked about 2 foot wide when Clarke and I had a pretty good view

[Northside Dub]

I had a good view of it too and it was definitely wide but McConnell was nowhere near him for it in anyway.
Fair play to armagh, better team won on the day if they can maintain that level of performance and especially the form of clarke and mcdonell they'll be in the mix-up!!

[corn02]

An excellent performance. I know Dublinwere not at full strength, but you would haveto be a hard one to pick fault with that Armagh performance.

Hearty was solid, could not do anything with the goal and maybe should have varied the kick outs when Fennell was cleaning midfield.

Full back line - was it Donaghy or Finn Mo who frigged up for the goal, I thought it was Donaghy. I was going to say Donaghy had a poor one and Finn Mo done well but I may have to reverse it. Donaghy did try to break the ball too often when he should have tried the catch. Paul Kernan was not great for me, if the service had of been better he could of been in trouble.

Half back line - Solid. Aaron came into it well in the second half and AOR was good as usual. Vaughan did not want a piece of McKeever, would this be a worry to the Dubliun fans? When he came up against a physical opponent he shyed away. He was gettinga lot of stick from the Dub fans round where I was, mainly for being yellow.

Midfield-Vernon done well in the first half, but for every good thing he done, his next move was bad. A couple of wides and fumbles were not encouraging, but his second half performance was.

McGrane was cleaned out, pure and simple. Two weeks running and we talk about who will partner him? Maybe it may be time to blood two new midfielders.

At the same time, Fennel (who was easily Dublin's best player) went missing in the critical stage due to Whelan / blood sub.

Half forward line - Fantastic. McKeever suited the number 11 slot. He was not about the running, he just got the ball and picked the passes, excellent performance. Kernan worked his socks off, his best performance to date. Excellent tracking back and ended up with two? scores I think.

O'Rourke was immense throughout. Think of the amount of times he was on the ball and then think about how many mistakes he made. First class.

Full forward line - Kernan was ok, still needs to get involved more in open play, was a bit sloppy today. His injury looked bad and hopefully he will be back soon.
Clarke and McDonnell were excellent. Stevie gave his two markers the proverbial roasting. He ran them ragged. Calrke was out in front every time and due to MOR putting in excellent ball they benefited.

Overall - With that work rate that was on show today, we will sttill be there or there abouts. SK and Paddy McKeever were helping out MOR in the ball winning department. Qucik sharp football. Direct, with little hand passing in the defence paid off.

MOTM - Martin O'Rourke.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Full back line - was it Donaghy or Finn Mo who frigged up for the goal,

Moriarty I thought though I wrongly attributed the mistake last week to him. Bad bad error anyway.

[stew]

At game today and glad to say have to eat my words re Paddy McKeever thought he had a good game in what was the best display from an armagh half forward line in sometime. They worked hard and also their distribution was top class into the boys inside.
As an Armagh man living in Down it is great that Pete McGrath was a wee bit hasty with his prediction in the Gaelic Life this week!!! There is plenty of talent in our squad at the minute so as I heard one man say before 'We haven't gone away you know'   

I am delighted McKeever proved me wrong however McGrane is obviously not at the races  and this is troubling, especiall as the championship is just around the corner. is he carrying an injury or what is wrong with him? you cant go that bad that quickly!

O'Rourke had a blinder from all acounts and to win a game that comprehensively against Dublin is a great result, especially when you consider that we did it despite getting killed in the midfield sector.

Maybe we should sit Mcgrane for a week and start vernon and toner in the middle and see what happens, I am not saying we should drop McGrane but it would be nice to find out  if we have options that work if he doesnt find his form soon.

[corn02]

Totally agree Stew, if it backfires, it will backfire in a meaningless game.

[orangeman]

Just back from the game myself. I thought it was quite entertaining and played in good spirit. (A few little scuffles but nothing major - I'm not sure what A. Brogan got sent off for cuz i was watching another scuffle down in the corner)

Here are a few of the points which are probably of zero use but sure here it goes:
- Fennell was outsanding in the first half, destroyed McGrane totally and should have been left on him when Whelan came on as McGrane started to have an influence on the game a bit more.
- Whelan is dirty 
- Aaron Kernan was good in the second half comig out of defense but B.Brogan (Dubs best forward) must have scored 1-2/1-3 from play,
- Vaughan hardly touched the ball and McKeever was obviously out to ruffle him up (which he done by the book from what I could see)
- Dublin's full back line was shocking, Clarke absolutely destroyed McConnell. I think he's a fantastic player. If Shane Lennon plays half as well as that in the championship we'd be in with a shout. McDonnell mixed the good with the bad bbut finished up with a goal and a few points.
- I liked the look of P. McKeever today, sprayed the ball around well but that was in large part to C. Moran (who was terrible and hardly touched the ball) dropping back in front of the full back line for the entire match. The Armagh crowd didn't seem too confident in his free-taking though 
- M. O'Rourke must have covered every blade of grass and won a mountain of ball.
- A lot of Dublin's big players didn't show - Cullen (who IMO hasn't played well in 2-3 years), Keaney, Moran, Vaughan etc.
- The referee was good in the first half but seemed to give Dublin a lot in the 2nd.
- P. Andrews gave McDonnell a rough time of it in the second half

You're joking ? 

[stew]

Overall - With that work rate that was on show today, we will sttill be there or there abouts. SK and Paddy McKeever were helping out MOR in the ball winning department. Qucik sharp football. Direct, with little hand passing in the defence paid off.

That is the kind of fotball we should be playing, not that short handpass shite that allows the opposition to close us down quickly. We have the speed and power up front to wreak havoc when we play intelligent balls into space and we are a better team playing this way as today proved. There is no comparison which style suits us more and the league results bear this out.

I keep arguing with a mate about our chances over the next few years, he thinks we are pure ket and i think we have a lot of talent there to challenge for an AI title. The next few months will be interesting to say the least.

[orangeman]

A huge result for Armagh today - well done - if they can keep this up, they'll be a force again !

[Gnevin]

Good win for a Armagh , has news of their demise being great exaggerated ?
If the ref blew his poxy whistle one more time  > Everything was a free , a complete clown . 

[corn02]

Just out of interest does anyone know what Brogan got red for? Had a good vierw and was mostly handbags, Paul Kernan took a bit of a slap but that was it, not even sure if that was Brogan.

[Hound]

Vaughan did not want a piece of McKeever, would this be a worry to the Dubliun fans? When he came up against a physical opponent he shyed away. He was gettinga lot of stick from the Dub fans round where I was, mainly for being yellow.

Vaughan is under strict instruction from Caffrey not to retaliate after getting two yellows the last time he played.

[corn02]

There is a diferrence between being physical and dirty.

[EugeneGeraghty]

Vaughan did not want a piece of McKeever, would this be a worry to the Dubliun fans? When he came up against a physical opponent he shyed away. He was gettinga lot of stick from the Dub fans round where I was, mainly for being yellow.

Vaughan is under strict instruction from Caffrey not to retaliate after getting two yellows the last time he played.

Vaughan never stands up and fights, he just throws sly digs and elbows when his opponent is defenceless. See Freeman in Monaghan game for a perfect example

[Hound]

There is a diferrence between being physical and dirty.

Of course there is.

Marco isnt the greatest at taking instruction. "Keep disciplined and don't retaliate" could well have equalled "avoid all physical confrontation" in his mind, especially as he was getting so much "hassle" from his marker.