Armagh v Cork

[maddog]

Even at his peak i was never the biggest francie fan. he can still do a job no doubt but he's cost armagh dearly in a number of major matches but that has largely gone unnoticed because of his lovable reputation

Any games that particularly stand out ?

2005 semi final ?? Any others ?

What did Francie do wrong in the 2005 semi? Dont think he marked O'Neill that day after the roasting he got in the drawn Ulster final.

[Benny Barnaveld]

Unfortunately Francie has got himself a reputation.
In these past few years, most refs have deal with him by booking him for the first tackle he makes, whether it be good bad or indifferent. With the amount of diving etc going on now a days a booked back has to give his man more space that you would like.

Francie does not have the pace but his positioning and strength, and his ability to hold onto a ball compensate in my book.

[stew]

Even at his peak i was never the biggest francie fan. he can still do a job no doubt but he's cost armagh dearly in a number of major matches but that has largely gone unnoticed because of his lovable reputation

He has also bailed us out in many critical gamesby doing the litle things that go largely un-noticed. Francie has been a tremendous servant to Club and County and I think as long as he is as good an option as we have for FB he should be playing there. Francie was never a world beater but he was exactly what we needed at FB for six years.

[Uladh]

Interestingly, he never played full back for armagh til 2004

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Did not get out yesterday but on what I have seen I am alot more confident.

The fact of the matter now is that the worry was we would not find a decent 15, now we have options.

My 15:

McKinney
Donaghy Bellew Mallon
Ak Aor McKeever
McGrane Toner
M O Rourke P McKeever SK
Mallon Clarke McDonnell

That is an excellent first fifteen and the sub bench is very strong. look at this for cover:

Gk- Hearty
Defence - Shannon, Moriarty , Duffy
Midfield - Lavery, ONeill, Swift
Forward - Michael O Rourke, TK, Oisin, (swift/Oneill ff)

That will be close to Armaghs championship 15. Wouldnt be suprised if McNulty started instead of Francie, on form I'd rate him as a tighter man marker but maybe he's past his best now. Not convinced yet that Toner is your answer for midfield but not sure who a better option would be. Would love to see a Tyrone Armagh ulster semi.

[Orior]

TO ORIOR
you dont seem to be a good judge of a footballer.
Maybe you should try the crosswords

Ok, you win.

[corn02]

Dreamer it will happen, no doubt about that. Actually I don't see how anyone can see anything other than a Tyrone / Armagh semi.

As you say Midfield is a problem, what would be your Tyrone 15?

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Wouldnt be totally sure on our best 15 and a lot will depend on the fitness of players. Something like this:
McConnell
McMenamin
Joe McMahon
McGee
Harte
Gormley
Jordan
McGinley
Justy McMahon
Dooher
McGuigan
C Cavanagh
Tommy McGuigan
S Cavanagh
Mulligan

Certainly we should meet in the ulster semi but you never know in ulster football. Armagh would have been expected to beat Monaghan in 03 or Tyrone would have been expected to beat Donegal in 04. I think it would be a total 50 50 game if we did meet and neither set of fans would be that confident.

[bennydorano]

saw this on hoganstand.com

McDonnell: Write Tyrone off at your peril
19 April 2008


As the NFL draws to a close, all attention turns to the championship and Armagh forward Steven McDonnell has stressed that any team that writes Tyrone off has got it all wrong.

McDonnell and his Armagh team mates have had many great battles with the Red Hand County over the last decade, but many feel that injuries have taken their toll on Mickey Harte's charges and their not the same as they use to be, which ironically is the same train of thought about Armagh.

However, the All-Star is in no doubt come championship time, Tyrone will be their main rivals once again for the provincial title.

"At the end of the day, we're preparing for the championship and we're coming close now, as are Tyrone," says McDonnell. "They're a team you can never write off also. If people or teams are going to write us off too then let them do so at their own peril."

The talented corner forward is confident that Armagh have made strides during the league campaign and are finding their form at just the right time.

"Without doubt. In the couple of games that we've won this year we've put up good scores and we've played good attacking football. Definitely, Peter has a system in place and when it works it works well. So we're happy with how things are going."

[Tyrone Dreamer]

For all the talk of Derry/Monaghan if Tyrone or Armagh get to the ulster final they'll be hard to beat.

[crossfire]

TO ULADH

You must have been some footballer yourself if you didn't really rate Francie.
What club are you from ?

I notice that you have Stephen Kernan in your team which is strange considering the amount of criticism you gave him.
Perhaps someone who knows a bit about football pointed out his attributes to you.

[armamike08]

AFC

An odd game between two teams with nothing to play for. In fact, i'm nearly glad of the bit of niggle in the last 15 minutes because it added some much needed intensity.

To the team:

McKinney - Didn't have much to do. Poor kick outs to our non-existent midfield, should have tried a few short ones.
Kernan - Again, not much to do and he was ordinary enough when called upon. Won't start come championship.
Bellew - Great to see him back. Looked a bit more up to speed than against Meath a few weeks ago. Needs games, games, games in the next two months.
Moriarty - Spectacularly ordinary once again.
McKeever - Continued to develop into one of the most complete defenders in the country.
O'Rourke - Why on earth was this man off the panel last year? Superb reader of the game and can take a score when the opportunity arises. Nicked a point today.
Kernan - Great going forward as usual. Unfortunate to be sent off for 2 yellows, the second of which was for some unnecessary off the ball antics.
McGrane - Carried whatever midfield threat we had on his own. Not the force of old and needs a partner from somewhere.
McKenna - Scored a point, but didn't do a lot else. Its asking too much of him too soon to make the step up. Needs about two years of weights training.
Vernon - Powerful running that won us two frees, which were subsequently put over. Still fumbling a lot of ball for some reason.
McKeever - The success story of the league for me. Has shown well in the last two games and his free taking has improved immeasurably. Has to start CHF for the championship.
Mallon - Looked good in the opening exchanges before going off injured after about 20 minutes.
O'Rourke - Similar level of performance to what T Kernan has been showing in previous games. Scored a point but missed a few too.
Swift - Showed well and won his fair safe of ball but was poor when he got it. Kicked a couple of wides and his lay off weren't as accurate and fluent as Clarke's.
McConville - Seems to have lost a bit of pace and power but if he's on the end of good accurate passes he'll still put the ball over from anywhere. Scored a great point from out on the sideline.

O'Rourke - Came on early for Mallon and was his usual busy self. That stamp near the end looked painful.
Loughran - On for Vernon and played around the middle. Was absolutely anonymous, not worth any more chances.
A Mallon - On for Moriarty. Good to see him back, need him fit for the championship.
Clarke - On late for Swift presumably to improve his fitness further, no real impact.
McDonnell - On late for O'Rourke and hit a lovely point in injury time to level the match.

Agree 100% with that analysis of the performances AFC.

There are probably about 4 places up for grabs for the starting 15. McNulty or Bellew in the backline. Toner probably the best bet alongside McGrane. There are a few interesting options in the half forward line now.  Martin O'Rourke is a certain starter. Paddy McKeever, being Paddy McKeever, didn't build on his performance from last week so that muddies things a bit. It's probably a case of getting the balance right between power and guile here, i.e. a line with Brian Mallon and Stephen Kernan together wouldn't work. Maybe O'Rourke/McKeever/Kernan or alternatively Vernon/O'Rourke/Kernan. Injuries and the opposition may dictate things with this line.  Big question mark over who's going to play no. 15.  Any one of McConville, Kernan, Mallon, O'Rourke.  McConville's not going to provide any movement, but is still very handy with the ball into his chest.  Brian Mallon would bring a lot of energy, probably dropping a bit deeper.  Wasn't overly impressed with the younger O'Rourke yesterday, nor what i've seen of him in some of the bigger club games in recent years. Tends to go missing a bit, and there's a big question mark over his size and ability to deal with the physical side of things. Again, like McConville, he needs the right type of ball going into, pinpoint. Peter McDonnell has a couple of hard decisions to make but he has a few options open to him, and there are players to come off the bench with different styles about them to change things if need be.  I'm quite optimistic about the year ahead. There are some very good players coming through and the team is capable of playing some really good football. Just need to get the balance right in the forwards and cut down on the soft goals being conceded.

[PatDaly]

Enda McNulty will cost Armagh another All-Ireland title if he starts. Remember Darren O'Sullivan's goal against Armagh in 2006 (thank you very much Oisin) and Darra McGarty's point that should have been a goal in 2002 (thank you very much Oisin)

Enda has the unfortunate knack of making massive mistakes at critical moments in the most important games. Enda also has a tendency to give away frees in very scoreable positions. Enda is now a few years older so the likelihood of him making further big mistakes and continuing to consistently foul can only have increased.

Its time for the younger lads to get a chance and for McNulty to follow up on that potential job at Aston Villa.

[stephenite]

Enda McNulty will cost Armagh another All-Ireland title if he starts.

In fairness, whether or not Enda McNulty starts will have zero impact on Armagh's chances of winning this years All Ireland - they are as far away as my own Mayo from getting their hands on Sam and we're fairly far away

[Uladh]

Darra McGarty's point that should have been a goal in 2002 (thank you very much Oisin)

That wasn't enda mcnulty.

whats oisin got to do with anything?