Ulster Final 2008 - Armagh vs Fermanagh

[Travis T O Justice]

ARMAGH FOWL TACKLES

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pretty easy to spot the fowl tackle from behind... why didn't the ref? fair enough two men from the side or 1 in front plus one from the side but this type of tackling was going on by the Armagh players continually throughout the 70 minutes and should be stamped out of the game.

how is the player in possession supposed to play the ball when he is being mauled from all quarters? The GAA need to cut this out of the game!

And Fermanagh weren't guilty of this on Sunday last? If you are going to target this and point the finger then I suggest you include all guilty parties including your own team not just Armagh...and from a photo you saw on a website.

[corn02]

He could be right and merited in his argument, the fact that he used a still just destroyed his credibility.

Rufus I diasagree.

Evert team loses a couple of players year. No player can go on forwever. If you looked at the team that won Ulster in 1999 and the team that won in All-Ireland it was the same numbers/ leaders leaving. Burns/ Reid etc.

[sammymaguire]

Jasus Sammy you have it all worked out, Any chance you could give me the lotto numbers for sat night?

No Onion Bag, I am a GAA expert, Malachy's right hand man, I don't do Lottery, thats for mugs!

But for your information, your chances of winning the jackpot is 1 in 13,983,816 or approximately 1 in 14 million.  

Travis I was at the game and it was prevalent from the Armagh players throughout, sickening to watch actually.

[Onion Bag]

1 in 14 million thats a possibility

Let the Battle commence 

[Uladh]

Rufus - transition is a premeditated line pushed by armagh players and management but none of them believe it for a second. if it were a transition period you'd remove anyone who isn't gonna be there in 3 years and start from scratch. McDonnell seems to love trotting that line out.

there is evolution in every team every year. If McDonnell didn't believe he could win an all ireland he wouldn't be playing Paul McGrane, Aidan O'Rourke, Enda, francie and Oisin at all.

You bring your hankies on Sunday Onion Bag cos you Armagh boys will be the ones crying into your beers! All the pundits said this was an Armagh team in transition, it was going to be one of the most wide open Anglo Celts for many years and they were right BUT they were all plumping for Monaghan/Derry to come to the fore not Fermanagh and if this was any other team in Ulster bar Fermanagh, Cavan and Antrim, this Armagh side would be going in as the underdogs cos they are simply not that good. Yes, they have the experience but those experienced legs will be getting tired after two intense games when we get into the last twenty this Sunday and if Armagh do not have a sizeable enough lead then I can only see Fermanagh's fitness, determination and hunger prevailing. Armagh will probably have a man sent off in frustration near the end...

The least endearing element of fermanagh people is their arrogance for absolutely no reason. they were always that way and is the reason why they don't enjoy the blanket support that any team in their current position should have from neutrals. when you add to that the nasty side of their team its understandable why so many neutrals are supporting armagh, however irrational that may be.

[sammymaguire]

whats arrogant about Fermanagh people Uladh? dont you like being told that this Armagh team are not that good??? 

[Smokin Joe]

I am actually staggered with how confident all of the Fermanagh posters on this thread are for Sunday.

It really does appear that the average Erne follower thinks that Fermanagh will make less errors / iron out their mistakes from the first day, but that for some reason Armagh won't............

[liv]

FERMANAGH ALL THE WAY

They can and they will do it!

Sam will be brought home!

[sammymaguire]

FERMANAGH ALL THE WAY

They can and they will do it!

Sam will be brought home!

liv, don't get too carried away, Sam comes along in September, this is for the Anglo Celt Cup.

I am actually staggered with how confident all of the Fermanagh posters on this thread are for Sunday.

It really does appear that the average Erne follower thinks that Fermanagh will make less errors / iron out their mistakes from the first day, but that for some reason Armagh won't............

Smokin Joe, what mistakes did Armagh make?? they made the most of the opportunities they had, Clarke and O'Donnell were clinical and ruthless when they had possession. They just got a little complacent and ran out of steam

[bennydorano]

Rufus - transition is a premeditated line pushed by armagh players and management but none of them believe it for a second. if it were a transition period you'd remove anyone who isn't gonna be there in 3 years and start from scratch. McDonnell seems to love trotting that line out.

there is evolution in every team every year. If McDonnell didn't believe he could win an all ireland he wouldn't be playing Paul McGrane, Aidan O'Rourke, Enda, francie and Oisin at all.

Definetly a team in transition IMO, just not as marked as others may do it for the simple reason that McDonnell didn't want to come in and start from scratch and spend 2 or 3 years building a team while probably doing so from Divsion 3.  Evolution not revolution was a phrase trotted out a while back, and I agree with the philosophy, but it's still a transitory phase.

I thought McDonnell in his cryptic way was trying to say that they were not a team in transition - that it was everyone else saying it.

[FermGael]

The least endearing element of fermanagh people is their arrogance for absolutely no reason.

Uladh I would love to know where you are getting this from.  Fermanagh and arrogance is one thing that does not mix.  we do not have the record at Ulster or national level to have any.  Yes we have had success over the past 5 years but we have won nothing and that's what it is all about in the end.  The backdoor has developed us as a football county because it has taken us out of the caldron of Ulster football. It is less than 10 years ago that Armagh ended there 20 year wait for an Ulster title and looked what has happened since.  A lot of fermanagh people are just caught up in the moment.
If it's from some of the posters on the board, then you are probably being irked by a few Tyrone posters dressed up as Fermanagh men. 

they were always that way and is the reason why they don't enjoy the blanket support that any team in their current position should have from neutrals. when you add to that the nasty side of their team its understandable why so many neutrals are supporting Armagh, however irrational that may be.

I would say 99% of neutrals are supporting Fermanagh.  Armagh have been the best team in Ulster for the last 10 years. There record shows that.  As for this nasty side you say we have, we have just copied our more successful counterparts.  What's good for the goose and all that?  If we were to go back and play the football we played 5 or 6 years ago, we would have been beat in the first round.

I am actually staggered with how confident all of the Fermanagh posters on this thread are for Sunday.

It really does appear that the average Erne follower thinks that Fermanagh will make less errors / iron out their mistakes from the first day, but that for some reason Armagh won't............

Joe i would not call it confidence, more belief in this team. It is coming from the fact that we have beat Monaghan and Derry all ready this year.  I was of the opinion that coming into the final last Sunday we were underestimated.  Most pundits and supporters were playing lip service to the fact that Fermanagh had beaten Monaghan and Derry but still expected Armagh to take it.  Now we have came back from the brink against Armagh.  If Monaghan had done what Fermanagh have so far this year, people would be tipping them for the All Ireland.

[Fuzzman]

I think Fermanagh are more confident now as they are beginning to believe in themselves a lot more now.

They're hunger, work rate and downright stubbornness to not give up are great fighting factors and to me is the main reason why they're doing so well.

I thinlk though they need to get a wee bit more streetwise and to use that favourite word of Armagh people "DIVE" MORE
Armagh as we all know play on the edge and often step over that line

Refs are under huge pressure to try to let the game flow now and so the forward will rarely get a free if he rides the tackle and doesn't go to ground.
So why do Armagh fans get so riled about "diving"?

Cos it takes away their edge of being FAIRLY overphysical.
If you stand up to all their physical HITS then eventualy you succumbe to it and near the end of the game Armagh can edge ahead.

I reckon ye should give them a taste of their own medicine and target a few of their hotheads such as Martin O'Rourke or Ciaran McKeever so that they get mad, lose the head and get themselves sent off.

Yes of course its very cynical tactic but lads its dog eat dog when ye play Armagh cos if you say you're not lowering yerself to their tactics then you'll be left behind.

I'd say McNulty and his sports psychology methods have a huge input to the way Armagh constantly test every avenue to get what they want.

Finally...
What is the actual rule about stopping a player who has just past the ball from continuing his run?
Is this not a foul just cos the ball is no longer in your possession?

I know all teams are now doing it

[Uladh]

You can only go on your own experiences. through my university time and even my times in england, fermanagh people had an extraordinary confidence. the number of lads from other ulster counties who wished for an armagh win last week for that very reason really took me aback. i had expected that everyone would like to see a fermanagh win. this board is never a good indicator, and i realise its al new to most of them, but some of the fermanagh stuff posted is cringeworthy.

[Smokin Joe]

Joe i would not call it confidence, more belief in this team. It is coming from the fact that we have beat Monaghan and Derry all ready this year.  I was of the opinion that coming into the final last Sunday we were underestimated.  Most pundits and supporters were playing lip service to the fact that Fermanagh had beaten Monaghan and Derry but still expected Armagh to take it.  Now we have came back from the brink against Armagh.  If Monaghan had done what Fermanagh have so far this year, people would be tipping them for the All Ireland.

Fermgael, from what I can see it appears that Fermanagh fans can see nothing other than a Fermanagh win on Sunday - that is very dangerous.

[sammymaguire]

WELL SAID FERMGAEL, BELIEF IS WHAT IS DRIVING THIS AND NO SET OF SUPPORTERS APART FROM WICKLOW COULD BE MORE PASSIONATE ABOUT WINNING A PROVINCIAL TITLE.