Ulster Final 2008 - Armagh vs Fermanagh

[balladmaker]

If Fermanagh win tomorrow fair play to them, I dont think they will be within 5 points of Armagh. Perdiction. Armagh 2-13 Fermanagh 0-12.

Agree.  Although Armagh are the favourites, such are the circumstances tomorrow, I think all the pressure is on Fermanagh to land their first title.  The finish line will be hard to cross for them.  No doubt they have the ability to do it.....against most teams in Ireland.  But I have the feeling that Armagh are not one of those teams in an Ulster Final.  I fancy Armagh to bag a couple of goals which will make it very tough for Fermanagh. 

Armagh by at least 3 points. 

[FromAFar]

Jus fancied given an overview of the game tomorrow, might be slightly biase bein a fermanagh man but ill give it a shot nehow.

Everyone know that on the big day anything can happen, i just have a feeling that from 1-15 fermanagh have a slightly stronger team than armagh. Firstly this is how i think fermanagh will line up:
                     
                       Gallagher

              Frog              Goan
                Clucker       Little
Tommy            P Sherry               Kelly
                 Womble   Marty
       Sherry                         McElroy
         Eamon                    Keenan
                     McBarron

Subs:
Sean Doc,
B Owens,
S McCabe,
S Lyons,
P Cadden

Looking at the potential battles the game might throw up;

Ronan Clarke- Shane McDermott; Probably the most important duel of the game. I personally feel that mcdermott is well suited to marking clarke. One of RC's biggest assets is his strength, this is one of the reasons frog will cope with him. Ok im not sayin that clarke will be completely shut of the game but if fermanagh can keep him to 2-3 points i feel we'll win the game. Should clarke be getting the better of SmcD than Shane Lyons is a very good option to come of the bench and have another shot at stopping him.

Again as has been seen in previous games i feel stopping clarke (or any other top fwd) wont be achieved simply by the man marking him but shall be down to stopping the supply.

Stevey McDonnell- Shane Goan; Its been very much thought throughout fermanagh that SMcDonnell wont be the match winner, im a little less convinced.

Midfield. This is an area i simply cant see Armagh winning. McGrane is simply not the footballer he was and i think it's fair to say that in Murphy & McGrath fermanagh possess the best midfield combination in the country at the minute. Fielding, strength, mobility, it seems perhaps over confident but i simply cant see a weakness in there game. I goin to go out on a limb and say that Murphy is my favourite for MOTM. He hasn scored against Mon or Derry and simply cant see him not scoring for a third game.

I agree with 'Real 05' in that Vernon will play as a 3rd midfielder. For this reason i see D Kelly taking him. Kelly's strength is underestimated but still he wont cope physically with vernon, that said however i think pushing fwd kelly will post serious problems from Vernon. If Kelly gets a yard on him i cant see vernon catchin him in a month of sundays. Kelly is also well capable of taking a score.

Mallon starting is a massive boost for armagh. In my opinion he is a similar but better version of s kiernan. In M O'Rourke they hav a player who is very effective at putting in the hard yards, underrated in my opinion but still as with the Vernon Kelly situation if fermanagh are given the opportunity to break than MO'R wont be able to compete with T McElroy for pace.

Up form for fermanagh McBarron and bellew should have a decent restle. Fermanagh are under no illusion as to mcbarrons role in there. The well capable of causing problems for bellew if high ball is drove in but as match winner he is not. One point to note from watching armagh's previous game is bellew's new found license to bomb forward. This will suit fermanagh to the ground who are excellent are breaking at pace. How many would argue the likey outsome of the game if the no14's for both teams were reversed??

Eamon Maguire- A Mallon; Eamon is bein labelled as fermanagh dangerman and indeed he is but in mallon i feel he is coming up against one of the three top CBk's in the game.

Keenan- Finny Mo; This will be an interesting tussle, even enough i recon with keenan possibly just shading it.

In my opinion the game will all come down to the last 25 minutes. This is were i think fermanagh could hold the key. In Barry Owens, S McCabe, P Cadden, S Doc fermanagh have for the first time ever a bench with the potential to come on and change a game. I Think that should fermanagh be loosing the game with 15 minutes to go a very interesting tactic would be to go with owens and Murphy in a 2 man ffl. Pumping ball into the two with mccabe, keenan, eamon & little coming through in support has the potential to cause havoc in any defense! This however is only a though and not somethin a see happening.

[Sandy Hill]

Best of luck to Fermanagh tomorrow, would be great to see ye win it.

Not for me it wouldn't!

[sammy]

Best of luck to Fermanagh tomorrow, would be great to see ye win it.

Not for me it wouldn't!

or me!!

[Uladh]

Armagh by 8

[FermGael]

Ronan Clarke- Shane McDermott; Probably the most important duel of the game. I personally feel that McDermott is well suited to marking Clarke. One of RC's biggest assets is his strength, this is one of the reasons frog will cope with him. Ok im not sayin that Clarke will be completely shut of the game but if fermanagh can keep him to 2-3 points i feel we'll win the game. Should Clarke be getting the better of SmcD than Shane Lyons is a very good option to come of the bench and have another shot at stopping him.

McDermott will not pick up Clarke.  If McDermott is on Clarke Fermanagh will be beat.  Shane is a good footballer and has spent most of his career at CHB and i fully expect him not to be playing full back on Sunday.  The more i think of it, i feel that there is a real chance he will not start.  Lyons may get the nod at full back instead.
The team that Armagh have announced is their strongest team.  It highlights how serious Armagh are taking this Fermanagh team.  They have more mobile half forwards and half backs than any of the 2 teams Fermanagh have played this year.  Fermanagh do i feel, have a small advantage at midfield but Paul McGrane could roll back the years yet.
This game will be won and lost between the two 45's.   The simple way to stop Clarke and McDonnell is to stop/spoil the ball going into them.  If we get the majority of procession around this sector, then we will win the game.
A close game but Fermanagh by 2.  Fermanagh 2-09 Armagh 1-10

[FromAFar]

Quote
Ronan Clarke- Shane McDermott; Probably the most important duel of the game. I personally feel that McDermott is well suited to marking Clarke. One of RC's biggest assets is his strength, this is one of the reasons frog will cope with him. Ok im not sayin that Clarke will be completely shut of the game but if fermanagh can keep him to 2-3 points i feel we'll win the game. Should Clarke be getting the better of SmcD than Shane Lyons is a very good option to come of the bench and have another shot at stopping him.
McDermott will not pick up Clarke.  If McDermott is on Clarke Fermanagh will be beat.  Shane is a good footballer and has spent most of his career at CHB and i fully expect him not to be playing full back on Sunday.  The more i think of it, i feel that there is a real chance he will not start.  Lyons may get the nod at full back instead.
The team that Armagh have announced is their strongest team.  It highlights how serious Armagh are taking this Fermanagh team.  They have more mobile half forwards and half backs than any of the 2 teams Fermanagh have played this year.  Fermanagh do i feel, have a small advantage at midfield but Paul McGrane could roll back the years yet.
This game will be won and lost between the two 45's.   The simple way to stop Clarke and McDonnell is to stop/spoil the ball going into them.  If we get the majority of procession around this sector, then we will win the game.
A close game but Fermanagh by 2.  Fermanagh 2-09 Armagh 1-10


I dont think your far away with your scoreline prediction but as for lyons startin on clarke, cant see it!! Fairly sure that Frogs the man there! Do ya not recon monaghans half fwd line could rivil armaghs for mobility??

[FermGael]

I dont think your far away with your scoreline prediction but as for lyons startin on clarke, cant see it!! Fairly sure that Frogs the man there! Do ya not recon monaghans half fwd line could rivil armaghs for mobility??

No and No

[balladmaker]

I'd be interested to see where the Fermanagh goal's will come from?

As for man marking Clarke and McDonnell out of the game, it would be foolish to forget about Stephen Kernan, Brian Mallon et al. Match winners in their own right.

As for midfield, it is one of those areas that even a bad midfield can at least break the ball against a good midfield.  However, Armagh are far from being a poor midfield.  I expect to see McGrane to give one of his sterling performances tomorrow, and Fermanagh will not walk midfield as some are predicting.  Toner is more than capable of holding his own as well.

Armagh by at least 3.

[ExiledGael]

The team that Armagh have announced is their strongest team. It highlights how serious Armagh are taking this Fermanagh team.

What a ridiculous thing to say. Of course Armagh are taking Fermanagh seriously, as they take all teams. Because B Mallon didn't line out against Down does this mean that Armagh didn't take them seriously?

This game will be won and lost between the two 45's.   The simple way to stop Clarke and McDonnell is to stop/spoil the ball going into them.  If we get the majority of procession around this sector, then we will win the game.

Didn't work for Down, why will it work for Fermanagh?

Better defence

[FermPundit]

I just want to wish all the players and management the best of luck for tomorrow. Let's hope they make it a historic day for Fermanagh football. Fear Manach Abu!

[FermGael]

The team that Armagh have announced is their strongest team. It highlights how serious Armagh are taking this Fermanagh team.

What a ridiculous thing to say. Of course Armagh are taking Fermanagh seriously, as they take all teams. Because B Mallon didn't line out against Down does this mean that Armagh didn't take them seriously?

This game will be won and lost between the two 45's.   The simple way to stop Clarke and McDonnell is to stop/spoil the ball going into them.  If we get the majority of procession around this sector, then we will win the game.

Didn't work for Down, why will it work for Fermanagh?

Fermanagh are a better team than Down and play a more defensive style of football than Down. We are well drilled in how to defend and if Armagh drop a man back, then Fermanagh will do the same(like down) but will have a hell of alot more experience of playing this system.
Your point is very valid about Kernan, Mallon etc.  I think that if Armagh play an orthodox three man full forward line then Fermanagh could be in football.  It may mean McCluskey having to move back to the corner and this would hurt Fermanagh from an attacking point of view.
As for Fermanagh being more physical than Armagh, i do not buy into that.
One memory that i have from the Derry game, is the Derry CHB(McCusker i think) going for a ball with Lyttle.
They went at it shoulder for shoulder and Lyttle still won the ball.  We might not have the mirror muscles of the Armagh team but we will surprise you with our upper body strength.
The time for slabbering is near over. Fear Manach Abu

[inisceithleann]

The team that Armagh have announced is their strongest team. It highlights how serious Armagh are taking this Fermanagh team.

What a ridiculous thing to say. Of course Armagh are taking Fermanagh seriously, as they take all teams. Because B Mallon didn't line out against Down does this mean that Armagh didn't take them seriously?

This game will be won and lost between the two 45's.   The simple way to stop Clarke and McDonnell is to stop/spoil the ball going into them.  If we get the majority of procession around this sector, then we will win the game.

Didn't work for Down, why will it work for Fermanagh?

Fermanagh are a better team than Down and play a more defensive style of football than Down. We are well drilled in how to defend and if Armagh drop a man back, then Fermanagh will do the same(like down) but will have a hell of alot more experience of playing this system.
Your point is very valid about Kernan, Mallon etc.  I think that if Armagh play an orthodox three man full forward line then Fermanagh could be in football.  It may mean McCluskey having to move back to the corner and this would hurt Fermanagh from an attacking point of view.
As for Fermanagh being more physical than Armagh, i do not buy into that.
One memory that i have from the Derry game, is the Derry CHB(McCusker i think) going for a ball with Lyttle.
They went at it shoulder for shoulder and Lyttle still won the ball.  We might not have the mirror muscles of the Armagh team but we will surprise you with our upper body strength.
The time for slabbering is near over. Fear Manach Abu

I have to agree with that FermGael. When have you ever seen any Fermanagh player shy away from the big hits? All the players have done the physical work in the gym so the physicality thing isn't an issue. That aside, Fermanagh will do well to avoid bringing the ball into contact situations, as this will play straight into Armaghs hands. If we play the open, fluid game that we have done all year Armagh, like Derry and Monaghan will struggle to contain our style of play.

[orangeman]

Good luck to Fermanagh tomorrow - I think all neutrals will be cheering for them but I think Armagh will simply have too much for them all over the field. Hope I'm wrong.

[Slapdash]

Wrote an analysis of the game but left it on my laptop which i don't have!  I'll post it after (if it comes true!)  In a nutshell I felt Fermanagh had the capabilities to win the game, and if Armagh did win, it would certainly not be handed to them with an easy 4/5 point victory as some have suggested here.  This is our best chance to win an Ulster and it could be a long time before we get a chance like it again.  It is time to deliver.  Armagh have been built up after beating one poor side, and a fair side.  Apparently they have more mobility now because they could cope with Down.  We will see.  I think the teams lining out tomorrow are evenly matched throughout, with Armagh the better forwards and Fermanagh the better midfield.  Defences are both strong.  There is going to be nothing in it, and goals will be decisive.