Messages

I seriously hope Down dont start this nonsense that Burren were at last year by bringing Murdock out, anyway in my opinion he mighten be first choice next time out, I do feel Alder is as good as him. Is Gavin Joyce in the panel too, he did play against Antrim, might be worth a look.

Saturday was the most comfortable 1 point win Iv seen in a long while, James decision to start Murtagh was a good one also so was the move to bring Colgan in for a tired King, and if King and Fitzpatrick dont start to up it Colgan may be knocking on the door!!

Unfortunately for Armagh (As we have previously seen) their management team are clearly inept and are well out of their depth at this level. I have no hesitation in thinking we will win comfortably again come the championship when in the heat of battle a cool calm head with a bit of Know how is vital along the line.

Well done James and co keep it going.

I said here on friday it would be a comfortable 5/6 point win, it should have been if danny hughes had scored at the end but it was the most comfortable one point win Iv seen in a long time.

I feel a bit sorry for Armagh because they actually do have some very very good players, they have a couple of cracking minor teams coming through but unfortunately along the sideline they have a very inept management team who are clearly out of their depth.

Justin mc nulty has proved a hit with Laois and I feel Paddy will regret not replacing him before the summer is out.

Armagh Team:

1. Philip Mc Evoy Dromintee

2. Andy Mallon Pearse Og

3. Brendan Donaghy Clonmore

4. Finnian Moriarty Wolfe Tones

5. Kevin Dyas Dromintee

6. Ciaran Mc Keever St. Patrick's

7. Paul Duffy Pearse Og

8. Kieran Toner Granemore

9. Charlie Vernon Armagh Harps

10 Rory Grugan Ballymacnab

11 Micheal O'Rourke Dromintee

12. Malachy Mackin St. Patrick's

13. Billy Joe Padden Carrickcruppin

14. Gareth Swift Armagh Harps

15. Steven McDonnell Killeavy



16. John Mc Cullagh Carrickcruppin

17. Gavin McParland Ballymacnab

18. Colm Watters Cullaville

19. Conor Clarke Pearse Og

20. John Murtagh Crossmaglen

21. Brian Mallon Tir na nOg

22. Gareth O'Neill Dromintee

23. Declan McKenna Armagh Harps

24. James Lavery Maghery

No offence PAULD123 but post that shite on the Armagh page, keep this Red and Black please 

[Danny Hughes, Martin Clarke and Benny Coulter]

[/quote]
All Stars are a load of crap and this we have more All Stars than you is childish rubbish. Your AllStars are a reflection on an excellent run in the championship last year and nothing more. Up to that point Down hadn't even an All Star nomination in their team (and it didn't do ye any harm last year).
For the record the only Down players I would take is Danny Hughes, Martin Clarke and Benny Coulter. Down can keep the rest.........
[/quote]


If those 3 play well at all on Saturday night it ll be a 7/8 point comfortable victory. End of story 

I can't see how anyone thinks Armagh has better players - Hello 4 All Stars? and another 3 All star nominations, and McKernan was clearly robbed of one. Who are all these Armagh players that are better than Dan Gordon, Benny Coulter, Marty Clarke, Danny Hughes, Brendan McVeigh, Kevin McKernan, Conor Garvey, Decky Rooney?

Dan Gordan has been playing full back, Not in same league as brendy donaghy in this position, Benny Coulter, Hughes and Clarke (Who i think is a bit overated) yes would def get onto most teams in the country, McVeigh is of similar ability to Hearty, Kevin McKernan is excellant going forward and would make it onto our half backline Although his defensive capabilities are suspect when playing from 5-7 (Remember he was dropped for a period for down last year mainly because of this) Garvey and Rooney are not better than what we have at our disposal in the backline.
Just my opinion and this hasnt been tainted by a major Down dislikening like many in my county have as i reserve this for our red hand neighbours!!!

Dont disagree with you on Donaghy, a class act, if we had him last year we would have won the all ireland no doubt about it. Think your way of the mark with the Clarke overrated statement if you watch closely everything goes through him, everything down do welll he s involved. Hearty for me is a pudding no offence and last year was mc veighs best year in a Down shirt. As regards Garvey, he is an excellant man marking and proved this last year on route to the final. Saturday will be tough for Armagh but right now I personally believe we have one of the best forward lines in Ireland, a big statement but statistics dont lie, 3 of the 6 all stars last year.

Lets be honest here people, on saturday night you have one changing room with a management team who have their team playing to a structured game plan, they have possibly the best football trainer in the country, one of the most knowledgable men in the province and a very astute manager. In the other changing room you have a weight lifter and two men who are extremely limited tactically and a manager whose heart cant possibly be in winning no matter what any Armagh man thinks.

There wont be any shocks, it will simply be a straight forward win for Down by maybe 5/6 points depending on how much Armagh open out towards the end when their chasing the game against a well organised counter attacking down team. Its difficult to know where Down are right now but last weeks game will have helped Garvey and Rooney and brought a bit more stability to a defence who played very well last year, I do feel that after a win this saturday if we can take 3 or 4 points from our next 6 we could be looking at the top 2..  Ambitious but we were the 2nd best team in ireland last year!

Ambitious but we were the 2nd best team

I think you mean the second best team in Division 2.

Very good, very good.. No not over confident lads just realistic really of where the 2 teams are right now. Think its going to take Armagh another couple of years to bring through some of those successful minors but unfortunately for you guys Paddy is not the answer for Armagh football. It was a very poor appointment from the county board and a very poor decision by Paddy to take it, tactically he is inept and there is no one in his management team with a footballing brain sorry but true.

Lets be honest here, on saturday night you have one changing room with a management team who have their team playing to a structured game plan, they have possibly the best football trainer in the country, one of the most knowledgable men in the province and a very astute manager. In the other changing room you have a weight lifter and two men who are extremely limited tactically and a manager whose heart cant possibly be in winning no matter what any Armagh man thinks.

There wont be any shocks, it will simply be a straight forward win for Down by maybe 5/6 points depending on how much Armagh open out towards the end when their chasing the game against a well organised counter attacking down team. Its difficult to know where Down are right now but last weeks game will have helped Garvey and Rooney and brought a bit more stability to a defence who played very well last year, I do feel that after a win this saturday if we can take 3 or 4 points from our next 6 we could be looking at the top 2..  Ambitious but we were the 2nd best team in ireland last year!

[It's along time since I seen anyone warming up in a Liverpool jersey]

I think that regarding kit we have come on a long way under James , It's along time since I seen anyone warming up in a Liverpool jersey . I am definitely in the minority here , I actually like the Yellow jersey .

when was that ??

5 sams as far as Im aware, season ticket holders will be accomondated in the stand. Thats what the email said from the county secretary to the clubs, it also said tickets should be ready for distribution tonight but Id say thats probably going to be tomorrow night.

Ring the county office in castlewellan. 4,500 seats shouldnt be a major problem but then again we ll have all sorts coming out for this one 

My ratings on todays game, think we must get things in perspective we just beat galway by 5 points comfortably which didnt look too achievable 2 years ago. Appreciate where we have come before you start to come on and rant and rave,

B Mc Veigh 6 - Solid although at times his kick outs are very erractic, dont think he has confidence to hit them short.
L Howard - Unlucky with injury
D Gordon - 6 Did what he had too, will never be out in front but will compete with anything in the air, caught a couple of nice balls.
G Mc Carten - 6 - Still unsure on gerard, nice lad but not the same drive or cut as dee or dan.
A Brannigan - 4 - Gave away serious number of silly fouls and does not look at all comfortable on the ball.
K mc Kernan - 8 - Most improved Down player since James took over, looks confident, assured in possession and has great engine. Also has improved his physicality in the tackle.
D Rooney - 5 Only back from injury and it will take time, doesnt need to get involved in off the ball stuff as much as he does
K King - 5 lot of ground still needed to be covered by Kallum but a reasonable shift today.
P Fitzpatrick - 5 - Take away his goal at the end didnt feel he contributed an awful lot. When the ground hardens im sure we ll see more of his old self.
D Hughes -8 - Easily one of Downs most important players at present, he drives forward when in possession and always looks to do somethin positive not negative.
M Poland - 5 - Below par day for Mark despite the fact he hit a great score early on and I feel Aidan Carr could be in with a shout of no11.
C Maginn 6 - workman like performance which ended with him gettin a well deserved goal in the 1st half. Doesnt get near enoughcredit for his work off the ball
C Laverty 6- Thought the wee man did very well in an environment (ie heavy pitch, windy day) which is not really tailored to suit him! Kicked a couple of nice points into the bargin.
B Coulter - 6 - Unfortunately Benny knows what he wants to do but the legs cant do it anymore, would like to see benny rested more at this time of year rather than flogged to death. Still our biggest scoring threat up front
M Clarke - 8 - Probably Downs best player again, he never wastes the ball when he is in posession and took some heavy heavy treatment today and got very little protection!

Subs - C Garvey 6 - good to see him back as we dont have too many man markin defenders at present
J Colgan - 6 - Did ok, Im not sure about him in the middle of the field. Good head on him though to slow things down.
A Carr - 5 - Gave away a few balls but was on the ball a fair bit in such a short period of time!
P Mc Comisky - Set up the goal
L Doyle - If only he could stay fit.



Roll on next weekend which is sure to see fans crawl out from everywhere to see armagh take their beating. A win next week will leave Down safe and let the monaghan and armagh men to battle it out with galway for aRelegation

You must have been at a different game than me, some strange ratings, eg. Kalum King had a great game & was surely worth more than a 5 & I feel Marty Clarke was nowhere near the 8 you have given him imo.

MR If you think about it.. watch the hi lights later and you ll see that in nearly all our scores m clarke plays a role.. I still think people expect too much off him but his vision and pass completion % are 2nd to none. these all performed with some beefed up red neck from the west hanging out of him.. And finally no i was at the same game as you and I personally feel our midfield was and will be a serious issue in the bigger games if we r going to pick up silverware. Against an extremely limited galway middle they should be standing out.. Joe bergin was running the legs of King and only the introduction of Colgan possibly saved us a point... But as I say only my opinon..  would actually be very worried about it for next saturday night..     

My ratings on todays game, think we must get things in perspective we just beat galway by 5 points comfortably which didnt look too achievable 2 years ago. Appreciate where we have come before you start to come on and rant and rave,

B Mc Veigh 6 - Solid although at times his kick outs are very erractic, dont think he has confidence to hit them short.
L Howard - Unlucky with injury
D Gordon - 6 Did what he had too, will never be out in front but will compete with anything in the air, caught a couple of nice balls.
G Mc Carten - 6 - Still unsure on gerard, nice lad but not the same drive or cut as dee or dan.
A Brannigan - 4 - Gave away serious number of silly fouls and does not look at all comfortable on the ball.
K mc Kernan - 8 - Most improved Down player since James took over, looks confident, assured in possession and has great engine. Also has improved his physicality in the tackle.
D Rooney - 5 Only back from injury and it will take time, doesnt need to get involved in off the ball stuff as much as he does
K King - 5 lot of ground still needed to be covered by Kallum but a reasonable shift today.
P Fitzpatrick - 5 - Take away his goal at the end didnt feel he contributed an awful lot. When the ground hardens im sure we ll see more of his old self.
D Hughes -8 - Easily one of Downs most important players at present, he drives forward when in possession and always looks to do somethin positive not negative.
M Poland - 5 - Below par day for Mark despite the fact he hit a great score early on and I feel Aidan Carr could be in with a shout of no11.
C Maginn 6 - workman like performance which ended with him gettin a well deserved goal in the 1st half. Doesnt get near enoughcredit for his work off the ball
C Laverty 6- Thought the wee man did very well in an environment (ie heavy pitch, windy day) which is not really tailored to suit him! Kicked a couple of nice points into the bargin.
B Coulter - 6 - Unfortunately Benny knows what he wants to do but the legs cant do it anymore, would like to see benny rested more at this time of year rather than flogged to death. Still our biggest scoring threat up front
M Clarke - 8 - Probably Downs best player again, he never wastes the ball when he is in posession and took some heavy heavy treatment today and got very little protection!

Subs - C Garvey 6 - good to see him back as we dont have too many man markin defenders at present
J Colgan - 6 - Did ok, Im not sure about him in the middle of the field. Good head on him though to slow things down.
A Carr - 5 - Gave away a few balls but was on the ball a fair bit in such a short period of time!
P Mc Comisky - Set up the goal
L Doyle - If only he could stay fit.



Roll on next weekend which is sure to see fans crawl out from everywhere to see armagh take their beating. A win next week will leave Down safe and let the monaghan and armagh men to battle it out with galway for aRelegation

Im sorry but im not buying into this nonsense of this has always happened at "College" Games... Have a look at bbc website and the extended hi lights of all 4 quarter finals, it is plain to see the only school who behaved in this thuggish/hooligan manner are the "College" fans, Simply not good enough, no room for it in the GAA and without doubt the powers that be in both schools should be pulled in front of the Ulster Colleges committee and asked to explain the events of last friday night. Its the talk of the country never mind county.

not the first time st colmans fans have been involved in unsavoury incidents.. the staff have a responsibility here too.. the culprits must be identified and punished.. terrible behaviour at a gaa match terrible and no room for it either.

Doom and gloom is all I read !! If we d went to Mayo this time last year and got a draw we d have been doing cartwheels folks!! Lets be a bit more upbeat, Galway at home which is a shoe in 2 points and also Armagh at home the same, although would have preferred to play them at Fortress Athletic Grounds