So there you are now. Some thoughts.
It was fantastic entertainment.
Rian O'Neill is a serious player. What a huge performance. Great score at the end but he was everywhere. But he is all Armagh have. A lot of the rest of them are limited players.
The sending off was a funny one. Initally I thought it very harsh, felt a yellow was enough but looking at it again last night I can see why Coldrick gave it.
Galway are a good team. A lot of Armagh ppl felt that it was only a matter of turning up. Had heard a lot of stories of Armagh fans getting carried away. Galway didn't get caught in the hype and after they settled they went about their business with great efficiency. They did shite the togs. They need to learn how to lose games out.
The row was the row and yer man made a bollocks of himself. Everyone will get off no matter what suspensions the GAA throw at them. Coldrick made a balls of it. Contributing to a melee is the referees get out of jail card. But this is a problem of the GAAs making. They have let Armagh off all year and they will continue to behave this way. Dublin and Kerry also got let off similarly.
If the GAA are serious about dealing with the issue they need to address the mess that is the rulebook. A referees report must be sacrosanct. No reds overturned ever. No matter what. If the ref gets it wrong, he gets it wrong. Tough. Use only video to retrospectively ban for serious foul play missed by the referee. If he deals with it, then that's the matter closed. No appeals on technicalities because the report wasn't submitted in 4 different versions of Irish or this nonsense.
So Coldrick made a balls of it but the refs report must be sacrosanct. If you’re winding at least don’t make it so obvious. Sean Kelly doesn’t deserve to miss an all ireland semi final. Thought the ref was woeful all day tbh.
I'm not winding. If Coldrick thought he had any power he'd have lined 15 from each side. The rulebook is a mess and then by extension so was his handling of the row.
I was kind of on your side but you know what you're proving everyone's point. Armagh can do no wrong. It's their responsibility. There is a clear Armagh directive, one in all in. Can't send us all off boys. They all pumped up out of their minds like McGeeney was when he played.
Armagh are playing with the big boys now and need to realise that every single incident will be poured over. Tyrone live with this daily.
Tyrone haven't lived with it much this year anyway, they were long gone before the championship had even begun in earnest.
Sean Kelly will get off on appeal because looking at the replay he done nothing to warrant a red card. The Galway player that swung a punch at Kelly should get banned and after that it was all argy bargy stuff with very little actual foul play. But the media will make a big deal of it as usual and big bad Armagh will probably get the blame.