With a good away win last week in Navan under our belts there is great opportunity for Armagh to get another 2Pt's this Sat evening against a decent Laois team, hopefully the injury list will start to clear up and we can get another few decent results the rest of the league.
Laois are were i expect them to be (mid table Div 2 team) so it will be a tight game alright but hopefully we can get a win.
Big game for Armagh. They need to put performances back to back. Would be good to see a few injured defenders back. There were no defenders on the bench last week. Any word on how Finn Mo. or McCoey are getting on. Would not want to have Kernan, Donaghy or Morgan rushed back too early.
When's the last time Armagh beat Laois? Used to knock them over for fun, but they've had our number recently (so have a lot of other counries tbf).
Laois should beat Armagh. They were very good last weekend and Armagh are one of the weaker teams in the division. Injury crisis and Grimley is poor enough. Even Galway beat them last summer FFS. Both teams are 100/1 with paddy power for sam . Laois are 150/1 which is not right.
Quote from: bennydorano on March 04, 2014, 07:56:31 PM
When's the last time Armagh beat Laois? Used to knock them over for fun, but they've had our number recently (so have a lot of other counries tbf).
We beat them about 4 years ago in Portlaoise. Henderson got the winner with the last kick.
Home advantage will obviously favour Armagh but Laois have a few things going for them coming into this game.
Experience – the core of the Laois team have been together for a few years and have benefitted from previous manager Justin McNulty's regime. Watching Laois Vs Armagh in the league a few years ago (McNulty's first season - Armagh won by a point as far as I remember) it was obvious that Armagh were more advanced in both physical and tactical preparation. Now the boot might be on the other foot.
More emphasis on attack - Tomas O Flatharta is less conservative than his predecessor and giving more rein to the forwards. At the same time the defensive side coached by McNulty has not been forgotten.
This Laois team are an honest bunch of players and I'd be fairly confident they will put in a decent performance on Sat. night. Should be a good game.
So there you have it...Laois by 6pts (according to the Laois men ;))
In all seriousness Armagh are very unpredictable and you just don't know how they're going to perform. On betting Laois should be 4/6 and Armagh 6/4 but Paddypower has them both at 1/1. Should be a good open game and I'm looking forward to it. See you all on Sat nite.
Running scared.
(http://i61.tinypic.com/iyzgqs.jpg)
Quote from: seafoid on March 04, 2014, 08:03:28 PM
Armagh are one of the weaker teams in the division. Injury crisis and Grimley is poor enough. Even Galway beat them last summer FFS. Both teams are 100/1 with paddy power for sam . Laois are 150/1 which is not right.
Does it matter what their odds are as none of the 3 are likely to win Sam ?
My first croker game.. Armagh v laois hugh emerson the hairy fella had the ball over in about 3 seconds..
Is the fella with the c**k going to the match? Never liked clancy from he tried to decapitate oisin with his studs.. Useful footballer though..
Armagh have played second string players in the league since I can remember and have punched well above their weight for their PERCEIVED ability could see a draw
Anyone know if any radio is covering the match? Thanks.
Quote from: Oraisteach on March 07, 2014, 11:32:46 PM
Anyone know if any radio is covering the match? Thanks.
If you have Internet Linwood's Armagh TV has audio commentary. Radio Ulster may do coverage too.
Thanks Throw ball.
Quote from: Rossfan on March 07, 2014, 03:42:20 PM
Quote from: seafoid on March 04, 2014, 08:03:28 PM
Armagh are one of the weaker teams in the division. Injury crisis and Grimley is poor enough. Even Galway beat them last summer FFS. Both teams are 100/1 with paddy power for sam . Laois are 150/1 which is not right.
Does it matter what their odds are as none of the 3 are likely to win Sam ?
It does in terms of how punters see the relative strengths of the team.
I think Laois will win and Armagh will be back in the danger zone.
Meath, Armagh, Louth and Galway are the weakest teams in the division. The only points any of these 4 teams have came from playing the other weak teams.
Galway vs Armagh is going to be a 4 pointer.
Match is also on Setanta at 6:45pm
Why is every Armagh game on Premiersports? Not complaining as such I will watch any GAA match gladly but this is a div 2 team so why the special treatment ?
Still attract a huge support, arguably the largest in Ulster still
Quote from: Ringfort on March 08, 2014, 03:30:15 PM
Why is every Armagh game on Premiersports? Not complaining as such I will watch any GAA match gladly but this is a div 2 team so why the special treatment ?
As I have said before, it changes every year.
How would I know what you have said before ? What changes every year ? The matches shown by premsports? The in-favour teams? Could be anything.
Armagh is an alright tier 2 team. This will be the third league game I've watched them this spring. Doesn't add up. Supporter base does not come in to it. If they were such great supporters they'd be at the games (which in fairness they appear to be) and not watching it on tele.
Quote from: Ringfort on March 08, 2014, 06:02:40 PM
How would I know what you have said before ? What changes every year ? The matches shown by premsports? The in-favour teams? Could be anything.
Armagh is an alright tier 2 team. This will be the third league game I've watched them this spring. Doesn't add up. Supporter base does not come in to it. If they were such great supporters they'd be at the games (which in fairness they appear to be) and not watching it on tele.
Last time I seen so many games involving Armagh was back around 2008. This year for example, all Armagh's NFL games are being
shown on Setanta and next year it will be some other county, that is the only logical explanation for it.
Armagh 0-6 Laois 0-4
Armagh leading by four, i think Laois have the wind in the second half.
Armagh playing some beautiful football here, they look confident and aren't panicking and they are using the ball well and so far have 7 different scorers
-12 to 0-6 now
Laois goal, poor play in the middle by Armagh, lost possession leading to back line being exposed.
0-12 to 1-6
Armagh played well in the first half, some excellent passing and keeping their cool under pressure. Confident in taking scores and only took shots when worked into good positions rather than just hit and hope. Unlucky to concede the goal, lost possession in the middle of the field and after a miss kick from a defender we were left exposed at the back.
Armagh 2-18 Laois 1-12. Two good wins in a row, what if Down didn't score that late goal.
Well there you go, I have to say that I am being pleasantly surprised with Armagh at the minute, 2-18 is great scoring in any mans language,particularly when Jamie seemed to be relatively quiet. Other players stepped up well, TK with 6 points and Stefan Campbell starting to show his talent with 1-4. A win against Galway will completely secure Division 2 status but promotion is not completely out of the question.
Well done Armagh, sorry I missed this one. Roll on the Farneymen next week!
Ethan Rafferty has the makings of a top player. Great result, surprised by the win myself but Laois had plenty of opportunities, on another day the outcome could have been different. Armagh look good going forward, but when it breaks down it becomes a defensive horror show. A lot of positives, Campbell & Findon catching my eye.
Quote from: armaghniac on March 08, 2014, 08:41:29 PM
Well done Armagh, sorry I missed this one. Roll on the Farneymen next week!
It sure will be a privilege to be on the same pitch as this year's tv stars.
Quote from: seafoid on March 08, 2014, 07:30:44 AM
It does in terms of how punters see the relative strengths of the team.
I think Laois will win and Armagh will be back in the danger zone.
Meath, Armagh, Louth and Galway are the weakest teams in the division. The only points any of these 4 teams have came from playing the other weak teams.
Galway vs Armagh is going to be a 4 pointer.
Who did Laois get their points against?
Did the Laois support get lost today or think the match was tomorrow. The smallest away support I have seen in the Athletic Grounds in a long time.
Delighted with the result and a lot of positives to be taken from the performance tonight. We must have done alright, even BCB has something positive to say about our County team! Stefan Campbell was top class tonight. Who got man of the match on Setanta?
Laois man booed off?
Quote from: ONeill on March 08, 2014, 10:28:19 PM
Laois man booed off?
Just the one. I wonder who that could have been?
Quote from: bennydorano on March 08, 2014, 09:03:37 PM
Ethan Rafferty has the makings of a top player. Great result, surprised by the win myself but Laois had plenty of opportunities, on another day the outcome could have been different. Armagh look good going forward, but when it breaks down it becomes a defensive horror show. A lot of positives, Campbell & Findon catching my eye.
Thought Findon should have kept the ball secure, but lost in the middle of the field and lead to Laois goal, but also Armagh defender completely missed a kick and left an open space in defence. However other than that thought he had a good game, played well against Meath to before black card.
Quote from: bennydorano on March 08, 2014, 09:03:37 PM
Ethan Rafferty has the makings of a top player. Great result, surprised by the win myself but Laois had plenty of opportunities, on another day the outcome could have been different. Armagh look good going forward, but when it breaks down it becomes a defensive horror show. A lot of positives, Campbell & Findon catching my eye.
Wouldn't agree the outcome could have been different, yes, Laois had a few chances they should have taken but I thought Armagh were far superior for most of the match.
Up until tonight I was a bit dubious about Stefan campbell and in the first 5 mins he wasn't great. And then he came to life.
Was for me clearly MOTM. His scoring was brilliant especially the one over the left shoulder. His work rate was immense and he bursted a gut up until the very end. At one stage he tracked back 70 yards at full sprint to get a tackle in and won the ball. When he moved out the field for the last 10 his passing was top notch too......
Glad to hold my hands up and say Stefan proved me very wrong tonight.
Harold was having a great game before he got the clip on the ankle and Andy marshalled the defence superbly.
Still some silly mistakes and turnovers and we won so easily despite wining a lot less of the break ball in the middle of the park. We still need a terrier type player to get stuck in to the mix and win the breaking ball.... One obvious player in the half forward line tonight ran his halfcircles, once again, to avoid having to try to make a tackle -Je despair
A few players tonight who once again showed they are off the mark. Caolan Rafferty may have gave the ball away a few times but he is not one of them as he showed once again that he is a great outlet and has real potential.
McVerry showed well when he came on too I thought - would like to see him given a longer cameo.
All in all a great win......... But as one other poster said - was there even 100 Laois supporters there.
Unlaois the Orange Indeed
Quote from: Zulu on March 08, 2014, 10:34:08 PM
Quote from: bennydorano on March 08, 2014, 09:03:37 PM
Ethan Rafferty has the makings of a top player. Great result, surprised by the win myself but Laois had plenty of opportunities, on another day the outcome could have been different. Armagh look good going forward, but when it breaks down it becomes a defensive horror show. A lot of positives, Campbell & Findon catching my eye.
Wouldn't agree the outcome could have been different, yes, Laois had a few chances they should have taken but I thought Armagh were far superior for most of the match.
Agreed Zulu. For Laois to have won that would have meant them taking every single chance they had, and that is a rarity for any team. The better team unquestionably won although maybe the nine point gap flattered us. I thought Stefan Campbell, the Raffertys and Andy Mallon showed best for me.
Very good performance. There's been a good improvement the past few games. The support play is much better and the work rate is good. A few of the younger, newer players have done well today again and if they continue like that then it's going to be hard for a lot of the players who are out missing to get back into the team. We're looking more mobile around the middle than's been the case for a while and racking up big scores with the half forward line chipping in well. A bit more tightening up at the back and we're on the right road.
I forgot to add that Mark Shields is proving to be a very able deputy for Aaron Kernan. Is there room for both in the team?
Yes - Ethan is like a young Paul MCGrane and is still only 20 I think.... The more game time the better and hope he stars the championship to get the big game experiences....
If Championship was in 3 weeks time - from tonight the following players have nailed down their starting places
McEvoy
Andy Mallon
Mark Shields
Ethan and Mr Harold
Tony K
Caolan
Jamie
Stefan
Still a good few players vying for a starting berth to come back from injury:
Ciaran McK
Charlie
Brendy
Paul McKeown
James Morgan
Aaron
et al....
Quote from: ONeill on March 08, 2014, 10:28:19 PM
Laois man booed off?
It was all very Pantomimish......
It was done in jest and he even gave us a wink and a smile
Good win,and I thought the concession of the silly goal just before half time was leaving us with an insufficient three point lead at half time.
Still the next three games,more than the last two,will show us where we're at
If you can draw a line of form (and obviously you can't) then you should pile on Down to beat Galway @ 4/7
Quote from: Ringfort on March 08, 2014, 03:30:15 PM
Why is every Armagh game on Premiersports? Not complaining as such I will watch any GAA match gladly but this is a div 2 team so why the special treatment ?
What other match was there on tonight apart from Dublin v Kildare..which was also on tele?
Another 1 r 2 results like that is what's needed for confidence and more importantly to keep some of the injured players on the bench as I believe PG will keep playing a winning team. There is nothing better than an established senior player sitting as a sub watching some young cub playing in his position as that's what drives up the intensity in training and keeps everyone on their toes.
Stefan C was a worthy mom and I was v pleased for him as he's worked v hard at it, in fairness most of the lads done their bit last night. The goal just before ht was disappointing to give away as it could have galvanised the opposition.
Quote from: our_fella on March 09, 2014, 12:17:18 AM
Quote from: Ringfort on March 08, 2014, 03:30:15 PM
Why is every Armagh game on Premiersports? Not complaining as such I will watch any GAA match gladly but this is a div 2 team so why the special treatment ?
What other match was there on tonight apart from Dublin v Kildare..which was also on tele?
Jaysis I'm not having a go at Armagh lads. any response I've got so far has been all diversion and deflection. It's a simple enough thing to wonder about. I've seen a div 2 team 3 times already this year. Seems a little lopsided. That's all. If nobody knows fair enough!
The chief executive of Setanta is from Armagh... Just guessing
I had a draw in mind. This IS a very good result. The boys are certainly showiing plenty of guts..
A wee bit of dry weather.. More supporters.. Who knows where this could go ;)
Was very impressed by management decisions. We seem to have a bit more tactical nous this year. Thought Armagh tired towards the end of both halves, particularly midfield which is understandable given they worked there socks off. There was big gaps starting to form in the middle of the field. In response Armagh chucked Ethan Rafferty into full forward and brought Stefan Campbell out.
It's little things like that can win close matches.
Stefan Campbell was brilliant and deserved his motm, but Tony Kernan was also brilliant. Him, Dyas and Rafferty must be the best half foward line we have had in years, no more shoe horning a 3rd midfielder or a grafter into that line.
All in all very happy, but tougher tests lie ahead.
Quote from: lawnseed on March 09, 2014, 12:31:34 PM
I had a draw in mind. This IS a very good result. The boys are certainly showiing plenty of guts..
A wee bit of dry weather.. More supporters.. Who knows where this could go ;)
Maybe if there was less Saturday night games, we would see more fans. It's cold enough during the day this time of year, but it's far colder at night. 4 night games from 7 is far too many.
I agree that there are far too many Saturday[even a friday!] night games. Thankfully last night wasn't anywhere near as siberian as the down game.
Anyway, great to see that the rebuilding process is showing a lot of positive signs
Quote from: illdecide on March 09, 2014, 12:15:49 PM
The chief executive of Setanta is from Armagh... Just guessing
As a matter of interest, does anyone know if the Irish News sports editor is from Tyrone? They get way more coverage than any other team in the country!
Quote from: macdanger2 on March 08, 2014, 11:57:04 PM
If you can draw a line of form (and obviously you can't) then you should pile on Down to beat Galway @ 4/7
Glad I didn't do that, although I had those hoors Donegal backed to thump the meathies >:(
The wind cost Laois again. For some reason Laois decided to play against the wind after winning the toss, it was the losing of the game. Armagh got a few points up with the wind and then were able to catch Laois on the counter as we needed to push forward for scores. The keeper was able to take ages over kick outs for Armagh and waste time.
We hit the crossbar and the post with goal efforts as well, no way were Armagh 9 points the better team. I suppose they deserved to win by 1 or 2, it would have been different had Laois played with the wind first half. On another note, a Laois player received some awful racist abuse when he was coming off the field. It was hard to spot all the culprits but one lad looked a bit like sneaky McKeever!
Quote from: Dont Matter on March 09, 2014, 06:00:28 PM
The wind cost Laois again. For some reason Laois decided to play against the wind after winning the toss, it was the losing of the game. Armagh got a few points up with the wind and then were able to catch Laois on the counter as we needed to push forward for scores. The keeper was able to take ages over kick outs for Armagh and waste time.
We hit the crossbar and the post with goal efforts as well, no way were Armagh 9 points the better team. I suppose they deserved to win by 1 or 2, it would have been different had Laois played with the wind first half. On another note, a Laois player received some awful racist abuse when he was coming off the field. It was hard to spot all the culprits but one lad looked a bit like sneaky McKeever!
Lol
Quote from: Dont Matter on March 09, 2014, 06:00:28 PM
The wind cost Laois again. For some reason Laois decided to play against the wind after winning the toss, it was the losing of the game. Armagh got a few points up with the wind and then were able to catch Laois on the counter as we needed to push forward for scores. The keeper was able to take ages over kick outs for Armagh and waste time.
We hit the crossbar and the post with goal efforts as well, no way were Armagh 9 points the better team. I suppose they deserved to win by 1 or 2, it would have been different had Laois played with the wind first half. On another note, a Laois player received some awful racist abuse when he was coming off the field. It was hard to spot all the culprits but one lad looked a bit like sneaky McKeever!
ly
Playing with the wind in the 2nd half is an advantage. Players know what they have to do.
Quote from: Dont Matter on March 09, 2014, 06:00:28 PM
The wind cost Laois again. For some reason Laois decided to play against the wind after winning the toss, it was the losing of the game. Armagh got a few points up with the wind and then were able to catch Laois on the counter as we needed to push forward for scores. The keeper was able to take ages over kick outs for Armagh and waste time.
We hit the crossbar and the post with goal efforts as well, no way were Armagh 9 points the better team. I suppose they deserved to win by 1 or 2, it would have been different had Laois played with the wind first half. On another note, a Laois player received some awful racist abuse when he was coming off the field. It was hard to spot all the culprits but one lad looked a bit like sneaky McKeever!
Lol...what age r u
Quote from: Dont Matter on March 09, 2014, 06:00:28 PM
The wind cost Laois again. For some reason Laois decided to play against the wind after winning the toss, it was the losing of the game. Armagh got a few points up with the wind and then were able to catch Laois on the counter as we needed to push forward for scores. The keeper was able to take ages over kick outs for Armagh and waste time.
We hit the crossbar and the post with goal efforts as well, no way were Armagh 9 points the better team. I suppose they deserved to win by 1 or 2, it would have been different had Laois played with the wind first half. On another note, a Laois player received some awful racist abuse when he was coming off the field. It was hard to spot all the culprits but one lad looked a bit like sneaky McKeever!
Good to see you have not lost your sense of humour.
Quote from: Throw ball on March 09, 2014, 06:31:39 PM
Quote from: Dont Matter on March 09, 2014, 06:00:28 PM
The wind cost Laois again. For some reason Laois decided to play against the wind after winning the toss, it was the losing of the game. Armagh got a few points up with the wind and then were able to catch Laois on the counter as we needed to push forward for scores. The keeper was able to take ages over kick outs for Armagh and waste time.
We hit the crossbar and the post with goal efforts as well, no way were Armagh 9 points the better team. I suppose they deserved to win by 1 or 2, it would have been different had Laois played with the wind first half. On another note, a Laois player received some awful racist abuse when he was coming off the field. It was hard to spot all the culprits but one lad looked a bit like sneaky McKeever!
Delusional.
Lads why are you even entertaining this clown. Sitting 4th in the tablenow level on points with 2nd and 3rd. If there is a win against Monaghan,which will be very tough, then you could seriously think about promotion but securing the status in the Division is the main thing.