Messages

[I see mc keever had a dig at cross today and referees not standing up to them]

I see mc keever had a dig at cross today and referees not standing up to them. i dont agree in relation to jimmy mc kee in the first match i thought he handled it well but in the replay devlin certainly gave a few dubious decisions to get cross over the line. theres not doubt over the years cross have got the rub of the green from referees i remember especially 2004 in keady when ogs had them beat and oisin should have got the line for headbutting but he got the free instead from that clown henderson and won the game. but when ur the best sometimes you get crucial decision like back then. this is the end of home finals for cross so there can be no complaints on venues going forward. i still feel and congrats to cross that the championship will move about over the next few years.

Instead of going to the papers Mc Keever should have got his Da to have a quiet word with the Referee after the game.

tink ur right,violence is the only way..

[but sure lets give it to heroic francie..lol]

the irish news got the man of the match spot on today..had to be michael o'rourke..he was the best player on the dromintee team yday and probably over 60mins to..but sure lets give it to heroic francie..lol.it will prob be his last year..

Did any of your lads ever get man of the match in a senior county final.

francie did on sunday,,im sure john donaldson or johnny murtagh got it sumtime b4

Neither did.
John Murtagh usually got himself sent off in the county final probably as a result of the indiscipline he acquired as a young fellow with yous

murtagh got it in an ulster final against mayobridge a few years back when he single handedly won the game for the rangers,probably as a result of the coaching he acquired as a young fellow from stpats.

took in the match and have to say that dromintee will never have a better chance of beating cross. unfortunately they don't have the belief to beat them when with 5 to go and elements in their favour they froze. the only consolation is that it ends home finals for cross. In relation to the minor final congrats to shane o neills but i have to say the standard of both teams was pretty poor not that shanes will worry. minor teams of cross, harps, killeavey, ogs and keady must regret they didn't put in a better effort as a title was there on the basis of yesterdays game. ps did either of yesterdays minor finalists defeat any of the above teams. think it could be the end of the road for a few dtee starlets, including aiden o rouke and e martin

r u forgetting cullyhanna minors,we knocked cross out in the first round..u from the bridge??lol

Whats with ur LOL all of the time..what age are u 6?plus whats with you and the bridge get over them lad....

mouth

[but sure lets give it to heroic francie..lol]

the irish news got the man of the match spot on today..had to be michael o'rourke..he was the best player on the dromintee team yday and probably over 60mins to..but sure lets give it to heroic francie..lol.it will prob be his last year..

Did any of your lads ever get man of the match in a senior county final.

francie did on sunday,,im sure john donaldson or johnny murtagh got it sumtime b4

the irish news got the man of the match spot on today..had to be michael o'rourke..he was the best player on the dromintee team yday and probably over 60mins to..but sure lets give it to heroic francie..lol.it will prob be his last year..

took in the match and have to say that dromintee will never have a better chance of beating cross. unfortunately they don't have the belief to beat them when with 5 to go and elements in their favour they froze. the only consolation is that it ends home finals for cross. In relation to the minor final congrats to shane o neills but i have to say the standard of both teams was pretty poor not that shanes will worry. minor teams of cross, harps, killeavey, ogs and keady must regret they didn't put in a better effort as a title was there on the basis of yesterdays game. ps did either of yesterdays minor finalists defeat any of the above teams. think it could be the end of the road for a few dtee starlets, including aiden o rouke and e martin

r u forgetting cullyhanna minors,we knocked cross out in the first round..u from the bridge??lol

imo, managers mite not get the backing from the dressing room but its an easy target to point the blame at..i would say no pride in the jersey..

treatment clans are getting is a joke.  just because they are one of the aristrocats of armagh football teams both in north and south armagh seem to take pleasure in trying to get them put down to the 2nd tier in rma.

in fairness now weve had good battles with clans over the years and personally i would be dissapointed to see them go down..1 memory was soupy campbell scoring a hatrick and taking of his jersey.lol

Any predictions for sundays final.?

Personally i think that we will have to improve greatly to pull it off.
Dromintee are a step up in quality from St Pats and our semi final replay performance would not be good enough to beat them.

r you avin a laugh?? we would boot dromintee,and cross willl boot them by at least 5 points on sunday,,them 2 games against st pats will stand to cross and with oisin back and home advantage takin in to account,thats all worth an extra 5 points in the favour of cross..

Clans beat culloville by 5 points , well done lads despite the efforts of some other teams you have once again secured first division status. Some teams need to take a good look at themselves concerning fixtures

did culloville put out their subs for dis match??they were missing a few that played in the ifc final last week..i heard that yous done them a favour a few years back and they returned it 2day..any truth in this??

Cross were quite happy that Robbie was able to play as it would have diminished our achievement somewhat if Cullyhanna had been understrength.

it was the same with us,we wanted cross to have a full strength team,,

It's good to get one of the weaker counties in the first round for a change.

dont be bitter cos yous got booted around croke park twice this year..
go back to the hole yas have been hiding in since the 99ulster final.lol yous arnt to talkative when down are going poorly,jumping on the bandwagon now.

Welcome aboard No Life One Club......you'll learn

great comeback,,ur hilarious.truth hurts

It's good to get one of the weaker counties in the first round for a change.

dont be bitter cos yous got booted around croke park twice this year..
go back to the hole yas have been hiding in since the 99ulster final.lol yous arnt to talkative when down are going poorly,jumping on the bandwagon now.

jimmy mc kee stated at the replay that he put forward the CORRECT number for tasker.

same old county board ,same old s**t

2,2 JIMMY TOLD ME THAT HIMSELF. I WAS SPEAKING TO HIM AT THE WEEKEND AND HE WASN'T BEST PLAESED WITH Co BOARD FOR OVER RULING HIM.

Why doesn't he go public about it.

yea,, ;Dhe should sell his story to the irish news..lol

Armagh SFC Semi-final St Patrick's 0-10 Crossmaglen Rangers 1-8

Hope, trepidation, fury, joy and ultimately despair were just some of the emotions experienced by followers of St Patrick's during Saturday's tense championship encounter. Having been boosted mid-week by the availability of star corner-forward Robbie Tasker, Cullyhanna made the short trip to Silverbridge in good spirits and full of hope that the team could reach their first county final. St Patrick's couldn't have gotten off to a better start when a magnificent 50m free kick from Ciaran McKeever in the first minute sailed over the crossbar. However their lead was to prove short-lived as a minute later a Crossmaglen attack which appeared to have been broken down resulted in the ball being slipped to David McKenna whose low shot produced the first goal of the match. Francis Hanratty soon extended Rangers' lead but another well-struck Ciaran McKeever free from range kept St Pat's in touch. A long scoreless spell ensued as both sides struggled to cope with the difficulty of wet conditions. St Pat's did kick a number of wides in this period as they vainly attempted to draw level but their forays forward were frequently met by stubborn Crossmaglen resistance and some tough tackling. After 27 minutes, slopping defending resulted in Crossmaglen's second point but a minute later Eugene Casey seized the initiative and fired over his side's first point from play and their third in total. This left the half-time score as St Patrick's 0-3 Crossmaglen Rangers 1-2.

While the first half was a tight affair with scores at a premium, the conditions certainly had a bearing on the fairly poor quality on show. Crossmaglen made effective use of their sweeper system and former county man Francie Bellew was instrumental in ensuring that Cullyhanna struggled to provide their forward line with quality possession.

Early in the second half Ciaran McKeever took a different approach to free-taking, attempting a long range effort from the hands. While the method was different, the result was the same as his previous kicks with the ball sailing over the crossbar. Over elaboration in the Cullyhanna defence soon cost St Pat's another point however seven minutes into the second half, Cullyhanna produced their best move of the match when a patient build-up involving Paudie McCreesh, Tony Donnelly and Eugene Casey released Niall McShane who burst through the Crossmaglen defence to kick an excellent point to bring the deficit down to the minimum. Soon the match was level as Stephen Reel, who had a magnificent match at full back, carried the ball out of defence to initiate an attack which resulted in a Mal Mackin point to draw the sides level for the first time in the match. The team then exchanged points with the Cullyhanna score coming from a Eugene Casey free. With 10 minutes to go David McKenna fired Crossmaglen into the lead again but a minute later Niall McShane was fouled within scoring range and Eugene Casey made no mistake with the resultant free. Two minutes later Barry McConville was fouled and Casey's fourth point of the match put his side into the lead for the first time.

And so the match entered its crucial juncture. With eight minutes on the clock, St Pat's were a point ahead as their supporters dared to imagine that the dream of a county final appearance might actually come true. The team seemed similarly buoyed with optimism as they gained a stranglehold on possession       and surged forward in waves. Unfortunately St Pat's could not convert their dominance of possession into scores and fatally did not extend their advantage. In this stage of the match, Crossmaglen resembled a boxer struggling on the ropes however they withstood the onslaught and replied with some knock-out blows of their own. A free with 3 minutes to go drew the teams level and with a minute left, a patient build-up created the space for a point to be kicked to send Cross into the lead and break Cullyhanna hearts. A minute into injury time a monstrous Aaron Kernan free flew over the bar to give Rangers a two point advantage and deepen the depression of the Cullyhanna followers. A late Robbie Tasker free gave his side hope however when Crossmaglen won possession from the resultant free kick, the game was up for the brave Cullyhanna men.

While disappointment was etched on the faces of all St Patrick's players and supporters, it is not merely consolation to suggest that the players and management should take huge pride in their efforts this year. Over two hours football, St Pat's showed that they are as good as the very best teams in the county and were very unfortunate not to be looking forward to their maiden County final appearance. Sadly, it was not be and we offer sincerest congratulations to Crossmaglen who will now face Dromintee in a fortnight's time. At the beginning of the year, only the most optimistic of observers would have cast Cullyhanna in the role of genuine championship contenders but their performances this season mean that such a tag can be rightly attributed to them. All involved in the squad should realise that with a mixture of young improving players and others in the prime of their careers, the future should be very bright. If the team can retain its players and show the necessary commitment, the holy grail of a County Senior Championship may not be too far away.

we were so close..heartbreaking readin that..were a young team and we will be back..up the pats