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Just before the season starts I'd like to wish Joe Kernan, the Armagh teams and all their splendid supporters all the very best in 2007. May you achieve my heart's desire.

Thanks Shane - that's decent of you! 

Out of curiosity, what is your heart's desire?

Ah here...

Some eegit just said

there are far more Association football clubs than GAA clubs

That's hilarious

Is it not true? There are literally hundreds of soccer clubs in Dublin. Many of them amount to a bunch of lads meeting up on a Saturday for a league match on a council pitch, with a game of midweek indoor thrown in in lieu of training. They're still clubs though.

In Armagh City there are two Gaelic Football Clubs, and off the top of my head in and around ten soccer clubs. The two Gaelic Football Clubs would have in the region of twenty five teams - I would guess the soccer clubs would have less than twenty teams. The gaelic teams mostly would have squads of 20-25 in number, the soccer teams mostly 14-17. There might be a discrepancy of clubs in the region of 10:2, but there's no doubt there are a lot more Gaelic players.

Out of curiosity, does the average soccer head in the South have that much anitpathy to the GAA - I'm used to it in the North from the OWC contingent, but I'm a bit taken aback by the level of animosity shown there!

From my experience, it depends where you are. In Donegal, no. Its mostly the same people playing and watching both sports.

I also lived for many years on the south side of Dublin. Most of the lads I knew either played or watched soccer or both, but had little interest in GAA. I never got involved in any GAA club in Dublin, but I still met a fairly representative cross-section of Dublin life through college and work. Never saw much actual antipathy though.

Fair point about the number of teams per club. There are some massive soccer clubs though too.

Sorry - should have added J70 that many of the soccer clubs, particularly those pub based clubs with one team, would be made up of GAA players and there would be little or no contest as to where their loyalties lie, i.e. GAA.

Cross are a special club, and if they complete the treble would be a remarkable achievement and at a canter as stated already. But it will be an interesting final on Saturday, unlike our Seniors mosts of these boys have beaten Cross in a county final in the under 21s three years ago. Will any of the harps boys take a run up?

Cross are out on their own alright but a few facts are pertinent here! Cross have won the last eleven Senior Titles in a row - starting in 1996. Prior to that, their previous County Title was when they beat the Ogs in Keady in 1986.    Cross failed to even get to a County Final in the following nine years, despite having a pile of top names in that period.

Cross will do a remarkable treble alright if they knock over the Under 21 title this week-end. But they do not dominate under age any more than the Harps or the Ogs do. Off the top of my head, Harps have most titles at Minor, the Ogs at Juvenile and Cross at Under 21.

What Cross have developed is a system whereby their great success is generating yet more and more success, and there does not need to be underage domination to continue their domination at Senior. The opposite is happening at other Clubs. Rangers dominance is a massive tribute to that Club - particularly given their success beyond the County. However I feel that the rest of the Clubs in Armagh have not made their task of knocking over County titles as difficult as it should be.   

Ah here...

Some eegit just said

there are far more Association football clubs than GAA clubs

That's hilarious

Is it not true? There are literally hundreds of soccer clubs in Dublin. Many of them amount to a bunch of lads meeting up on a Saturday for a league match on a council pitch, with a game of midweek indoor thrown in in lieu of training. They're still clubs though.

In Armagh City there are two Gaelic Football Clubs, and off the top of my head in and around ten soccer clubs. The two Gaelic Football Clubs would have in the region of twenty five teams - I would guess the soccer clubs would have less than twenty teams. The gaelic teams mostly would have squads of 20-25 in number, the soccer teams mostly 14-17. There might be a discrepancy of clubs in the region of 10:2, but there's no doubt there are a lot more Gaelic players.

Out of curiosity, does the average soccer head in the South have that much anitpathy to the GAA - I'm used to it in the North from the OWC contingent, but I'm a bit taken aback by the level of animosity shown there!

There is also an element of 'success breeding success', and there appears to be a culture in Cross of looking up to their local heroes and trying to emulate them. Think about that culture and what it means, and compare that to our own Club as we enter 2007

Nail on head Rufus. Was very disappointed in the performance. Cross a country mile ahead in terms of skill, commitment, fitness, and probably a lack of beer over xmas. I think i saw a glimpse of club footballs future in armagh and its not good. That said im just an outsider looking in but concerned about what i saw.

First of all Maddog, sorry I didn't get to meet up over Christmas - Happy New Year to you and the Good Lady.

As for last Saturday, I could genuinely write pages about the difference between Cross and ourselves. We gave Cross a good run for their money in a County Semi-final at the tail end of 2003, with a young team, half made up of minors and under 21s. The future looked great! As of the start of this year, it is likely that less than half of that team will be playing Senior football. In contrast, Cross have successfully moved on, changing their team (for positive reasons) and coming back totally reinvented. The Harps on the other hand have kept losing many of the underage prospects that we had.

I don't normally talk out of shop about what goes on in Committee meetings. However our inability to keep on board much of our underage talent is a real cause for concern in meetings, and recently a photo of our successful minor team of 2004 was produced which showed that over half of the thirty in the picture no longer play football with the Harps. Meanwhile in Cross there is yet more success which gives more and more underage players the incentive to get to the Senior team - what better than healthy competition to keep bringing out the best in your resources?!

I can see the Harps' problems mirrored throughout the County. What is required in our Club is a sea change in the culture of our young players. Given that, and what I saw in Mullabrack last Saturday, I could see Cross doing twenty in a row at Senior level - and I'm not exaggerating!    

just my opinion and just a little biased i know but for pure atmosphere and history it has to be Anfield for me

Aye, so good they can't wait to leave it themselves. Stop making a fool of yourself.

I thought it was financial considerations that were forcing the move out of Anfield - nothing to do with lack of atmosphere or history? Am I wrong?

[Harps v Crossmaglen Rangers]

Harps v Crossmaglen Rangers

Harps' hopes of achieving back to back Under 21 Titles came badly unstuck at Mullabrack yesterday, when they were well beaten by a much more determined and street wise Crossmaglen Rangers team. This was a game that the Harps will want to forget in a hurry as they were beaten all over the park and as a consequence suffered a very heavy defeat.

The match was played on a heavy pitch in very cold but clear conditions. Harps started the game playing into a strong wind, and were soon in trouble with Cross dominating around the middle and putting in good ball to their dangerous attackers. They managed the opening point and repeated the dose from the kick out. A long ball in caused confusion in the Harps defence and led to a one on one situation with the keeper that resulted in a well taken goal. The Harps were reeling and struggling to make any impact at all. Kevin Kelly's free faded left and Joe Quigley had a wide before Cross extended their lead with a point from a free. Two further points were added, one a fifty yard free. Rangers for the first time in the match were guilty of some bad shooting, but Harps could not capitalise and were guilty of dropping shots short into the keeper's hands. Another long range point followed for Rangers, but Harps could only muster two wides from Kevin Kelly frees, as they struggled to kick into the breeze. Harps' attempts at damage limitation suffered a blow when Cross got in for their second goal just before half time. A ball in midfield should have been cut out – instead possession was turned over and a brilliant pass over the top of the defence left a second one on one and as before, an expert finish was applied.

Half time, Harps 0-00, Crossmaglen Rangers 2-06.

Any hopes that Harps had of recovering the situation were not helped by the conditions, as the wind that they had struggled to play into had died down significantly by the start of the second half. These hopes were then totally extinguished when Rangers took the game by the scruff of the neck and knocked over three quick points on the restart. Harps managed to get on the scoreboard with a point from a Joe Quigley free kick and Declan Coulter added a point from play. Rangers responded with two points of their own before Joe Quigley pointed another free and Declan Coulter managed a goal after his shot was deflected to the net. Rangers appeared to sense the need to step up a gear and had a point and a goal, the latter as a result of a flowing move through the Harps's defence that left the spare man at the back post with an easy fisted finish. Kevin Kelly pointed a Harps' free but Rangers were able to respond in kind, finishing the match as convincing winners.

Final score, Harps 1-04, Crossmaglen Rangers 3-13.

Harps had few players who will look back on this match with any sort of satisfaction, although the efforts of Joe Quigley, Ciaran Clifford and Declan Coulter are worthy of mention whilst Charlie Vernon was, by the proverbial street, our best player on the pitch. The Harps lined out as follows. Johnny Daly, Karl Grimes, Ciaran Clifford, Fergus McAleavey, Mark McConville, Charlie Vernon, Smackers McAnaney (Cormac Toner), Gareth Swift, Simon Lennon, Martin McCoy, Declan Coulter 1-1, Joe Quigley 0-2 (0-2 frees), Darren Ward, Kevin Kelly 0-1 (0-1 free) and Liam Devlin.       

Cross were too strong all over the park. Dont think Dromintee will count, to be honest that Cross team would beat most senior Division 1 teams in Armagh.

How do they keep producing such quality players??

Funny - I had this conversation with a fellow Harps man recently. Cross produce quality players alright, but if you look at their underage success, we are on at least a par with them, if not better, as are the Ogs. What Cross manage to do is keep all their good players on board. As an example, that Harps team playing yesterday should have been the team that won an Ulster Minor Club Championship, three years tomorrow. Yet in that short timespan, look how many - for one reason or another - did not feature yesterday? Harps, as an example, are not bringing through fully their underage talent, and as a consequence, any hope of the Seniors making the breakthrough will become an absolute pipe dream.

There is also an element of 'success breeding success', and there appears to be a culture in Cross of looking up to their local heroes and trying to emulate them. Think about that culture and what it means, and compare that to our own Club as we enter 2007!

Enough said!   

jaysus lads, that was totally unexpected today. where dd it all go wrong?

Bit of a disaster all round today Uladh - I'll get a report up later, but the better team won, end off! I think the final score was 3-13 to 1-04 - I'll tot up my notes later.

Talking to the neighbours (Ogs) who were at the other semi. I think it was in Ballymacnab - apparently Dromintee won handy enough after being two down at half time.

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to all, even Fearon!

You're getting soft in your ould age Bummer!!

Well - all the pressies are out and awaiting the rush down the stairs early tomorrow morning!!

A Very Happy Christmas to yez all - and I'll be speaking to ye before the New Year!! 

In light of the bans handed out for the battle of Omagh, it seems that the GAA has come down heavy on the lesser teams for a similar incident yet it wasn't by national role models beemed out on national TV, surely something has to be done about the consistancy of bans like this.

Im not condoning the incident.

Couldn't agree more Spirit. Couldn't see that happening to two of the top Clubs, or indeed Counties. Danny Murphy set his stall out early by promising a crack down - from the TV pictures I could see, the violence was nothing compared to that in Omagh for example, yet 36 week bans are being waived about.

I'm not saying the bans are inappropriate, justy that there are serious inconsistencies and it stinks of slapping the weak, i.e. smaller clubs! 

Would have to say the Genius that is Mini Holmes, brother of tyrone midfielder

Funny, I thought you had left by the time Mini joined - but there you go!   

Check out the reactions of Pele, Tostao and the crowd behind the nets!   

Not taking away from Pele, but Tony Cascarino was regularly knocking them in from a few yards out for Millwall in the 80s . . .

Good God, your knowledge of World Cup folklore merits a Grade F.

Those aren't pictures of a goal, those are the iconic images of a save from Gordon Banks that is often called 'the greatest save of all time'.

Hi MW

I'm aware it wasn't a goal.

We can only take this world cup moment based on the footage we have of it. Banks made a superb save - no one will argue that, but my opinion (and i'm happy to give my opinion on this, and not just eat what's spoonfed to me) is that it was a poor finish by Pele. He should have scored from there and not headered it down so much.

Incidentally this save (great save) and Bobby Moore's tackle on Pele in the same match are often cited as the reasons that this was the best soccer match of all time. The match was reshown on BBC1 when Brazil and England met in 2002 world cup - just like some of the All ireland gold matches, it hasn't aged well! It makes for fairly lame fare watching it now.

cheers

The save was just unbelievable and my favourite non GAA sporting moment of all time. It was not just the save though. That move started, if memory serves me correctly, with a shot/cross from Francis Lee on the England right that Felix gathered well. He rolled the ball to Carlos Alberto who advanced towards half way and hit the most brilliant pass, with the outside of his right boot, over 50 or so yards, inside Terry Cooper and into the path of Jairzinho. His first touch was too heavy and he sent the ball, bouncing on a rock hard surface, hurtling towards the end line. He sprinted after it and somehow got his foot around it to send over the perfect cross. The rest is history! 

By the way Turk - agree about watching the match again, though I would suggest that no matter what match you watch in it's entirety, you will always fast forward some bits. That game though was a marvellous occasion, between the first and second best teams in the world, with great players on both sides! Tremendous!

[Hall of Fame - Patsy Nugent]

Forgot to mention - great night in the Club on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Fair few GAABoard heads knocking about, though most of them went home early! 

Anyway, congratulations to the following on their awards - all richly deserved.

Hall of Fame - Patsy Nugent

Committee Man of the Year - James Clifford

Club Services Award - Eileen Richards

Senior Player of the Year - Martin Gill

Most Consistent Senior Player - Chuckie Morris

'B' Player of the Year - Kevin Kelly

'B' Players' Player of the Year - Liam McAuley

Ladies Footballer of the Year - Paula Powell

Most Improved Ladies Footballer - Leanne O'Neill

Minor Player of the Year - Michael Kelly

Under 16 Player of the Year - Paul Kelly

Overall Youth Player of the Year - Simon Lennon

There were also four special awards made to Harps' members for great achievements throughout the year.

Paul Rath for becoming Mid Board referee of the year; Ciaran McMahon for winning the All Ireland Road Bowls Title in his grade, Declan Coulter (Cuchullians) for representing Armagh, Ulster and Ireland in hurling/shinty this year, and last and by no means least to our Number One sponsor, Jimmy Nugent, whose support is invaluable!

I ended up in Richie Nugent's house with the Hall of Fame winner - great craic. Stumpy and me left about half three when Richie started discussing his point in the 1991 County Final! 

[Harps v Whitecross]

Harps v Whitecross

Harps recorded another victory in the Armagh Under 21 Championship when they were full value for a six point victory at the South Armagh venue. Harps started with the same fifteen that started last week against Ballymacnab – the only positional change being the swapping of wings by half backs Martin McCoy and Smackers McAnaney. 

Harps played into the wind in the first half and soon opened the scoring with a Declan Coulter point after Darren Ward had knocked the ball down to him. Whitecross though began to apply pressure, though they were denied by some good defensive work, with Karl Grimes featuring prominently. They soon had their equaliser – a point from a long range free and quickly took the lead with another long range point, this time from play. Simon Lennon unfortunately had to retire injured at this stage. The reshuffle saw sub Mark McConville go into wing half back, with Smackers going to midfield. Harps began to exert pressure and had an excellent point from a Kevin Kelly '50'. Joe Quigley followed up with a point from a free but this good work was shortly undone. The Harps defence allowed an attacker to go through the centre unchallenged and he finished with a low shot to the net from fourteen yards. Harps returned to the attack thanks to good work around the middle. This led to points from Joe Quigley (2) and Charlie Vernon. Whitecross though managed to get one last attack before the interval that brought an equalising point from a fourteen yard free.

Harps 0-06, Whitecross 1-03.

Harps immediately set to work on the restart and took the lead with a Declan Coulter point after a good run. Darren ward pointed from play before Whitecross responded with a point from a '50'. This was to prove a false dawn for the home side, as Harps began to take over. Declan Coulter set up Kevin Kelly for a point and with Harps exerting increasing pressure, frees began to be conceded. These frees led to points from Joe Quigley and Kevin Kelly, the latter a huge sixty yard effort. A good move out of defence saw Kevin Kelly add another point from play and Darren Ward repeated the dose. Kevin Kelly added another point from a free before Harps closed the game with a goal. Joe Quigley won possession and was brought down in the area for a penalty. He picked himself up and duly slotted the ball home. Nippy added another point from a sixty yard free. To their credit Whitecross did not give up, although Harps management will be concerned that with the game won, Harps like last week allowed the opposition in for scores. Whitecross added a goal and two points in the closing stages to leave Harps as deserved victors by six points. This was a good overall team performance form the Harps with everyone playing a part, although the efforts of Smackers, Joe Quigley, Mark McConville, Declan Coulter and Karl Grimes are worthy of mention.

Final score, Harps 1-15, Whitecross 2-06.

The Harps fielded as follows. John Daly, Karl Grimes, Ciaran Clifford, Fergus McAleavey, Smackers McAnaney, Charlie Vernon 0-1, Martin McCoy, Simon Lennon (Mark McCoville), Nippy Swift 0-1 (0-1 free), Joe Quigley 1-5 (1-0 penalty, 0-2 frees), Declan Coulter 0-2, Cormac Toner, Darren Ward 0-2, Kevin Kelly 0-5 (0-1 '50', 0-2 frees), and Liam Devlin.