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We wont be complacent like Monaghan were.
We wont let Down walk all over us like Monaghan did.

Lets be realistic. Given our quality and the way MH has the lads we should be comfortably beating a decidedly average Down outfit.

Johnston & Harrison wont get the same space as they did Saturday night.

We are 2/9 - same price as Monaghan were. Should be 1/6

In a post on another forum you accused Down fans of being arrogant. Not one Down fan has predicted we will beat Tyrone, in fact everyone has said that if we can raise the same level of performance, as Saturday, we will at least offer a fair challenge. Not very arrogant at all, but maybe you should look at your own post.

Can Armagh win two games in a row?

Yes.

There is very little between any of the Ulster sides man for man. We proved that against Monaghan on Saturday night. A focused, co-ordinated team that plays with confidence in Ulster is pretty much as good as another Ulster side.

The best thing is that the attacking football has prospered in this years Ulster Championship.

I'm not a WUM. I have backed up every single point I made with sensible and reasoned facts. Not one opinion based on gut instinct or media hype. Read the posts and say where my analysis is lacking.

So Mayweather wins over 24 lbs. Pacquio wins over 42 lbs. Doesn't make McGregor winning over 10 lbs so amazing after all.

TAYLOR how do you make out " CMG is one of the best the UFC have seen. "

He has only ever had 10 UFC fights, lost one, and only ever beat two previous title holders. The second of whom had only held the title for one fight. Do you even know anything about his record or just repeat anything he says about himself?

[I wouldn't be surprised if Down got a result against Monaghan.]

Cavan have an amazing record but apart from 97 the ulsters were won pre 1960. Most of Monaghan's are very old too. It is interesting that Tyrone have overtaken Down . Thuas seal thíos seal.   I wouldn't be surprised if Down got a result against Monaghan.

Fair play to you Seafoid, stuck your neck out there.

[the good news is we will give Down some trimming in the final]

It was more than one easy free. Darrem Hughes overcarried. Free in and point came of it. Also he gave a free to Monaghan when Down turned over at kick out. Beggan handled on ground not given. One time Darren Hughes went for mark but dropped it but ref blew for mark. One of the worst refs I've ever seen in terms of applying the rules.

Beggan on the ground was an umpire failing but not a point scoring chance for Monaghan. The mark was a bad decision. He had his whistle to his mouth as Hughes got both hands on teh ball and blew it anyway as Hghes fumbled. I would give the beneft of the doubt here as it looked like it would be a  clear catch too all of us. The ref was just a wee bit quick off the mark (if you pardon the pun!!)

Hughes over-carrying was the one I was talking about. That was a gimmie point at a crucial time, could have cost us the game. But there was lots of over-carrying not punished which was allowing Monaghan to recycle possession for about ten minutes. It is just not fair on defenders. They are not getting rewarded for doing their job properly.

Shocking performance from Monaghan but the good news is we will give Down some trimming in the final.
The wide count in first 10mins spelled trouble for Monaghan...

Down are a poor outfit, can't wait to get at them

Down hit the same wides in the last ten minutes. If a couple had gone over Monaghan would have limped out. So don't make out it was four wides in the first ten minutes that decided the game.

We are not confident of beating Tyrone and totally accept we are deserved underdogs. But comments like that are just pure hubris. Monaghan thought they would give us a trimming too. Don't get arrogant.

Down deserved the win, it would have been an injustice should Monaghan snatched a draw, the only reason they came back into it was Harrison going off, an dun Abu

I would say that Coldrick going off was worse for us.

Being as fair as possible I thought the ref was only wrong about one free he gave Monaghan in the second half. There was one excellent tackle that was blown. But what he did do, was allow them to over-carry consistently. That hurt Down's ability to defend badly. Secondly he gave Jerome none of the frees that he was giving to Monaghan at the other end. During Monaghan's comeback we should have had at least two easy free kicks which would totally have taken the sting out of the comeback.

Down have the players to challenge Monaghan. Jerome Johnston and Ryan Johnston are easily good enough to cause any defenders problems. McKernan is an All-star and quality. Elsewhere I just don't buy that Monaghan are loaded with players who are hugely naturally more talented than Down's footballers....

I thought Monaghan would win, I admit that but I did say that this idea that Monaghan's players are so much more talented than ours was not true. I stand by that.

While I agree with a lot of what you are saying I have to pick a few holes.
He is not even undefeated at UFC. UFC is not a sport. He is not undefeated in MMA is maybe what you meant. But who is. Even the GOATs have some losses on their records. Also his MMA credentials are not in question at all. Aldo for starters was undefeated in about 6/7 years and I'm pretty sure he was undefeated in the UFC before he fought Conor.

as you agree I really shouldn't be pedentic. But can't helpmyself clarifying. If I said "Ronaldo is the highest paid footballer in La liga in a sport that is known for paying huge wages" I think no one would say that I am wrong beuase la Liga isn't a sport and that I should have said football. So similarly I am aware  that UFC is a championship in the MMA sport. I thought it would be implied. Anyway no matter.

Also I said Mcgregor "has never beaten anyone in those fights that was undefeated within two years otherwise of McGregor's fight" Aldo was unbeaten before McGregor but has lost since. Beating  man with a great history may sound fantastic but he goes on to lose then maybe you just got him at the right time. If you are the only person to better a champion within a couple of years period then that really adds gravitas to your victory. Aldo has yet to really come back and prove he justifies his long line of historic victories in curent terms.

However to show I am not completely without humility and can admit when I am wrong. I said "he has never beaten an opponent that was undefeated in a main card fight" and that was wrong. Aldo was undefeated in main card events. I was wrong in that one.

Beating Aldo was impressive but all great fighters who beat a long standing champion are only really considered great if they can do it in a rematch which McGregor refused against Aldo. Is Joshua better than the great Klitschko? He won so that makes him also a great fighter, does it? How can we question his credentials? But we do question his credentials, and that is why there has to be a rematch. And that is why we can question McGregor's credentials even in MMA. His record in title fights is just not long enough. And his only rematch turning a defeat to a single point victory against a guy that has never won a UFC title is hardly convincing stuff. Especially as that guy had lost 10 out his previous 28 fights.

McGregor is a great self promoter. He is great craic. He is a great maximiser out of two title fight victories. But a great champion/fighter? Come on serioulsy - any jury that isn't still out on that one is not looking at the facts.

There is no decent front bench Tory. Amazingly they have built up a cabinet of detached,  arrogant fools. They are busy,making around without direction. Remember, they actually agreed with that manifesto. It wasn't all Theresa May, though she'said getting all the blame. They are all to blame. She'said just to blame for the hardline Brexit crap

Firstly, Sonia proved herself over a decade of performance and at several distances. She didn't just win a couple of races.

Secondly, just because MMA is a well known popular sport doesn't mean that someone who does a less popular sport isn't a sportiing great. That's just ignorant. So does teh popularity of the sport determine how much value the athlete has? Crap talk. Buster Douglas won a Heavyweight world title does that make him a far more worthy sportsman than 5 time gold medailst Chris Hoy becuase less people watch track cycling??

Thirdly, McGregor is not a great. Christ, he has only had three title fights. He has lost 3 out of 24 fights. He's unusual yes in that he transferred divisions but that is hardly a jaw dropping feat. Very common in combat sports. In fact every combat sport has some multi-weight champions. It's not like he is Pacquaio who won across seven weights. Come to think of it Mayweather has won across five.

Whhat is great about a huge self promotion drive and three title wins. Good - yes, Very good - probably, Best around now - Well lets see a lot more fights first. Great - Laughable, three championship wins and only one defense. Stop kidding people. Many, many more wins needed to earn that accolade.

James - Sit down
Heaven 17 - Temptation
Def Leppard - Animal
Guns n'Roses - Patience (first part), November Rain (first part)
Wolfe Tones - Streets of New York
Mammas & Pappas - California Dreamin

to name a few

Celtic seem unlikely to take allocation which is a sensible choice. As for Linfield fans at Celtic there will only be about 6,000 max and the Scottish Police can easily handle this. I worry about the PSNI holding back 16,000 Linfield fans from 2,000 Celts in Belfast.

the move to the 14th is a sensible idea also. the heat of the 12th passions is definitely on the wane by 14th as people turn attentions to the Bank Holiday weekend. and there will be loads of Police available to steward the event.

I would be a lot happier now with these arrangements. If Celtic win by three goals or so and outclass Linfield the whole sting will go and I think the wee-huns will just head off disappointed. Of course there will be isolated issues but the majority will just trail away sad.

[Open water is not like pool swimming.]

First sprint triathlon on Sunday in Bangor, absolutely shiteing it. 

No idea what to expect at the start or at transitions.  Swim is going to be very tough as I could barely do 2 lengths of a pool 3 months ago! 

Anyway, I've read through this thread and I'd be interested in a "top three" tips from any of you experienced fellas!

I am aiming for Dublin in August. I ducked out of the Bangor one as I am not ready for the swim. So swimming:

Open water is not like pool swimming.
1. Firstly you have a buoyant wetsuit so that makes it easier.
2. But also you no longer have the push-off from the pool ends which makes it harder.
3. Psychologically it is intimidating as  25m to safety looks nothing even if you intend to swim 30 lengths without stopping. Once you are in the sea it seems enormous, it saps confidence.
4. Most people around you will be swimming faster than you and it can force you to speed up. Don't do it. change in swimming speed from your norm can rip the oxygen from you and put you in trouble. Swim your own speed and in your own comfort zone. This is the most technical part of the race. Do not care if you come out the water dead last. Just make sure you come out the water.

The cycle:
The route is pretty flat so the distance will be no bother to you. I assume you can cycle fairly okay anyway? It's only 20km so a slow time to a fast time only has about 5 minutes in it unless you are a serious cyclist. Note - as you come in the last 500m try to straighten you back a bit and sit upright, don't be hunched over racing style. If you do, then when you jump off your bike your back may spasm and it will deny you breath for starting the run.

The run:
What can I say, its a straightforward 5km. Go your own pace, personally I think a steady pace you know you can do is best. Do not be put off by others. I like to try to put a bit of length in the stride for the last 1km-500m. It just feels good to be passing a couple of people as you come to the line.

I am just a beginner too. This year I am concentrating on Try-a-tri with about 5 races before trying the Dublin sprint triathlon in August. Next year I will try a schedule of sprints building hopefully to completing the full triathlon in Dublin. There is an excellent Try-a-tri and sprint triathlon in Athlone I am going to on July 8th.

Most of all good luck and let us know how you got on.

I know you are only joking but this is the exact thing I am talking about. Technically that is not credible. Pacquiao was famed for his straight left and Mayweather avoided it pretty easily.

Some other technical matters:

Style - Mayweather is a superbly skilled at defensive boxing. If your main skill is strong attack then Mayweather is the worst possible person to fight. Mayweather isn't all that exciting to watch, he is more like an amatuer boxer in his approach. Avoiding blows and picking off lots of point scoring jabs. Basically the only person likely to beat Mayweather is silky moving point scorer that doesn't get drawn in. Hatton tried to out-power him and Pacquiao tries to out blast him with ferocity of throws. Pac threw 429 punches but landed only 81 (19%). Against Marquez Pac landed 37%. McGregor's punch is not going to be much good if he can't land it.

Endurance - Since winning his first title he has gone the distance in 60% of fights which is quite a lot. Klitschko (20%), Steve Collins (33%), Pacquiao (52%), Morales (45%), Barrera  (48%), Del la Hoya (37%), Cotto (24%).


Left attack - Mayweather fights almost side on and orthodox, with chin tucked under shoulder. To get to him, McGregor would have to come a hell of along way with a left.  McGregor is a Southpaw, so to throw a straight left he needs to open up his whole right hand side. Mayweather is superb at right hand jab-straight combinations.

Stance - MMA generally stand square on an present a large surface area to hit because they are pretty much obsessed with head shots because body shots require close distance and close distance in MMA means grappling. No grappling in boxing so body shots are very attractive.

Hands - Mayweather like any great champion is two-handed. McGregor basically employs his left exclusively. His right rarely lands with any power as he mostly uses it as a distraction for the left.

Ropes - Boxing has ropes. If you force an opponent against them he can use the spring to his advantage, and Mayweather is an expert at that. In MMA it is a solid cage. Forcing am opponent against it hems the opponent in and gives him no room to maneuver, no shoulder roll, no spring. MMA fighters use the cage to pin opponents, McGregor can't do that in the boxing ring.

So, ok "A straight left bax to the ja, done." was a joke, but it is worth saying once again that no technical reason has been given to justify McGregor has a chance. All evidence would indicate that technically Mayweather would lap up a south-paw fighter who thought a quick straight left would have any hope against him.