14 Mar 2009 Fermanagh v Armagh

[corn02]

Good win, relegation avoided I would assume.

[corn02]

An eight-point hammering according to Aertel!

[omagh_gael]

Seen second half, again Fermanagh haunted by the lack of a composed free taker, although nearly all scores came from frees missed two sitters at vital times! Can't see them making any head way  this year, they're terribly defensive an just have no options when they break out of defence, Armagh were just so so, think they need to up it big time come may 31st! Ref was pretty brutal to both teams, missed a few blatant yellows, specifically the third man block on an Armagh half back, overall poor enuf game but can't complain wen u walk in free at half time

[Orior]

Seen second half, again Fermanagh haunted by the lack of a composed free taker, although nearly all scores came from frees missed two sitters at vital times! Can't see them making any head way  this year, they're terribly defensive an just have no options when they break out of defence, Armagh were just so so, think they need to up it big time come may 31st! Ref was pretty brutal to both teams, missed a few blatant yellows, specifically the third man block on an Armagh half back, overall poor enuf game but can't complain wen u walk in free at half time

Dont worry, we know who you are 

[Maguire01]

Good win, relegation avoided I would assume.

I wouldn't be comfortable on 4 points, with 3 other teams on 2 points, and one of those still to play their fourth game. I reckon you'll need 6 to be sure of safety.

[gerry]

Fermanagh had their chance to take the points tonight against an average armagh side. A great night for football compared to the rain in omagh last week.

I wish i had came in at half time to and saved myself £12

[omagh_gael]

Seen second half, again Fermanagh haunted by the lack of a composed free taker, although nearly all scores came from frees missed two sitters at vital times! Can't see them making any head way  this year, they're terribly defensive an just have no options when they break out of defence, Armagh were just so so, think they need to up it big time come may 31st! Ref was pretty brutal to both teams, missed a few blatant yellows, specifically the third man block on an Armagh half back, overall poor enuf game but can't complain wen u walk in free at half time

Dont worry, we know who you are 

Seen second half, again Fermanagh haunted by the lack of a composed free taker, although nearly all scores came from frees missed two sitters at vital times! Can't see them making any head way  this year, they're terribly defensive an just have no options when they break out of defence, Armagh were just so so, think they need to up it big time come may 31st! Ref was pretty brutal to both teams, missed a few blatant yellows, specifically the third man block on an Armagh half back, overall poor enuf game but can't complain wen u walk in free at half time

Dont worry, we know who you are 

I'm afraid not, but I seen a man matchin mr fearons description following close behind me

[mackers]

Poor game alright. Standard of refereeing was very poor, hopefully can say that without getting accused of sour grapes as we won but he was brutal, every foul is NOT a black book. However, that said the standard can't be put down solely to the ref.
I thought our full back line had a very poor first half but played a little better in the second half.
Ciaran McKeever is just outstanding and we really do rely on him now as last Sunday showed in big style, his range of passing is first class.
Midfield struggled again until Kieran Toner came on as second half sub, he is also "McEntee-esque" in his tackling, he seems to have a great knack of knocking the ball loose in the tackle. Charlie didn't play well, except for an outstanding point.
I defended him last week, but MOR was not good and is in a run of poor form, missed some easy passes although no one can question his work rate. Brian Mallon is another man in a run of poor form and this continued tonight. The experiment of playing Stevie in the HF line is going well, thought he played really well there and is a creative spark, something we haven't had in the HF line in a long time. If this is to continue, we need someone to help Clarkie out in the FF line, but both Henderson and K O'Rourke didn't go well tonight.
Clarke is just superb and the only thing opposing FBs can do with him is foul him, but he doesn't get half the frees he deserves.
As Maguire says I feel that we need another win to feel secure but at least we have the Cross boys to come back. I would like to see Paul Kernan come in to see whether he can help in the FB position, Brendan Donaghy was sitting two rows in front of me so I'd presume he'll not be back quickly. We also need to see whether David McKenna can help out in MF, although Toner's performance tonight was an encouragement.
One final point, there was a lot of cheering at the Armagh wides tonight, same as the Ulster final, the Armagh support take a lot of criticism on here (some of it justified), but that seems to be an annoying habit that the Fermanagh support has.  

[armaghniac]

Scrappy game with big groups of players clustered together and several men around the ball. Poor referee. AOR missed a penalty, but it was a soft enough penalty anyway. Fermanagh's scoring has improved since the Ulster final and Stevie missed a couple of scorable frees too, right hand ones that would probably have been given to AK if he was there. Hard to pick out players under the lights, but it was good to have McKeever, Lavery is slooow and Kevin O'Rourke shows potential. A combination of indifferent kickouts and a crowded midfield meant that we often weren't winning kickouts. It is never pretty against Fermanagh but Armagh still have "room for improvement".

I'm afraid not, but I seen a man matchin mr fearons description following close behind me

And T Fearon was using his season ticket to arrive early, I was queuing behind him for refreshments. While Wexford had proper coffee, Enniskillen could only offer watery instant coffee. 

[mountainboii]

Two shit teams. Shit referee. Shit game.

These evening games are a load of shite too, freezing my arse off to watch that crap.

I can't express how out of his depth that referee was, he completely snuffed out any chance of a game developing. That said, the intimidating behaviour of some of the Fermanagh contingent in the stand was disgusting. The conditions weren't great either, despite what gerry says. The pitch was very greasy, which lead to a huge amount of handling errors by both teams.

Pretty much all the yellows were deserved except McGrath's, he should have seen red. It was a very cynical and cowardly late hit, and not the only one from Fermanagh on the night.

McEvoy was alright, dealing with a couple of high balls
McClelland was behind his man too often for my liking, but he coped alright considering he's not a natural corner back.
Finn Mo was behind his man a lot too, giving away his usual glut of frees.
Andy still isn't 100% but he's getting a bit better with every game.
McKeever was his usual solid self.
AOR missed a penalty but was decent enough. I'm hoping a bit more pace will come as he gets fitter, he'll get exposed in the summer if he's that sluggish.
Shannon was dead on.
Vernon made a couple of great bursts forward, grabbing a point. But he is not a great fielder at this level.
Lavery was very poor. Too slow and cumbersome. I'm hoping he can come back stronger next year but you might as well write him off this year as far as I'm concerned.
MOR got stuck in well and had a decent second half but was very poor in the first. Deserved his yellow for a very deliberate, but clever, foul.
Mallon was just alright, could've had a goal if he hadn't been fouled for the penalty.
Henderson was anonymous apart from one second half point. Very disappointing that he hasn't progressed.
Stevie put over a lot of handy frees and got a point or two from play. He'll get fitter and better.
Clarke started well before fading a bit in the second half. Imagine what a player he could be if he didn't have the opposition FB hanging off him every game  
Barnsey was a lot quieter than previously, just couldn't really get into the game

Toner, Toal, Forker came on for Lavery, KOR and Henderson. Forker got a point but didn't do much else. Toner had a much bigger impact around the middle and had a big part to play in the winning of the game.

Very poor performance but a win is a win. We've been on the wrong end of too many of these 1 or 2 point games in the last 2 or 3 years, so it makes a nice change. Hopefully the addition of 3 or 4 Cross lads next week can strengthen us a bit, particularly in defence and around the middle.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

I agree AFS about the evening games. They're not good at all. People dont want to be heading out in dark winter/early spring nights to watch football. Sunday is the day for league football. The odd one would be ok but there are far too many. Tomorrow should be a nice bright day and people are far more likely to head out to football.

[HalfFitHalfBack]

As others have said the ref was awful. Ruined the game and gave some baffling decisions.

Ferm had very obviously decided to target McKeever with cynical tackles to provoke him. He took some heavy late tackles; including McGrath's for which mcGrath rightly saw yellow.

Ferm no 11, Keenan I think, landed a few blows on McKeever's face near the end of the game. Remarkably McKeever did not retaliate. Lines man ignored it.

Very poor game. Fermanagh pretty much at full strength and as usual their game plan is to spoil play and live off frees. Not pretty.

Armagh guilty of a serious amount of handling errors and loose passes. Armagh created only one goal chance which mallon blazed wide although a penalty was awarded. Couldn't work out what the penalty was for.

Armagh have nobody capable of taking a long range point. Continually trying to work the ball to the 21 yard line where they inevitably try to pass to man that is marked then loose possession.

I actually thought midfield was doing rightly, despite the usual problem of unpredictable kick outs. Lavery was working much harder, and made a few goal mouth catches helping out the defence. Charlie got through a mountain of work, and scored a nice point. He spills the ball quite a bit after doing well to win it.

When Toner came on he made a few clean catches and fought hard to win a few loose balls, but he has a frustrating knack of being slow to release it and ends up being bottled up and either gets blown for over carrying or gives the ball away. If he could improve on this he is a midfield contender.

Clarke takes some abuse over 70 mins. The full back was hanging off him all night and can have no complaints about seeing yellow. Clarke really is a class act, Armagh need to get him on the ball more.

All 5 first half points were from Stevie McDonnell, mainly from frees, though he missed a few from the right.

Henderson just never got going, but scored a nice point. Must be frustrating for him. I still think he has potential. Perhaps he is a sunny day, firm ground player?!? Kevin O'Rourke also had a quiet game, although again the quality of the ball going into the corners was poor.

Toal and, contrary to what other have said, Forker were both very lively when they came on. Forker won a couple of good balls and give an inch perfect cross field ball. He also scored a point that he worked hard for to put Armagh 10 - 9 up heading into the last few mins. Toal tagged on the next point to make it 11 - 9.

As others have said the Armagh full back line were 2nd to nearly every ball. Mallon is improving with each game, and got forward to help out the attack a few times tonight. He was involved in the build up to the goal chance.

Encouragingly I thought Shannon played well. He gave a few sloppy passes, but other than that I thought he played well.

AOR seems to be struggling for fitness/pace - he put the (dubious) penalty wide high and right. MOR gets through some work, passing let him down a few times. Still gets involved in too much silly nonsense and play acting.

Nice to get the win, albeit against a mediocre Fermanagh team. Encouraging signs that there will be real competition for places when all the missing players return.

Finally, disappointing turn out for Armagh supporters, although I guess the fact that it was going to leave most Armagh people home after 10 or 11 might explain that

Edit: Forgot to mention the unsporting behaviour of many of the Fermanagh fans - jeering Armagh wides and mistakes. Have to say have never encountered this much during NFL games from other counties. Mind you the Ferm supporter beside me did not know about the new yellow card rule and thought "too long" was when Armagh played several side way passes when trying to work the ball out of defence, so he was hardly a die hard GAA man. Good to see him taking an interest all the same!

[Maguire01]

Finally, disappointing turn out for Armagh supporters, although I guess the fact that it was going to leave most Armagh people home after 10 or 11 might explain that

Seriously though, is getting home after 10 on a Saturday night really a big deal?

[HalfFitHalfBack]

Seriously though, is getting home after 10 on a Saturday night really a big deal?

It is if you have kids, or if you've done a days work. From south Armagh it's on the road to midnight before you're home from Enniskillen

[Donagh]

I can see you're an optimist AFS