14 Mar 2009 Fermanagh v Armagh

[Donagh]

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

Some of us had to work. Took two hours off to watch the rugby and have dinner at home and still had to go back to work till 9pm.

[bennydorano]

I thought the second half was exciting, the first half was dire.  The amount of handling errors from both sides were huge.  Only KOR and Henderson didn't really contribute IMO.  Ciaran McKeever was outstanding although his man waltzed through for a point in the first half.  Similarly I thought AOR while doing some good things had a tough time on the Fermanagh #5 who played CHF, for a man who's main asset is positional sense & reading of the game Fermanagh drove through the CHB channel on numerous ocassions in the first half.  I thought Andy Mallon was excellent throughout, cant see how others thought him off the pace or whatever. Shannon did ok as well, but it's hard to see him being there come Champo time.

MF was scrappy, there cant be too many Midfields in the country where there are two 22yr old lads playing? (and replaced by another 21 yr old).  Vernon was solid if unspectacular scroing a great point under pressure and Lavery was doing ok as well I thought, I reckon they just wanted to get Toner on.

Clarke and McDonnell were the major contributors in the foward line, MOR a good shift in the second half, but I get the feeling he's lost a bit of his appetite for it.  Brian Mallon did ok.  Forker and Toal both got nice pionts when they came on, but Forker looks very slow for this level as well.

It'll be interesting to see who's going to make way when the Cross lads come back.

[full back]

Not looking too good for the 1st round of the championship lads
Hopefully the Cross lads can inject a bit of much needed enthusiasm (sp) into the set-up

Say it quietly, but I heard a rumour from a normally reliable source that Big Joe is being lined up for a return next year

[Smokin Joe]

I thought that the difference between Toner and Lavery was like night and day.

Ciaran McKeever is now as important to us as Clarke is, and Stevie was 2 or 3 years ago.  The lad is a serious talent.

[ExiledGael]

Disappointing result for Fermanagh and that game was there to be won when we scored a few points in succession after O'Rourke's missed penalty.
Shane O'Brien, who did well from frees, missed the easiest of the night hitting the post from 30 yards at most.
Can't complain about any of the yellows or the result in the end but I was glad to see Martin O'Rourke yellow carded late on. Good rugby tackle and a clever foul at the time but towards the end of the first half he made a pathetic effort to get a Fermanagh man sent off just along the sideline. Went down clutching his face and rolling about, the linesman not five yards away stepped towards him and told him to get up, straight away he popped up and began chasing the ball.
Could have been worse for us in truth, Clarke and Brian Mallon I think in second half were both hauled down when one on one with the keeper and O'Rourke missed a penalty so they could have been out of sight.
Not many signs of hope for us but O'Brien looks certain to get his place come summer and we have Barry Owens and Ryan McCluskey to come back in which should make some difference. Would have been interesting to see Blobby in at full-forward all game but that experiment went out the window when Marty seen yellow and Blobby was needed around ther middle. He made a few decent catches at FF. Rory Foy hit a superb point in the first ten minutes but then had to be replaced, will be a big loss to the U21s if he's out. Looks a quality player.
Laois, Wexford and Kildare now, we have a half decent record of late against Leinster counties and hopefully we can pick up the points needed.
Think we will just about.

[FermPundit]

Disappointing result last night but there are signs of encouragement. The team performance was much improved from last week in Cork. Shane O'Brien hit some superb frees but unfortunately he couldn't convert the easiest chance of the night. I still don't think we have a reliable free player. Hopefully Ciaran O'Reilly can get to fitness soon. I thought Carson was working really well in the first half. He looks a lot fitter compared to the McKenna Cup a couple of months ago. It's a pity that Marty McGrath got a yellow card. If he had of stayed on, I would have fancied us to win. Of all the young players to come through this year, the most impressive as been Rory Foy. If he continues to improve, he'll push for a position on the half back line come championship time. As Exiled has said, with McCluskey and Barry Owens back in the team, we have the makings of a decent enough side. The forwards just need to be more confident in front of goal.
I wonder what effect Laois' heavy defeat to Cork will have? If we play with the same attitude and commitment as last night, then there's no reason why we can't pick up two points. We definitely need at least two more wins to stay up. I think it may come down to the last game, with us needing to win down in Wexford.

[Caid]

Fermanagh pretty much at full strength

Aye dead on.   If you ignore the fact we were missing our two best backs (Owens and McCluskey), our midfielder / best performer in last years league (Murphy) as well as not having Shane McCabe, losing Marty McGrath relatively early on and losing one of our most in form players in the first ten minutes (Rory Foy).  Losing these players is, in relative terms, probably a bigger loss for Fermanagh than Armagh not having the Cross lads.  But aye you's beat Fermanagh's best team by a point. Well done.

Anyhow to the game.  Was fairly pleased with the performance at the time but on reflection i'd be a bit worried given it was an Armagh team missing so many men (although as stated above we would hope to have more back before the summer as well).  

Hard to pick out who really played well as they all mixed the good with the indifferent.  Losing Marty McGrath was the turning point as after than Carson, who had been operating well at FF alongside Ferris for most of the first half, came out to Midfield.  The high ball in that had worked so well then dried up or was not as effective.  I think if Foy and McGrath had of stayed on the whole match we would have won this game.  

O'Brien played reasonably well I thought and hit some nice frees but, as eluded to earlier, he missed the two crucial frees and that is a concern.  Not sure what the penalty was for (foot block or something?) and if that had of went in we would have looked at a much larger defeat (though I didn't really fancy AOR to score it - he possibly should have went for a point anyway to put Armagh three points ahead).  Daryl Keenan was out in front of his man twice when he came on and was duly fouled twice winning fairly scoreable frees (which of course we missed) and should start come Championship time.  Darren McQuaid was a bit like a rabbit in the headlights and may not be fit for intercounty level.  

The tactics were a wee bit different as normally when Fermanagh win possession we would have extra men behind the ball and so would have runners to pass to.  This was not the case last night and as a result there were many instances where a Fermanagh man was caught in possession with two bigger stronger Armagh men around him (which often led to inconsistent refereeing i.e. free in sometimes, free out sometimes, throw up sometimes).  So instead in the first half there was more high ball played in to the FF line (which may have been to try to expose some weakness in the Armagh Full Back line).  I think Tommy McElroy needs to come back to WHB with Kelly/Foy fighting it out for the other WHB position (although Johnston played reasonably well when he came on)

For Armagh I thought Andy Mallon was very good in keeping Eamon Maguire anonymous for the whole game and the Half Back line played very well.  Up front Clarke was always a threat and more ball into him could have resulted in a wider winning margin.

The pitch was pretty good I thought and although it may have been a tad greasy I don't think it was the only reason for the numerous Armagh handling errors.  I didn't like the booing of the ref so much and there was a fair bit of verbals between Armagh and Fermanagh supporters during the match (from both sides).  The main cheering I heard for an Armagh wide came after a bad refereeing decision where a free out was given as a free in, so the wide was seen as justice.  There are of course arseholes in every county.

Reports that Tony Fearon stayed back late to get the referee to sign the piece of Belleek pottery he bought yesterday are as yet unfounded

[Throw ball]

I was one of those who didin't make the match. Had intended to go but the baby was sick and divorces cost to much! Listened to it on Q101 and the very biased commentary. Was interesting to read some of the comments here as on the radio they suggested McGrath was unlucky to get sent off, that Lavery was going well before being taken off and Vernon was in the running for man of the match! Shows how views differ and why management is so difficult. All my usual crew would tell me was the match was too poor to care who played well - money saved and in the good books for another while! One thing without debate seems to be how poor the referee was. Having spoken to an inter county referee last week I am beginning to wonder, in light of so many poor referee performances in recent weeks, do the new rules make it more difficult for refs and slow the game down as they continually black book and yellow card players. In my view it would be simpler to return to the old idea were you did not get sent off unless you got a red. Specific fouls could still be clearly defined as yellow and if you committed two you were off. Also a totting up of yellows could be made over a number of matches so that persistant foulers could be dealt with e.g. three in five games and then you miss one or something similar. Anyway result wise we are back and track and roll on Geezer next week!

[HalfFitHalfBack]

Fermanagh pretty much at full strength

Aye dead on.   If you ignore the fact we were missing our two best backs (Owens and McCluskey), our midfielder / best performer in last years league (Murphy) as well as not having Shane McCabe, losing Marty McGrath relatively early on and losing one of our most in form players in the first ten minutes (Rory Foy).  Losing these players is, in relative terms, probably a bigger loss for Fermanagh than Armagh not having the Cross lads.  But aye you's beat Fermanagh's best team by a point. Well done.

Bit sensitive, aren't you? I perhaps should have qualified the "pretty much at full strength" comment by saying Fermanagh started pretty much at full strength. I thought it was a fair assumption to make that losing players through injury or yellow cards would clearly weaken the team. The only two Fermanagh players that I could think of that were missing were Owens and McCluskey. Forgot about Murphy, still 12 regular players from 15 is pretty much at full strength I would say. I thought McCabe had quit for the soccer, if so you can hardly count him?

[bennydorano]

I thought that the difference between Toner and Lavery was like night and day.

Make no mistake, I prefer Toner to Lavery, but I do think he is being hung out to dry a bit.  Toner caught one clean ball by my reckoning although he did contribute more over all.

[Smokin Joe]

I thought that the difference between Toner and Lavery was like night and day.

Make no mistake, I prefer Toner to Lavery, but I do think he is being hung out to dry a bit. 

How come Benny?  Lavery just can't catch a ball - he even fumbles them when they drop into his chest.  I would have said that the has played more minutes that his performances have deserved this season.
Gareth O'Neill may as well not even be there, as only Toner came back from injury last night you can be sure that Lavery would have played the 70.

[HalfFitHalfBack]

Gareth O'Neill got a lot of game time last year, and didn't really impress. He should be given a chance this year though to see if he has come along any. Would like to see Toner starting to see how he fares, he came on fresh last night after McGrath was gone. He definitely got involved straightaway but did get closed down very quickly by the opposition when he was in possession, just like he did many times during the championship last year. For a big lad Toner has difficultly breaking the tackle.

[bennydorano]

I thought that the difference between Toner and Lavery was like night and day.

Make no mistake, I prefer Toner to Lavery, but I do think he is being hung out to dry a bit. 

How come Benny?  Lavery just can't catch a ball - he even fumbles them when they drop into his chest.  I would have said that the has played more minutes that his performances have deserved this season.
Gareth O'Neill may as well not even be there, as only Toner came back from injury last night you can be sure that Lavery would have played the 70.

If we'd all our men fit he wouldn't be there, but he's there at the minute and trying hard after a year out with injury.  He's taking all the flack for MF failings when there's little he can do little about the break ball count, also high fielding is at a premium at this time of the year.  Did Fermanagh win any clean ball last night?  Vernon won a few after a footering match with the ball.  Our MF is very young and inexperienced for intercounty football.

[gerry]

I though fermanagh free taker had a good game, pity its the ones you miss that people remember not the ones you got.

First time in brewster since it was done up, its a shame that the county board did not spend a few bob on a PA system and a timewatch at the scoreboard. Everyone round me asking how longs left.

[Malone Aristocrat]

Overall Armagh were probaly two steps back in attack and two steps forward in defence from what they've shown to date. not sure it was worth the journey and £12 but for what its worth.

McEvoy was solid - he hadn't a whole pile to do but kicked it out well. i thought the full back line was poor - moriarty in particular. McClelland wins the odd great ball but is way too slow for corner back and allows his man to win a lot of ball. Mallon is getting there but has a lot to do.

McKeever was a bit more fragile defensively than usual - missing a few tackles - but drove forward well. i thought fter 10 mins o'rourke was gonna be a disaster but he was very good after that. his kicking out of defence was great and one pass over the top to clarke in the second half was superb. Shannon was very comfortable on little and looks more accomplished every week.

midfield was poor. vernon's confidence seems to be draining out of him and he looks more nervous every week. i don't buy benny's line on lavery. he must be able to win his own share of ball and he can't. neither does he contribute on or off the ball from open play. not good enough at this stage. i'm sure toner will come straight in there next week.

one of marty o'rourke's poorest games. again, another man who looks as if he's playing with no confidence. indecisive in possession and as like last week seemed to be a long way away from any breaking ball. Am i the only one who thinks mallon has been dire? thought he was terrible last night. not convinced with Stevie at half forward either. he only wants to get the ball going toward goal and doesn't get involved in showing for bal coming out from his defence. he kicked a couple of nice ponts from play though.

it was a one man full forward line. henderson hardly showed for a ball all night and o'rourke was half hearted about everything he did. i don't now him but are there wing mirror issues about o'rourke? anyway, terrible from the two corner men. good mention for forker, who showed very well when he came in.

good win to get but in reality armagh should have won by 7/8 points given the goal chances and frees missed. fermanagh's free taker kicked some mighty frees before bottling one in front of the posts to put them a pint up with ten minutes to go. plenty of character on show and for the first time they defended proberly. no wing backs abandoning defensive duties and bottling up the space in the forward line. the performance of the half forward line and the two corner men is alarming though and i'm not really sure we've made any progress in improving the forward unit.

Enniskillen is an odd pitch. both teams laboured when they were playing down the hill. armagh were the better team for most of the game but struggled to get scores -particularly because of the poor qality of the ball ino the full forward line. the game was still in the balance with about 10 minutes to go and a few break ball in a row wonby o'rourke and mckeever in that period made the difference.