Kildare vs. Armagh Sun. March 22

[corn02]

Great post AFS, enjoyed that.

[Oraisteach]

Thanks for the excellent match reports.

[Orior]

Armagh never fail to surprise me. Well done lads.

[mackers]

Spot on as usual AFS, although I would actually go further than you on the goalkeeping situation and say that for me McEvoy would be ahead of Hearty now. His kick outs were a factor in our midfield going so well. Kieran Toner showed nous ahead of his age in his battle with Earley, last year has stood to him well and competed well with a very good midfielder.
Charlie Vernon was just brilliant, a great athlete, who gives a number of midfield opponets a number of inches but makes up for it in his athleticism.
As you say I wouldn't swap Ronan Clarke for any other FF in the country. I'm sure he'll have a quiet word with Stevie on the bus journey home and ask him not to give him a pass like the one that left him banjoed today. He was unlucky to be blown for his "handpass", that would've left the last few minutes a little less nervy. As other posters have said neither penalty should've been given and although they rode their luck at the end it would've been harsh on Armagh to lose today. Very encouraging result.

[corn02]

Regarding the Armagh penalty, why should it now have been given? Was it otuside the box or do people just think it wasn't a foul?

[mackers]

Looked outside the box to me corn.

[corn02]

Looked outside the box to me corn.

Ah right, I just wasn;t sure if that was the complaint.

I honestly didn't have a clue at the time. No surprise if that ref got it wrong.

[armaghniac]

Probably a foul, but the defenders thought it was just outside the box. MOR managed to fall quite a bit inside the box.

[corn02]

Probably a foul, but the defenders thought it was just outside the box. MOR managed to fall quite a bit inside the box.

Good spring in his boots.

[Armamike]

Couldn't get to the game but a very encouraging result and performance. Armagh are really hard to guage these days - they seem to perform when least expected and flop when something's expected. The original line up looked a bit dodgy but the one posted by AFS was a bit tighter with Toner in midfield. Interesting to see Aaron Kernan in the half forwards and it's worth trying him there again - he could help us sweep up a lot of ball round the middle. Finn Mo has had a poor year so far.  It's time for someone to come in for him the next game, maybe give Paul Kernan a game. Hopefully the past 2 games can be built on and we finish off the league with signs of progress made.  

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Its probably the same in the Tyrone threads but one think I always notice with the Armagh posters is that there is no middle ground. After a match things are either very encouraging or totally crap. Very good result for Armagh today and they look to be getting a bit stronger.

Only 2 months to go to the big showdown with Tyrone and at this stage Armagh seem to be playing the better football. Will be interesting to see how things develop over the next 9 or 10 weeks. At this stage it wouldnt be a shock to see a midfield of Vernon and Toner for the the 1st round of the championship. I'd say you would have a better chance of guessing the Armagh team for the game than the Tyrone one.

[mackers]

I think that the Laois game was the only real horror show, Armagh can take something from all the other games. The Wexford result speaks for itself, the Monaghan game was encouraging up to C McKeever's yellow card, it was nice to win a tight game like the Fermanagh game although the performance was iffy. Armagh, like Tyrone, are suffering with a lot of absentees which is bound to have an effect on performances. With a few more players back on board hopefully we'll see a bit more consistency in the last two games.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Thanks for the excellent match reports.

Hear hear - excellent submissions lads - great for those of us not there!

Armagh never fail to surprise me. Well done lads.

Agreed Orior - reminds me a wee bit of our team in the early 1990s - always capable of a big performance but very inconsistent!

Still though - hopefully the team is moving in the right direction.  

[Shortso79]

Glad I made the trip to Newbridge today

Excellent result and an encouraging display

McEvoy was brilliant - three top class saves - one in the first half, two in the 2nd Half including the penalty

Clarke was on form again.

Kildare took some fine long range points in the first half - Clarke hit a magical point with the outside of his foot

Even at half time - despite been two points down (1-7 to 0-8) there was a vast improvement in the teams previous performances

It was a great game of football - championship pace

Midfield excelled in the 2nd half and so did the defence - kildare only scored three points in the 2nd half

Fair play to Aidan O"Rourke for taking the penalty - that took balls after last week

Have to say the Kildare people were very welcoming and friendly - had great craic with two lads beside me in the stand.

Final Score Kildare 1-10 Armagh 1-12

PS Dinny - Thanks for your recommendations - had a few pints and a good feed in Harrigans before the match - cheers

[bigpaul]

The other lads have covered the match very well and I won't attempt to add anything. Have to say that Barry Shannon goes from strength to strength, and, although I still don't think he would be in my first fifteen, he is an awful lot closer than I ever thought he would and I look forward to his continued run of form!
On the point of consistency,I think that this is the first league campaign since '05 that Armagh are showing any.Although last week's performance wasn't great, the result was vitally important, I think it relieved a massive amount of pressure and contributed to the improved display today.I know the team has tended to look good one day and very poor the next and supporters have been too quick to jump to conclusions in both situations, but the thing which impressed me today was, as a couple of posters have said before, the tackling was better than I have seen in a couple of years and the passing was crisper and cleaner than I can remember!