Laois v Armagh - Portlaoise - Sat 6 March 2010

[Dont Matter]

I would have said we had twice as many supporters as Laois.  Big disillusionment in that county at the minute over the state of their football team.  One thing I would notice about our support tremendous though it was is the age profile.  Vast majority 50+.  Are we losing the 25 to 35 demographic ?

I thought ye had a good few more supporters than us aswell and yes ye had, lets say, more experienced supporters too. I actually think the noise ye made helped the ref make his mind up about sending off Meaney (our No. 11).
I think the match could of went either way towards the end, both sides missed scorable chances but I think if Kingston (the big lad that came on at full forward at half time) hadn't played a full u-21 match at midfield earlier yesterday, he might of kicked some of the chances he missed, he was wrecked.
Anyway we're happy enough with our display compared with what we offered in Donegal the previous round but I don't know how good ye are. McDonnell is on fire but do ye have enough other scoring forwards?

[T Fearon]

I would say the 25 to 35 age group prioritise other activites over football on a Saturday night.

[Farrandeelin]

Good win but how did we let a poor enough Laois team nearly snatch it when we had a four point lead at half time and were coasting? We went to sleep for a long period at the start of the second half, when a couple of points after the interval and we could have had a very comfortable win. Also Laois missed some very scorable chances. Stevie is certainly keeping us alive these days and Henderson had his best game since the opener last year against Wexford. Good also to see Donaghy back to his best though I thought Ciaran Mc Keever was uncharactertistically poor, and Clarke needs to buid up his fitness. Good also to see Brian Mallon back in the fray but like Clarke he needs to build up fitness.

Super Armagh support last night, we must have had nearly as many there as Laois, super stadium and ccess route. Was home in Poyntzpass exactly two hours after the final whistle a journey of some 130 miles

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Mayo had one piece of dual-carriageway into the county and we might be able to do long-distance journeys in shorter time-frames.

[mackers]

I would have said we had twice as many supporters as Laois.  Big disillusionment in that county at the minute over the state of their football team.  One thing I would notice about our support tremendous though it was is the age profile.  Vast majority 50+.  Are we losing the 25 to 35 demographic ?

I thought ye had a good few more supporters than us aswell and yes ye had, lets say, more experienced supporters too. I actually think the noise ye made helped the ref make his mind up about sending off Meaney (our No. 11).
I think the match could of went either way towards the end, both sides missed scorable chances but I think if Kingston (the big lad that came on at full forward at half time) hadn't played a full u-21 match at midfield earlier yesterday, he might of kicked some of the chances he missed, he was wrecked.
Anyway we're happy enough with our display compared with what we offered in Donegal the previous round but I don't know how good ye are. McDonnell is on fire but do ye have enough other scoring forwards?
[/quote]
The big lad Kingston looks a super player as does Tierney.
We don't really know how good we are either, but the run of games we've got in the league will tell us a bit more. Henderson has to continue in the team for me, he's a talented forward who would thrive on a constant run of games. He's definitely a better option than TK. We had a talented forward line in the minors last year but with the exception of Eugene McVerry I wouldn't have them near the senior set up for 2/3 years.

[mhacadoir]

Audio interviews from Armagh match last night from Paddy O'Rourke and Ryan Henderson.

http://www.armagh-gaa.com/Football/Armagh-v-Laois-Audio-Interviews.aspx

Also, there are audio from the Armagh Mayo match in the hurling that took place yesterday. Armagh were unlucky and manager Michael Johnson and Mayo manager Pete Finnerty talk about the improvements they have made this year.

http://www.armagh-gaa.com/Hurling/Armagh-v-Mayo-audio-interviews.aspx

[Sandy Hill]

Would someone please list the team and subs which lined out last night?

[mackers]

                    McEvoy

Mallon            Donaghy            Duffy
Dyas              CMcK                 Finn Mo
              Toner         Lavery
Feeney          AK                    Mackin
Stevie            Clarke                Henderson

Subs used
V Martin
R Austin
M McNamee
Can't remember who came on for Clarke???   

[Dont Matter]

                   
Can't remember who came on for Clarke???

It was Mallon wasn't it?

[Sandy Hill]

                    McEvoy

Mallon            Donaghy            Duffy
Dyas              CMcK                 Finn Mo
              Toner         Lavery
Feeney          AK                    Mackin
Stevie            Clarke                Henderson

Subs used


V Martin
R Austin
M McNamee
Can't remember who came on for Clarke???

Thanks mackers; still no sign if S Forker!

[naka]

Any news on dyas or vernon

[Jack The Lad]

Well, I was down at match last night and I agree that clarke was rusty but showed well for ball. mc keever was immense for armagh but lets not get carried away with these two results cause in my estimation they were both very poor teams. I heard in the grapevine this morning that clarke has raptured achilles and that he has been trying to play through the pain barrier. I asked the source about the full extent of the injury and he replied that he heard that he will miss the rest of the season. I just hope this is untrue and i hope you s agree that we need him come championship. On a positive note armagh r exciting to watch now

[bennydorano]

Heard that injury story at the Westmeath game, so it obviously isn't that bad!

Didn't make it last night, but a decent win nonetheless.  There's the makings of a very good team, going to take a bit of time though, glad to see the positive mentality continuing.

[T Fearon]

Brian Mallon came on for Clarke. Vernon didn't feature at all, picked up a club injury I heard. Kevin Dyas was a huge disappointment, never in the game and was subbed early (I take it he didn't pick up an injury?). Forker wasn't even among the subs as far as I could see, although there were a few additions to those listed and I may not have got all the additions.

I'm all for a new forward looking mentality but this can be overdone as well. Duffy seemed to spend an awful lot of time at right half forward last night and once again the nominal half forward line produced only one solitary point.

Next week's game against Kildare will tell the tale.

[Orior]

Probably need one more win to secure Div2 status. The remaining matches are against teams all better than Laois and Westmeath.

[Throw ball]

Went to match last night and just back after staying over. Must say there was 4 of us at the game and the age range was 9 to 41 so we must not fit the profile of Armagh supporters! Clarke looked not match fit rather than injured and I hope this is the case. Saw him after the Westmeath game and he didn't look to bad then. Thought Henderson deserves a lot of credit. He showed better for the ball and although he missed a couple he still had the nerve to score the winner. Kernan had a game well below his usual standards and this contributed to Armagh's slow build up. Also in the secong half Laois played a blanket defense which was hard to break. At one stage near the end they had 13 players in their own half. Mackers I was in the stand and much of the annoyance was that the referee and linesman both appeared to have their backs turned to the incident when the Laois player went down so how did they see it! I was told by those around me that the Laois player gave Martin a bit of a thump and Martin run at him and hit him a shoulder in the back.