Ard Mhacha v Muineachán - 20/02/11 - Ard Mhacha

[Maguire01]

Disappointing result as I thought Monaghan were the better team. Armagh got the goal at the right time leaving Monaghan with little time to respond. Was at the other end of the field to the goal but it looked like it was a fortunate enough one with the defence failing to clean up a high ball that wasn't meant to be anywhere close to the goal.

The referee was terrible and went from being ridiculously fussy at the start of the game to missing/ignoring a serious amount of pulling, dragging and lifting the ball straight off the ground. I'm biased obviously, but I thought a fair few decisions went against Monaghan - would be good to hear the Armagh perspective on this.

For Monaghan, Darren Hughes was immense at #3 - a very safe pair of hands and a good successor to JP Mone in that position. Colin Walshe also had a very good game. Good to see Tommy Freeman back, although I think if he had been on for another 10-15 minutes he could have made a difference.

Despite the disappointment, there were plenty of positives for Monaghan and at least the scoring difference was kept to the minimum.

[fitzroyalty]

Very fortunate to get out with the win IMO. Like Benny said played shite but still came out on top so thats always good.

McEvoy a lot more reassured, kick outs improved and seemed more confident, came out for a number of loose balls and cleaned up in first half.

Defensively we were just ok, McKeever was the only one you could say had a good game, the rest made a lot of handling errors and general "fannying about". 2nd half Dyas came into it more and deserves some credit. Worrying how easy Monaghan were able to cut through the middle.

MF we were shit. Dick Clerkin cleaned up and time and time again was give time and space for which to launch Monaghan attacks. Toner was a mile off the pace and CV despite getting through a ton of work often undid this by running into traffic or in one case near the end giving the ball away when a fist over the bar would have puts us 1 up.

HF again didn't set the world alight. Grugan showed well and provided a good outlet for attack. MOR was anonymous for large parts and Mackin didn't have a great game either. Padden did ok but still looks a bit laboured, as for Swift, he didn't get a sniff at FF all day, in Hughes' pocket. McDonnell was the only standout forward, a number of classy points from play.

[bennydorano]

Very fortunate to get out with the win IMO. Like Benny said played shite but still came out on top so thats always good.


MF we were shit. Dick Clerkin cleaned up and time and time again was give time and space for which to launch Monaghan attacks. Toner was a mile off the pace and CV despite getting through a ton of work often undid this by running into traffic or in one case near the end giving the ball away when a fist over the bar would have puts us 1 up.

Would have to disagree there, Clerkin did little of note, a very scrappy MF, maybe about 5 clean catches the whole game, i thought we did ok round there in general.  Toner is as honest as the day is long, a real tryer, I thought he did fine.

[fitzroyalty]

Very fortunate to get out with the win IMO. Like Benny said played shite but still came out on top so thats always good.


MF we were shit. Dick Clerkin cleaned up and time and time again was give time and space for which to launch Monaghan attacks. Toner was a mile off the pace and CV despite getting through a ton of work often undid this by running into traffic or in one case near the end giving the ball away when a fist over the bar would have puts us 1 up.

Would have to disagree there, Clerkin did little of note, a very scrappy MF, maybe about 5 clean catches the whole game, i thought we did ok round there in general.  Toner is as honest as the day is long, a real tryer, I thought he did fine.

Certainly in the first half Clerkin was able to burst through with no one near him, and possibly once or twice in the second. I think he also may have got a point. In terms of fielding it was even enough, though I think Monaghan were able to launch more attacks from MF than us, Clerkin ran 60 odd yards and won a free on the 21, such was the freedom afforded to him.

[Maguire01]

Very fortunate to get out with the win IMO. Like Benny said played shite but still came out on top so thats always good.


MF we were shit. Dick Clerkin cleaned up and time and time again was give time and space for which to launch Monaghan attacks. Toner was a mile off the pace and CV despite getting through a ton of work often undid this by running into traffic or in one case near the end giving the ball away when a fist over the bar would have puts us 1 up.

Would have to disagree there, Clerkin did little of note, a very scrappy MF, maybe about 5 clean catches the whole game, i thought we did ok round there in general.  Toner is as honest as the day is long, a real tryer, I thought he did fine.

Certainly in the first half Clerkin was able to burst through with no one near him, and possibly once or twice in the second. I think he also may have got a point. In terms of fielding it was even enough, though I think Monaghan were able to launch more attacks from MF than us, Clerkin ran 60 odd yards and won a free on the 21, such was the freedom afforded to him.

Don't think Clerkin scored today.

[Armamike]

A really inept performance from Armagh, got 2 points and a win despite our best efforts. The play was Keystone copish at times. Very rarely has a team done so much to shoot itself in the foot.  Couldn't fault the honesty and endeavour but there were a lot of stupid performances from the Armagh players and not much intelligence from the line either.  Our teamwork is very poor.  Players don't look overly comfortable on the ball and don't have great options with players supporting, run into space. Not near enough running off the shoulder or into space.  Tactically very poor.  After 5 mins it was obvious Gareth Swift was gonna get nothing out of his marker around the square. But he stood rooted to the spot nearly the full game, only coming out in the last 5-10 mins - by that stage his confidence was well and truly shot.  If the management didn't have the wit to tell him to take the full back for a run, then he should have known himself. Poor stuff imo. On the basis of the last few games there's a serious lack of football intelligence around that set up at the moment - Monaghan are no world beaters but we made them look very good at times today. Playing Cork and Kerry is a scary thought right now.

[bennydorano]

Very fortunate to get out with the win IMO. Like Benny said played shite but still came out on top so thats always good.


MF we were shit. Dick Clerkin cleaned up and time and time again was give time and space for which to launch Monaghan attacks. Toner was a mile off the pace and CV despite getting through a ton of work often undid this by running into traffic or in one case near the end giving the ball away when a fist over the bar would have puts us 1 up.

Would have to disagree there, Clerkin did little of note, a very scrappy MF, maybe about 5 clean catches the whole game, i thought we did ok round there in general.  Toner is as honest as the day is long, a real tryer, I thought he did fine.

Certainly in the first half Clerkin was able to burst through with no one near him, and possibly once or twice in the second. I think he also may have got a point. In terms of fielding it was even enough, though I think Monaghan were able to launch more attacks from MF than us, Clerkin ran 60 odd yards and won a free on the 21, such was the freedom afforded to him.

Fair enough points, thou I would attiribute that particular run moreso to F MO being at CHB, little or no presence when McKeever was at FB marking Finlay.

[GrandMasterFlash]

Obviously very annoyed we didn't get at least a point out of that today. I thought the wind advantage and our tight defence would have seen us over the line in the second half. Armagh changed their game plan in the second half and deserved their win. A scrappy goal or not, they all count. As I said earlier, we're probably the two most evenly matched teams in Ulster in the past 4/5 years so there was only ever gonna be a Small margin in it. I'm impressed with what I've seen/heard of Monaghan to date and the new lads have definitely taken their chance, which is great from a squad point of view. Keeping the score difference to the min was important too as it usually comes down to that, remember last year??

  So, disappointed that we didn't get a point at least but we're not the 'over the hill' and 'missed the boat' squad that is alluded to by many...

  Roll on Cork!!

[get up there]

very unconvincing win today some armagh players just looked flat, we really need to find the next gear if were to stay in divison 1

[ardchieftain]

Vital win today, great fighting spirit shown despite not playing well at all.
Thought Micael O'Rourke played rightly and is definitely an option. Grugan showed a few glimpses of the player he will become but needs more confidence and experience. He must be persevered with. Stevie is a still a class act.
We lose a lot when McKeever moves away from centre halfback, too many runs through the middle which is unforgiveable in my opinion
Liked Dyas' distribution and our ability to actually win some breaking ball for a change.
Nippy was roasted but then again the ball in was a full backs wet dream.

The referee was a clown.

There is room for improvement but we have a talented panel. The main problem we have is the management. I got ate for saying this before, but O'Rourke hasn't a clue. There doesn't seem to be much of a gameplan and the substitutions seem preordained.

Overall though, i'm delighted we won one in the Athletic Grounds.

[Maguire01]

On the subject of the Athletics Grounds, nice stand. Although they haven't got the 'toilet facilities : punters' ratio right - stand not even full yet big queues at half time for both male and female toilets.

Also, what happened to the National Anthem. Two minutes of silence followed by people clapping!

[ck]

Just off hand how far off would both teams be from "full strength"? I'd guess a long way off?

[Main Street]

Thats strange, I  heard AnbF  clear enough on the radio, maybe you were upwind   and the sound didn't come your way. There was a minute's silence before AnbF.

[bennydorano]

Felt for the young girl doin the anthem, handed a mike that didn't work. Not a total suprise unfortunatey

[Maguire01]

Thats strange, I  heard AnbF  clear enough on the radio, maybe you were upwind   and the sound didn't come your way. There was a minute's silence before AnbF.

I was downwind actually! But near the end of the stand. I 'heard' the minute's silence, but everyone down our end looked a bit confused by the lack of the anthem.