Armagh Vs Down

[holylandsniper]

Mayb it was them 2 tramps of Down manager. And Joe was near the armagh bench where the other 2 fools should have be
Yes he was on field first half fighting then attacked an offiacal on sideline, surely someone has to deal with this as he was the runner but he was causing more rows than anything

[bennydorano]

Encouraging second half when we actually put some moves together, we won today pretty much without a functioning HF line who were non-existent.  Another good performance from big Toner, if he was a bit more mobile he'd be a championship starter. McDonnell was the difference today, a subime performance, good games also from McGrane and Lavery.  I thought Down looked pretty decent at times. Finnian Mo isn't good enough at this level and I wouldn't be persisting with young McCreesh either, Vernon should have been brought into the HB line but that looks like it's not going to happen (although he did contribute fairly well today when introduced at CHF).  JP looked like he got a bad injury.

[Goats Do Shave]

I thought JP did well... after the storm in the first 20.

Philly Loughran was a dissaster!! Danny Hughes roasted Finn Mo. Young McCreesh didnt have the best of days.

Kieron Toner did brilliantly when he came on.

Stevie was class! - What about that score....Toner caught it on the line & maybe involved 8 different players before Stevie pooped it over!! Class!

Ref missed Coulter hit out in the 1st half with McKeever...then in the 2nd half he give Enda some punch to the head!!

[Sandy Hill]

The person who started the melee on the Stand side was DJ Kane; he drew out and kicked a water bottle which narrowly missed a couple of people. An official (not the linesman) tried to calm him but he threw a punch at both him and a few others. In my opinion, and I was sitting just beside where it happened, Kane was guilty of striking and bringing the game into disrepute; he really was a disgrace and without doubt must face some punishment.

[bridgegael]

stevie was the difference today, and to think there were armagh 'supporters' giving him stick at the start of the year.  was happy enough with downs performance today, few silly mistakes that led to scores,  can't complain about the effort thelads give.  couldn really see what happened on the line,  there are far too many people along the line anyway.

[FermPundit]

Plain and simple, we lost because we couldnt mark Stevie McDonnell, but it wasnt a bad performance from Down.
What happened on the stand side of the field, did Big Joe get a slap? I couldnt see from the other side but it looked as if there was a bit of fistycuffs.
Division 3 next year.

Don't worry 5ive Times, we'll be there to keep ya company 

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Thought it was a good game of football. Nice weather, good conditions and a good open match. As per usual, we were over reliant on McDonnell but I suppose at this stage its simply the way things are going to be. If he gets injured we're in serious trouble. That point built from the full back line and finished by McDonnell early in the 2nd half was superb. Some other nice points, espicially one from McGrane (I think) in the first half. Certainly there's still a few problems there for Armagh, the marking was very slack early on. Moriarty didn't have a great game and Marty O'Rourke took some very poor options in the second half. Marsden seems well of the pace at the minute but I suppose that's to be expected. Hopefully he'll be flying in a couple of months.

Still, great to get the win, if we can get results in Laois and Westmeath (tough prospect I know) we should have a great shout of making division 1 although 2 defeats and its probably going to be division 3.

[Dubh driocht]

For the third year in a row we come out of this game with a narrow defeat, having put up a good show.Thought Ross and DJ won the tactical battle and it took the extra strength they have around the middle third to edge them ahead.First half was encouraging- Aidan Burns looked like an All-Star but need more belief. Dan had a much better game but maybe should have opted for the point just before half-time and James Mc Govern, who had a fine match, missed an easy one after a good move. The third quarter was all Armagh and they built a solid platform in the middle third- one Mc Donnell point came after a 8 man move when Burns really should have pointed from a free and things looked ominous. To be fair, Ross steadied the ship and if Benny's 60 yarder had gone over,Aidan Carr/Dan/Burns all scored we would have pulled away. Some typical cynical hauling down ( Mc Nulty and , as always,Mc Keever who got his just desserts) broke up the Down play- Benny hates to lose to these boys and it shows- Daniel was very effective with any decent ball but there was a certain inevitability about the late goal.Dan Mc Cartan had an excellent game on Marsden but one misplaced ball was costly- Mickey save well but luck seems to always be on their side. Chalk and cheese compared to the Laois game- should still get tore in to Derry to make my planned w/e in Galway have some meaning beyond quality family time i.e.Division 2 rather than 3 ?

[ONeill]

Seemed to be plenty of needle in this game, according to the wireless. Murtagh seemed to be lucky to stay on the field in the first half.

[Cloc Mor]

Thanks DD for the report.  Couldn't get down as 2nds were playing.  Listened to some shit on the radio which was supposed to be a commentary (105 shit).  Sounded close for long times but the Mc Donnell goal seemed to make the difference.  That 105 station is pure shit and listening to some pricks thanking the Crossmaglen ladies committee 20 times for letting them use their hall and the fact they couldn't see the far side of the field didn't help.  Never heard a more biased commentary in all my life. Pure dung

[puskas]

radio ulster has boradcast the last 2 armagh games. mcconnon and canavan do a fine job on the commentary. canavan had a chuckle at mckeever's "fine right hook".

[Donagh]

Was that Rafferty in the bib running around the field in the second half? Wtf is all that about – lucky he didn't get a boot in the hole...

[Pangurban]

A reasonable performance from Down, with the exception of Benny Coulter whose contribution was nil.  Defence worked hard despite showing a remarkable level of naivety on occasions. A few bad options taken by forwards, which probably made the difference e.g. right-footed player taking free from left, going for goal when point there for the taking at a time when they were leading and needed a cushion. D.J. Kanes behaviour totally disgraceful, action should be taken against him. It certainly raises a large question mark re. his ability to remain cool and analytical under pressure. I dont believe this team knows how to win and fear we face a long period languishing in the lower divisions awaiting the emergence of some new talent. Early days ,but from what i have witnessed to date , i dont believe the current management have the nous to develop any further.

[Fíor Gael]

Down were all heart and passion today but quite simply had no game plan. The runs made by the forward and the balls going in to them hace to be worked on, we need a system of play. Also we need to sort out a left footed free taker. Armagh were there for the taking today but on two many occasions Down ran the ball into the corner and generally took the wrong options. That said I think these are things that can be sorted out and Down can build on this performance.

[Mourne Rover]

It's not easy following Down these days, and we really should have got something from this game. However, we could have said the same thing after the league defeats to Armagh in 05 and 06 as well, which probably tells you what you need to know about both sides. At least it was a much improved performance from Down, big Dan at last looked like himself and the defence is coming on slowly. 

The flare-up started when the ref missed Murtagh getting floored in the first half after passing the ball. Murtagh retaliated at the first opportunity, and there were a further series of confrontations. McKeever should have been off long before he finally got his straight red.

Down missed a number of chances when we led 5-1 in the first half which could almost have put us out of sight by the break. The easy free missed by Burns with less than five minutes to go would have put us two points up and in a winning position, although Burns showed a lot of promise otherwise. He has the size and ability, and if he develops some confidence he could be a prospect.

Lynch did reasonably well in the first half, but then faded completely and it was very surprising that he was not replaced. Dan McCartan was good almost to the end, but he gave away the possession which led to their goal. Although McDonnell was excellent for Armagh, the rest of their attack appeared ordinary. Down may not be quite as bad as the league table indicates, but we cannot really complain about ending up in division three.