Ulster Championship 2026

[Armagh18]

Fair play to Down, I'm sure no one saw that coming, thought with about 45 minutes gone that Donegal were always going to kick on and I was just happy that at least Donegal would have the energy sapped from a battle before next week.

Could be a real classic next week if Down can get up to those levels again which is a huge ask, as someone else said though Armagh and Donegals styles aren't a million miles apart which will
help from a tactical viewpoint.

Few interesting match ups, I'd say Murphy if fit will get the Havern job, if not Paddy Burns, if Ciaran Mackin was at 100% I'd have him down for Murdock who has been sensational, outside of that maybe Duffy would be an effective spoiler, not sure who gets the Guinness job but he certainly needs marked as well, serious player.

Equally they'll have a lot of fires to put out of ours, Conaty, McConville, Burns, McQuillan, McMullen and Turbo/O'Neill at some point as well.

Should be a cracker. Hopefully a couple of knocks clear up but unlikely. Shame from a neutral point of view that there isn't another weeks break so both teams are coming in fresh but hopefully Armagh can get some small advantage from the extra days rest plus the fact we didn't have to get out of 3rd gear whereas Down had to be at their best.

[Armagh18]

Derry favourites with Paddy power for Ulster hard to believe.

mad. Genuinely both semi finals could go either way, Derry and Armagh both favourites but definitely not hard to see one or both beat.

[Armagh18]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

[NAG1]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

Looked like Donegal were a bit leggy in the game, no sharpness, I wonder did they do a heavy training block knowing that they should go deep into the year and maybe an Ulster title isn't the main goal for the year for this group.

[Armagh18]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

Looked like Donegal were a bit leggy in the game, no sharpness, I wonder did they do a heavy training block knowing that they should go deep into the year and maybe an Ulster title isn't the main goal for the year for this group.

It's possible, but we all know Jimmy hates losing.  Very easy to look leggy when a team has momentum on you

[NAG1]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

Looked like Donegal were a bit leggy in the game, no sharpness, I wonder did they do a heavy training block knowing that they should go deep into the year and maybe an Ulster title isn't the main goal for the year for this group.

It's possible, but we all know Jimmy hates losing.  Very easy to look leggy when a team has momentum on you

Absolutely and not taking away from Down, they looked great. But I just have a feeling that after a tough league I think maybe they have one target left.

[Mario]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

Looked like Donegal were a bit leggy in the game, no sharpness, I wonder did they do a heavy training block knowing that they should go deep into the year and maybe an Ulster title isn't the main goal for the year for this group.

It's possible, but we all know Jimmy hates losing.  Very easy to look leggy when a team has momentum on you

Absolutely and not taking away from Down, they looked great. But I just have a feeling that after a tough league I think maybe they have one target left.

Ha what a load of nonsense. Was wondering how long before the heavy training block posts. The man is obsessed by the Ulster championship, picked a full strength team. Was looking to do 3 in a row and you lads think they were flogged the week before the game

[Armagh18]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

Looked like Donegal were a bit leggy in the game, no sharpness, I wonder did they do a heavy training block knowing that they should go deep into the year and maybe an Ulster title isn't the main goal for the year for this group.

It's possible, but we all know Jimmy hates losing.  Very easy to look leggy when a team has momentum on you

Absolutely and not taking away from Down, they looked great. But I just have a feeling that after a tough league I think maybe they have one target left.

Ha what a load of nonsense. Was wondering how long before the heavy training block posts. The man is obsessed by the Ulster championship, picked a full strength team. Was looking to do 3 in a row and you lads think they were flogged the week before the game

They likely weren't but it definitely looked that way! Probably more to do with Down being flying and when a team is on top like that it can leave the opposition looking very sluggish and leggy. Looking forward to seeing how the back it up now.

[SouthOfThe Bann]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

Looked like Donegal were a bit leggy in the game, no sharpness, I wonder did they do a heavy training block knowing that they should go deep into the year and maybe an Ulster title isn't the main goal for the year for this group.

It's possible, but we all know Jimmy hates losing.  Very easy to look leggy when a team has momentum on you

Absolutely and not taking away from Down, they looked great. But I just have a feeling that after a tough league I think maybe they have one target left.

Ha what a load of nonsense. Was wondering how long before the heavy training block posts. The man is obsessed by the Ulster championship, picked a full strength team. Was looking to do 3 in a row and you lads think they were flogged the week before the game

They likely weren't but it definitely looked that way! Probably more to do with Down being flying and when a team is on top like that it can leave the opposition looking very sluggish and leggy. Looking forward to seeing how the back it up now.

I agree with you but it was weird that he took off McHugh and Gallen when he did.

Especially Gallen when he was playing so well and the game was in the melting pot.

[tbrick18]

Down were awesome. The intensity levels and speed they attacked and scrambled back at were off the scale.
I think I said earlier on this thread that Down would be no walkover as I thought they were improving, but I didn't see that performance coming. Down dominated the midfield area which was the biggest surprise for me, but they were excellent all over the pitch. Great to see for them, and can only improve Ulster as a province to have another team emerging as challengers.
If they can maintain that form, at that level, they'll be hard stopped in Ulster.

Donegal will be sick I'd think. Did they take one eye off the ball? Or does this just reflect the final result last year and suggest they are a bit behind where everyone thought they were?

Someone said Derry favourites for Ulster? Can't see that personally. They do have a realistic chance, but a lot needs to go right for them and there's still small question marks over the confidence levels which will only be put to bed after a run of wins. I think on paper, we should beat Monaghan but you would have said the same against Louth and Meath earlier in the league. Monaghan are a decent side and have come through a tough opening game - no disrespect to Antrim but this will be Derry's first real challenge in championship this year and I'd wait to see how both semis go before calling anyone a favourite.

Would anyone be really surprised if it was a Down v Monaghan final now?

[tbrick18]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

Looked like Donegal were a bit leggy in the game, no sharpness, I wonder did they do a heavy training block knowing that they should go deep into the year and maybe an Ulster title isn't the main goal for the year for this group.

It's possible, but we all know Jimmy hates losing.  Very easy to look leggy when a team has momentum on you

Absolutely and not taking away from Down, they looked great. But I just have a feeling that after a tough league I think maybe they have one target left.

Ha what a load of nonsense. Was wondering how long before the heavy training block posts. The man is obsessed by the Ulster championship, picked a full strength team. Was looking to do 3 in a row and you lads think they were flogged the week before the game

They likely weren't but it definitely looked that way! Probably more to do with Down being flying and when a team is on top like that it can leave the opposition looking very sluggish and leggy. Looking forward to seeing how the back it up now.

I agree with you but it was weird that he took off McHugh and Gallen when he did.

Especially Gallen when he was playing so well and the game was in the melting pot.

McHugh had just been in an off-the-ball wrangle before being taken off and to be fair, he hadn't stood out either. Maybe a case of get him off before getting sent off.
Gallen was surprising alright, was the main scoring threat from a Donegal pov.

[balladmaker]

Massive Down performance, other than they could have had another 2 or 3 goals, the performance was pretty much flawless.  They won't, and nor should they, fear Armagh next Sunday and it makes for a great semi-final.  If anything, yesterday's win has firmly put Armagh on watch, so complacency will not be a problem from an Armagh perspective.

As for Donegal, I do question how much they were off the pace yesterday, the drop off in their intensity levels was shocking.  Now, not saying they threw the game as Down were the far better team on the day, but I do wonder how much they actually wanted another Ulster this year.  JMcG knows the hard road ahead, he wants to be on at least parity with Kerry and arrive at the All Ireland series fresh, he will achieve that now.  A ding dong with Armagh next weekend followed by another v Derry/Monaghan would not have served their All Ireland ambitions well.

[JoG2]

From a Donegal perspective I'm sure they'll be grand in the long run, but of soul searching to be done but they'll 100% have a big say in Sam.

Unless they completely change their style and have a plan b, they have no chance of winning the AI imo.
Having players at machine levels of fitness during the league where they can literally out run and run through defences is 1 thing, on firm pitches with teams at championsh levels of fitness is another.
Going behind in a game is their Achilles heal.

If Down had played Donegal 2.mobths ago,Donegal win by a fair margin.

Thompson and Langan seem to be really the only 2 trusted with attempting 2 pointers, C O'Donnell the only one trusted with shooting from wherever he likes, the rest of the forwards pass continuously when between the 2 D's
With Langan and Thompson missing , their conservative style of play was tested to the limit and failed. Easy of course in hindsight...but with extra space the game is setup to reward those who go at it and hamper those who tirelessly pass the ball between the opp 45 and 65 and meticulously try and get a certain player into a certain position to shoot, again grand earlier in the season when you're so much fitter than the opposition. From a football pov it was really satisfying to see Down when and win well yesterday (they didn't just about fall over the line)

[JoG2]

Edit: 'no chance', prob a chance in fairness 

[Norm-Peterson]

I don't think I even want to go to the Ulster final if it's going to be Derry v Armagh.
Those big Armagh games are essentially just big student parties. At the 2023 final the hill was full of young women covered in make up and wearing skimpy outfits who spent the full game flirting with the young men with bowl hair cuts.
If I have to stand on the hill with Armagh fans again I would rather not go at all.