Kerry 75-86 v Crossmaglen 97-08

[darbyo]

Afraid not. Since Cross won their first All-Ireland in 1997, only Nemo in 2003 have lifted the title for Munster (once in 11 years!) . In fact Nemo have been beaten by St Galls and Ballinderry since then.  In that period Ulster and Connacht have won 5 each.

I said...."the county champions of all the Munster counties are generally strong. I'd say most of them would give most of the Ulster sides a good game(or any other province for that matter). In other words they(Munster clubs) would be competitive in any of the provinces. How many of that 5 AI did Cross win take them out and Ulsters record isn't vastly superior to Munsters. Cross are an exceptional team I'm just pointing out that Munster club football is fairly strong across the board.

[Mike Sheehy]

Sure the whole county of Armagh could only win one AI between them in 123 years so clearly their best club representatives wouldnt fare any better.

Also, why is there no critical analysis of the Armagh County championship when the "greatness" of Crossmaglen discussed ? Fierce double standard there lads....

[rrhf]

If you count up the number of relatively tough games that Cross and Kerry had to come through during their glory years, then Cross would win hands down.  The Kerry golden years was a myth perpetuated to brighten up an era when football in 29 counties in Ireland was on its knees.

[armaghniac]

Also, why is there no critical analysis of the Armagh County championship when the "greatness" of Crossmaglen discussed ?

As noted earlier, because Cross win the Armagh championship doesn't mean it is weak, other Armagh clubs are comparable with most teams, but Cross is not just another regular team. The Munster intercounty championship is clearly weak, as it has few teams and the league position etc of teams other than Kerry and Cork suggests that they are weak, which is not surprising as hurling is the main sport there.

[whiskeysteve]

if there was any other serious senior club forces in Armagh, Cross would have slipped up at least once in the last 13 years. Not questioning their greatness by the way...

[full back]

Cross drew with Dromintee in the championship earlier this year - that is the closest any team in ULSTER has got to them this year.......

[whiskeysteve]

if thats the best opposition the Armagh club scene can throw up in 13 years of championship football...

[corn02]

I don't get your point Steve. Yes Dromintee has been their best opposition over that period so what?

[full back]

if thats the best opposition the Armagh club scene can throw up in 13 years of championship football...

You are missing my point
For example this year, no other team in ULSTER got closer to Cross than a team from their own county championship

[whiskeysteve]

This year Cross have been awesome, no one in Ulster came close - but my point was in response to armaghniac, who said the opposition in Armagh is not necessarily weak. There are several clubs in Ulster, who at some time or another over the 13 years of Cross dominance, would have been good enough to pip them at some point - none of them are Armagh clubs, thus I disagree.

For example, was a division 1 armagh team - Whitecross, not well beaten by a 2nd tier Derry team this year in the ulster intermediate championship?

In you are arguing your point in the context of this year only, I would agree with you

[armaghniac]

The best team from another county has beaten Cross from time to time, I am not sure what that says about the standard of the rest of the teams in those counties.

Whitecross will be playing in Armagh div 2 next year and possibly weren't quite at their best when well beaten in the Ulster intermediate championship.

[Armaghtothebone]

How would the bould Francie, if fit, handle the Bomber Liston, he was on his hole after Donaghy last year and Donaghy is not fit to lace the Bombers boots just yet.

Oisin would not get nothing easy off Paidi O'Se and Jacko would have both the McEntee twins in his arse pocket early on around midfield. Aaron Kernan would be chasing Pat Spillane around the place all day and wondering why Daddy Big Joe would not take him off. T'would be an embarrassment. Kerry in a canter.

Mike i suspect you have the old rose tinted glasses on my friend.That Kerry team was a very good team but in reality the Kerry team of today is infinitely better.That team won 4(very nearly5) All Irelands in a row,but how many games did they have to play?
If things had'nt changed up here(by that i mean both Armagh and Tyrone becomming almost professional in setup and outlook) you would have won every All Ireland this decade.Back in the era of that team the rest of Ireland was a million miles from where the top teams are now.
You only had to look at the state of some of the so called greats during the winter campaigns to see how far the game has moved on in the last 30 years.Am I wrong in saying that in the 70's/80's after a Kerry team won an All Ireland they went on the lash til Feb and then got really stuck in to training?
Do the present team still do that?

[Armaghtothebone]

if there was any other serious senior club forces in Armagh, Cross would have slipped up at least once in the last 13 years. Not questioning their greatness by the way...

I think you'll find that the last team to win the Armagh Championship before Cross went on their spree also went on to win the Ulster club.
There also happens to be a club in Lurgan wit 3 Ulster club titles!!!How many other counties have 3 Ulster club winning clubs?

[GPA not OK]

Be careful not to talk shite.

Derry have probably the best record in the competition. 10 titles beween 5 clubs.

Ballinderry, Loup, Bellaghy, Lavey, Dungiven

Armagh clubs have 10 titles beween them also.

Clans, Bawn and Cross.

Your point about the last team to beat Cross in Armagh going on to win the Ulster Club is a good one though. Club football in the county is reasonably strong. But I don't know if there are any clubs there at the minute that would make a decent fist of the Ulster Club if Cross did get beat. If for no other reason that they'd be partied out by the time it started.

[whiskeysteve]

Be careful not to talk shite.

Derry have probably the best record in the competition. 10 titles beween 5 clubs.

Ballinderry, Loup, Bellaghy, Lavey, Dungiven

I'll add Ballerin to that list, on behalf of my old buddy Rav67