Armagh v Down- 29th June-Ulster Semi Final Thread

[stiffler]

Down never looked in the game today at all, not at one stage did i think they were able to win the game after the first 5mins.

Both teams hit a few bad wides, the referee was pretty poor also.

After the helter skelter game against Tyrone, this was back down to earth with a bump.

[charlie stubbs]

though was poor game today.  mor acting the idiot 2day hardly saw that coming!!  clarke gave dan mccarten a torrid time why did carr not change this?thugh mckeever had a good game and mallon did well on mccomiskey when came on!

some idiots at the game 2day.  my mate saw 2 lads beating eachother around 1330 and there was a few people put out of the hill i think 4 same reason.  

[stew]

an improved team who have potential but one that would be unable to get past any team with a decent shot at winning the AI

A Team that won..........................how many Championship games last year, are now in with a decent shot at the AI??? Kerry would have put double between them and Down.

Funny, I didnt know that Kerry played in the Ulster championship!

Armagh lost both championship matches last year by a single point, does an off year automatically preclude you from winning the AI the following year??

Armagh are in with a decent shot at winning the AI, they are a quality team who will put it up to any team with the possible exception of Kerry. At this stage they have won two games, dominated posession for the most part and have been let down by some poor shooting, in other words they havent hit their stride yet and are comfortably in the Ulster final.

Tyrone to me are still a threat in the AI series, they are a class outfit who can beat anyone on their day. I think your Tyrone bias has terminally affected your judgement when it comes to your neighbours across the Blackwater. 

[balladmaker]

Referee was very inconsistent and picky.  Kept Down in the game at times with soft frees.

Agree...I thought the ref gave Down numerous handy frees that kept them in touch with Armagh.  I was just waiting for Down to get near the penalty area and that ref would definitely have given a penalty given half a chance.

For GAA to be a contact sport, referees such as the one today (and McEneaney in Newry 2 weeks ago) are doing their best to prevent contact of any sort.

Armagh good value for their win but big improvement is needed.  Although, they will have plenty of opportunity to improve in the coming games.  I think they have the potential to go a long way in this years championship.

[Down Gael]

Armagh deserved to win today, much better team on the day. We missed Liam Doyle as a left footed free taker. Down dominated midfield for long periods but failed to put the scores on the board.
Thought o`Rourke deserved to go, but the sending off lifted Armagh when Down were beginning to get back into the game. Down failed to use the extra man, I thought we should have threw caution to the wind and used an extra attacker in the last 10 or 15 minutes, rather than defend a 3 point defecit 

[muppet]

I thought the difference between the sides should have been bigger. Armagh have a top class FF line, a decent midfield but a defense that could lose a big game for them for persistant fouling.

The kit is terrible though. Half of the players look totally unfit because of it.

Down will be disappointed but I think they are coming good again and will do very well in a year or two.

[the milkman]

very poor game 2day, Down never got started! I cant understand what Ross was thinking about leavin Dan Mc on the that long, got roasted! Benny is def. not fully fit and shuld have been played closer to goal!  Armagh very strong and organized as expected!

[orangeman]

There shouldn't be really any complaints from Down - they were beat by a well drilled and seasoned if sometimes cynical Armagh side who will give a lot of trouble this year to most teams.

[Whacker]

The kit is terrible though. Half of the players look totally unfit because of it.

Which Kit? What you on about man?

Poor enough game where Armagh pulled awat when they needed to.  Thought Brian Mallon made a big difference when he came on!  thought Defence was sound throughout! very hardworking and never looked under real threat!  The game bypassed midfield and for the life of me I cannot understand why they stopped kicking the ball into Clarke and Stevie.  Jesus they were destroying them!

MOM for me was Clarke follwed very very closely by Ciaran McKeever

Down didnt have a plan B

Armagh well worth their win and was a carbon copy of Cavan: Done what they had to do with no big fuss!

Referee was a complete joke!

[thewobbler]

A combination of experience and cynicism won the match for Armagh today.

There is no doubting the class of Clarke and McDonnell, and that Armagh's defence is well-organised and physically imposing. they also move the ball forward quite quickly and efficiently.

But they did get cleaned out at midfield for 50 odd minutes today, and it's truly remarkable that a team cleaned out at midfield could only concede 2-3 scores from play. Except it's not. Down may have flapped around a bit, but they were also taken out by the roots before a third pass could ever hit a teammate.

I haven't seen a defence collectively spoil a team so well since Derry put a barbed wire wall in front of  Tyrone in 2006.

I'm not complaining by the way. Fair dues to the orange men, they knew what they had to do, and they did it.

I wish though that their supporters (leaving the ground, and now on here) would stop complaining about the referee penalising them so much. Here's a basic lesson in mathematics Armagh fans: the more often you foul, the more frees you will concede. And from the 20th minute onwards today, all your team did was foul. Down weren't weak-bodied and the referee wasn't soft.

[corn02]

Once again Tyroneman proves he has no GAA knowledge, good work again. I look forward to you making an idiot of yourself again soon.

Thoughts on the match.

A team that dominates midfield, plays against 14 for half the match and has the referee gifting them free and still looses by four are a poor team. Very dissapointing.

I thought MOR deserved the second yellow but everyone I spoke to disagreed.

Gordon was superb, a good run in the qualifiers and it is all-star time, excellent display.

Coulter was in McKeever's pocket for 70 minutes. A real display from the Cullyhanna man.

Clarke won EVERY ball ahead of McCartan, he did not even break one.

[corn02]

Wobbler any Down man who disagrees with the fact they got soft frees is living in dreamland.

To the Down fans with the sign slagging McConvilles gambling habit - classy
To the Armagh fans booing every free and cheering every wide - well done

[Maguire01]

Attended today's game as a neutral (a genuine neutral this time - applauding good moves and scores from both sides!).

I have to say, i think the ref did a decent job and was well on top of the game. Armagh fans boo'ed a lot of his decisions (maybe just more noticeable as they were the larger/more vocal set of supporters), but he was bang on for most of them. And I'm not in the habit of praising a Cavan man!

As for the game, Armagh were always on top and deserved winners.  Down never looked like getting anywhere near the goal, despite doing pretty well in midfield. As someone said already, a good run in the qualifiers and Dan Gordon would be an allstar nominee. He would be a household name by this stage if he played for any of the bigger teams in the country.

[thewobbler]

It's not dreamland Corn. Armagh's tactic was to deliberately prevent Down from gaining any momentum, by whatever means necessary. Down were rarely allowed to get any pace on the ball, having been pulled out by the roots before they could accelerate. As a result there were very few big hits. But almost every one of their frees was a foul. Maybe you folks don't agree, and maybe you're right; maybe our amateur GAA players should have to semi-decapitated before winning a free. The rulebook doesn't see it that way though.

[In the Onion Bag]

Well done Arma.  It became evident there would be one winner in this game from the early stages.

Clarke and McDonnell are top class acts.  The Arma defense was so well organised that Down never looked like getting a break.

Still, I am content as I predicted much worst for Down.  To come within two kicks of a good Arma team at this stage is progress.

I do not fancy our chances in the qualifiers though as Down do not do back doors very well even though I think this team's development would benefit greatly from a good back door run.