Kilmacud v Crossmaglen

Gingy

Crokes made heavy work of Corofin, while Cross hammered Dromcullogher. Will Cross be too strong for Crokes or will Crokes be too fast for Cross? Should be a cracker, looking forward to it.

Flukey

I went to Mullingar. Mark Vaughan had a stormer. Amongst his scores was a great goal and one of those fabulous points shot from close to the sideline that curl over the bar. Corofin made a good comeback in the second half. Crokes will have to raise their game if they are to stop Crossmaglen.

Yavvy

yeah Vaughans point from the sideline was awsome

Stupido

much had been made of corofin's mean defence....but Crokes attack again proved good for goals.....


Don't know what Cross are like up front, but it could be a high scoring game.


BTW only 2,600 at mullingar yesterday. Very disappointing crowd for a semi-final. Maybe neutral venues should be done away with?

Gingy

Stupido wrote: »

much had been made of corofin's mean defence....but Crokes attack again proved good for goals.....


Don't know what Cross are like up front, but it could be a high scoring game.


BTW only 2,600 at mullingar yesterday. Very disappointing crowd for a semi-final. Maybe neutral venues should be done away with?

I'm really surprised at that attendance. The main stand was nearly full, I thought that there was a lot more than that.

Cross will have Oisín McConville and a few Kernan's up front. I think that Crokes will have to put someone like Paul Griffin on to man-mark McConville.

If Crokes can avoid letting in a few goals (haven't conceded many all year) then I'd say they can win it.:)

Flukey

They probably should have had a double header for the two semi-finals on both days, instead of 4 venues. That would have made a bit more sense, and given the managers a chance to view the opposition for the final first hand.

Crokes have been good at getting goals. They'll need to keep that up. Crossmaglen may have the edge on experience at this stage of the competition, plus they have more inter-county players who have played on big days. It should be a good final.

blackbelt

Stupido wrote: »

much had been made of corofin's mean defence....but Crokes attack again proved good for goals.....


Don't know what Cross are like up front, but it could be a high scoring game.


BTW only 2,600 at mullingar yesterday. Very disappointing crowd for a semi-final. Maybe neutral venues should be done away with?

I wouldn't be surprised at that figure.You have to take into account that Crokes don't have a huge fan base for some reason.Looking at their support in Parnell Park against the likes of Newtown Blues,they weren't exactly overcrowding the stadium.

Then the other factor that you must take into account (and I think this has more to do with it) is that the match was on a Saturday which is a commercial day so a lot of fans might not have been able to go.Had it been on a Sunday,I think you might have had another 3-4,000 there.

As for the final,I think Kilmacud are in much better shape.Crossmaglen may have the experience at this stage of the competition but do they have the competitive match practice?...the answer would tell you no.Beating Drumcollogher in that fashion will do nothing for Cross while Kilmacud have come through a bruising competitive fixture and have enough time to rest and regroup and concentrate on the final.

I think the Andy Merrigan Cup will be going to Kilmacud on the 17th March.

Pride Fighter

A Dublin club will win it again for the second year in a row:). Shame we are crap at intercounty:mad::mad:

Euro_Kraut

Gingy wrote: »

I'm really surprised at that attendance. The main stand was nearly full, I thought that there was a lot more than that.

+1

I had the crowd at around 4,000 - 5,000 in my head. Stand was full about a couple of hundred across in the terrace. Mullingar can host 15,000 so 1/3 full was a reasonable 'guestimation'

Mark Vaughan was unreal Broke my heart so he did. His class upfront was the difference between the teams. We lost Fitzy and Michael Comer before the game. A small parish like Corofin cannot lose two inter county players at this stage of the championship. Crokes bench was far stronger. I guess that's to be expected when you consider the the sheer wight of numbers you have in South Dublin.

Crokes deserved the win. I would still fancy Cross to beat them in the final though.

Good luck to all concerned and enjoy the day out. March 17 with the club in Croker is one of the best days of your life. Unfortunately the memories of '98 are wearing a little - but hey, our day will come again..

Utopia Parkway

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

+1

Mark Vaughan was unreal Broke my heart so he did. His class upfront was the difference between the teams. We lost Fitzy and Michael Comer before the game. A small parish like Corofin cannot lose two inter county players at this stage of the championship. Crokes bench was far stronger.

Colm O'Rourke made that point on Sunday. He said Crokes could afford to bring on two subs who were intercounty players up to fairly recently in Cosgrave and McGee while Corofin lost two intercounty players to injuries in Comer and Fitzgerald. Plus of course that's not counting the blow-ins already on the Crokes team.

I think Crossmaglen will win the final to be honest. Crokes have been in the tougher games but they've been just about scraping through them . I know they won by 6 the last day but in reality that game was in the balance with a few minutes to play.

Tristram

blackbelt wrote: »

As for the final,I think Kilmacud are in much better shape.Crossmaglen may have the experience at this stage of the competition but do they have the competitive match practice?...the answer would tell you no.Beating Drumcollogher in that fashion will do nothing for Cross while Kilmacud have come through a bruising competitive fixture and have enough time to rest and regroup and concentrate on the final.

They are Armagh and Ulster Club Champions and are playing in the All-Ireland Club Final, I think they have some competitive match practice.

Gingy

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

Good luck to all concerned and enjoy the day out. March 17 with the club in Croker is one of the best days of your life. Unfortunately the memories of '98 are wearing a little - but hey, our day will come again..

Thanks. Likewise my memories from 95 are fading, it was my first time in Croke Park. Hopefully we can do it again this year:D:D:D

Flukey

Pride Fighter wrote: »

A Dublin club will win it again for the second year in a row:). Shame we are crap at intercounty:mad::mad:

Well, guess what happened in the year that Kilmacud Crokes last won the All-Ireland Club Championship!

Pride Fighter

Flukey wrote: »

Well, guess what happened in the year that Kilmacud Crokes last won the All-Ireland Club Championship!

I hope the same happen Flukey, but I am doubtful. Nonetheless c'mon you boys in blue.

Erin Go Brath

Vaughan was fantastic, and if he can replicate that performance although it'll be against a stingier CMG defence in the final then Crokes will win. Hard to call, but i'd go for a narrow Crokes win.

ardmacha

I'd say that Crokes can score 2-2 more than Drom-Broadford managed, while Cross would score 2-2 less against Crokes than they managed in the semi.

mrgaa1

Cross to win by 7 points minimum. They will nullify any Crokes attack and then power on to win. They are too strong, too fit and they play a pattern of football that doesn't change. They can move players around, bring new players in and the system continues.

An Citeog

If Crokes are to win they'll need a blitzkrieg start like Vins had in the AI club semi final last year. Crossmaglen's biggest advantage will be their Croke Park experience but I still feel they're a team on the decline. If Mark Vaughan is on form, Crokes will win.

Crokes by 0-2 and Mark Vaughan to score 1-3 from play.;)

ardmacha

I still feel they're a team on the decline.

On what basis. Oisin McConville isn't the force he was, but still better than most club players in the country. John McEntee is as good as ever. And the young players notably McKenna in midfield and Clarke in the forwards are shaping up to be as good as any in the country.

An Citeog

ardmacha wrote: »

On what basis. Oisin McConville isn't the force he was, but still better than most club players in the country. John McEntee is as good as ever. And the young players notably McKenna in midfield and Clarke in the forwards are shaping up to be as good as any in the country.

Oisín McConville, both McEntees, Francie and John Donaldson are all past their best. All great teams come in cycles and I believe that this Cross team has reached the end of that cycle. They still have some very good younger players and the game against Crokes could go either way but I feel they have a lot more weaknesses now than they did when they were dominating earlier in the decade.

Bored-Stupid

I was at a few of the Cross matches and I was a bit disappointed....same old Cross grinding out results.

But I was in Longford for the semi and to be honest they were simply awesome!! Yes Dromcollagher were poor but they were given no time on the ball. Francie is like a new player. Going up the field helping out the forwards (he set up the second goal), treking back and defending like his life depended on it! True Mc Conville isnt what he was but Crokes will still think he is the main man and that will give space for the real super forwards (Clarke, Murtagh and Kernan) to shine.
If Mc Kenna can keep up his man of the match performance that he showed in the semi final then Cross will win with ease.

Unfortunately they played their best football last week but judging on the only Crokes match I saw (Dublin final), I can still see Cross coming out with a 4-5 point victory....hopefully the success might give the county team they kick up the ar*e they need!!

Come on the Cross!!

JohnnyMarr

Bored-Stupid wrote: »

I was at a few of the Cross matches and I was a bit disappointed....same old Cross grinding out results.

But I was in Longford for the semi and to be honest they were simply awesome!! Yes Dromcollagher were poor but they were given no time on the ball. Francie is like a new player. Going up the field helping out the forwards (he set up the second goal), treking back and defending like his life depended on it! True Mc Conville isnt what he was but Crokes will still think he is the main man and that will give space for the real super forwards (Clarke, Murtagh and Kernan) to shine.
If Mc Kenna can keep up his man of the match performance that he showed in the semi final then Cross will win with ease.

Unfortunately they played their best football last week but judging on the only Crokes match I saw (Dublin final), I can still see Cross coming out with a 4-5 point victory....hopefully the success might give the county team they kick up the ar*e they need!!

Come on the Cross!!

I was only at one match this season before the Dromcollogher game at that was against St Patricks, Fermanagh at Cross in November and it was a bleak day and a bleak game. The performance against Dromcollogher was good - disciplined, athletic and good to watch. However, Dromcollogher were absolutely dreadful, hard pushed to think of a worse team that I've seen. As someone above has said, Cross have the right mix of experience in McConville, Francie, the McEntees ( though I suppose Tony won't make the final) and John Donaldson (legend!) and the youth of the Kernan boys, Clarke, David McKenna etc.

You'd be hard pushed to find a better team than Cross but I think it will be a good game, just a shame I can't see it :mad:

blackbelt

Crokes beat the Kerry Seniors by a goal the other week down in Limerick.Hard to gauge whatever effort both teams put into it but it may suggest that Kilmacud should be favourites to win it.

Diabhal Beag

This will be a great match and I encourage anybody to go to Croker to watch a fine game of football.

I can see Cross winning but who can predict when Mark Vaughan will be in unstopable form like in the 2nd half against Corofin

Gingy

Crokes camp feeling confident, any last minute news/scandal from south Armagh?

Mushy

Will many neutrals be at this? I finally get to return to the club finals this year, love going. Will Kilmacud not have a big fanbase there? Hoping for decent attendance.

Think the football will be won by Kilmacud, and the hurling by Portumna. Should be a good day, love going to them.

Flukey

Us Kilmacud fans will be there, but as is always the case for the Club Finals, there will be a lot of neutrals at it. It is part of the whole St. Patrick's Day now.

An Citeog

Mushy wrote: »

Will many neutrals be at this? I finally get to return to the club finals this year, love going. Will Kilmacud not have a big fanbase there? Hoping for decent attendance.

Think the football will be won by Kilmacud, and the hurling by Portumna. Should be a good day, love going to them.

I'll be there as a neutral, although I do want Portumna and Crokes to win. There'll probably be about 30,000 at the matches.

Mushy

Ah thats good. Am really looking forward to the day.May be my last time up there this year:(

juvenal

Strong start by Crokes, 13 minutes in. Lovely finish by Mark Davoren there for the goal. Couple of frees from Mark Vaughan.

Kilmacud Crokes 1-03 Crossmaglen Rangers 0-01

Stream here: www.tg4.tv

cruiserweight

Good start by the Crokes, but they only scored 1 point in the last 20 minutes and Crossmaglen are within a goal now

juvenal

Yeah, great start, but game gone very cagey now with some bad wides by both sides.

Halftime: Crokes 1-04 Cross 0-04

Nalz

just wanna say GAA are a joke

Ticket booths with queues going a mile 1/2 long on 3 different streets. €25 is a bit steep too. Think they'd be crying for people to go to these games, so opening a "exact amount cash" gate at the stadium and lowering the price to €15 wouldnt go astray

Plus the people they hired to help out outside the stadium were contractors who werent informed of what was going on. One guy was telling everyone that he heard the game was gonna be delayed. I rang the old man who was at home watching it and he told me it was 1-6 to 0-2 in the hurling!

Jokers

cruiserweight

2 points in it and 10 minutes to go, squeeky bum time for Crokes

juvenal

Huge point there by Vaughan just as it looked like Cross were coming back into it. Their defence is very good, they haven't been giving Crossmaglen a sniff in the past 20 minutes.

Minute to go:

Crokes 1-07 Cross 0-07.

cruiserweight

Well done to Crokes, Cross never recovered from the first ten minutes and Crokes managed to keep a gap between the two teams

juvenal

Crossmaglen are out on their feet, that's it. Four points up with a minute of injury time.

Two Dublin winners in the past two years, although granted they're huge clubs with several county players from the country who live/work in Dublin.

Full-time:

Kilmacud Crokes 1-09 Crossmaglen Rangers 0-07. Fully deserved their victory, I though they played a very smart game and just out-ran and outplayed Cross all over the pitch.

Well done Kilmacud.

juvenal

cruiserweight wrote: »

Well done to Crokes, Cross never recovered from the first ten minutes and Crokes managed to keep a gap between the two teams

Very true, the strong start was too much for Cross to recover from in the end. I don't think Crossmaglen even reduced the gap to a point at any stage after the goal?

MementoMori

FT Crokes 1-9 Crossmaglen 0-7

Congrats to Crokes - wasn't exactly one for the neutrals to enjoy but I don't think they'll mind a damm.

One thing that jumped out at me was the difference between the games I've seen in the League under the new rules and the behavour in this one especially in terms of those silly cynical fouls that break up the rhythm of play. The players in the League know if they behave like that they will get the line whereas in this game the players knew they could get away with it to a large extent.

Anyway well done to Crokes the club championship is one hell of a difficult cup to win and any team that does can be sure they are worthy winners.

cruiserweight

juvenal wrote: »

Very true, the strong start was too much for Cross to recover from in the end. I don't think Crossmaglen even reduced the gap to a point at any stage after the goal?

2 points was the closest that they got afaik

Orizio

Trilla wrote: »

just wanna say GAA are a joke

Ticket booths with queues going a mile 1/2 long on 3 different streets. €25 is a bit steep too. Think they'd be crying for people to go to these games, so opening a "exact amount cash" gate at the stadium and lowering the price to €15 wouldnt go astray

Plus the people they hired to help out outside the stadium were contractors who werent informed of what was going on. One guy was telling everyone that he heard the game was gonna be delayed. I rang the old man who was at home watching it and he told me it was 1-6 to 0-2 in the hurling!

Jokers

I think you mean a few people working in Croker are a 'joke'.

me2gud4u

Brilliant display in the defence line from Rory o' Carroll.

Up the crokes!!!A well-earned win and with a good few young players on the team, the likes of Mark Coughlan and Barra o Ruairc, it bodes well for Crokes in the years to come!

there will be some celebrations down in Stillorgan tonight!

Maith sibh leaids!

yop

Great display from Vaughan, he ran all day and covered a lot of ground, I dont have a lot of time for him, seems a bit of a "dude" with the mad dyed hair etc but yesterday he was the difference and his free-taken was excellent.

Well done to Crokes, a good game

Qwerty27

Yop, I beg to disagree with tou about Vaughan, he took on som esilly frees, esp one of two on the right sideline where he was trying to clip ball over with the outside of his boot. nearly impossible shots but no way would he allow anyone else take them. 2 of his frees were 21 yard frees although he got one lovely point from play. Poor game overall I thought

dcr22B

Qwerty27 wrote: »

Yop, I beg to disagree with tou about Vaughan, he took on som esilly frees, esp one of two on the right sideline where he was trying to clip ball over with the outside of his boot. nearly impossible shots but no way would he allow anyone else take them. 2 of his frees were 21 yard frees although he got one lovely point from play. Poor game overall I thought

That's a bit unfair to Vaughan as Crokes don't have a left sided free taker so they were left with no choice but for Mark to take them.

Well done to Crokes and hopefully some of them will come into the intercounty side and shake things up.

cruiserweight

Trilla wrote: »

just wanna say GAA are a joke

Ticket booths with queues going a mile 1/2 long on 3 different streets. €25 is a bit steep too. Think they'd be crying for people to go to these games, so opening a "exact amount cash" gate at the stadium and lowering the price to €15 wouldnt go astray

Plus the people they hired to help out outside the stadium were contractors who werent informed of what was going on. One guy was telling everyone that he heard the game was gonna be delayed. I rang the old man who was at home watching it and he told me it was 1-6 to 0-2 in the hurling!

Jokers

I guess that the moral of the story is sort out your tickets earlier

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2009/0318/gaa.html

rte.ie wrote:

The GAA has apologised for the delays many fans experienced in purchasing tickets prior to yesterday's All-Ireland club finals in Croke Park.

Due to a late surge of supporters coming from the Dublin St. Patrick's Day parade, the four designated ticket booths outside the stadium struggled to cope with the demand and a wait of up to an hour was experienced in some cases.

Unfortunately, similar situations have happened in the past, with newly-appointed GAA Communications Manager Alan Milton revealing that as many as 9,000 people converged on the stadium around the same time - the vast majority of them having come from the city centre parade which finished at 1.00pm.

'The ticket offices had been open since 10.30 in the morning. And all last week patrons were encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance. A sudden influx of people like that will always be difficult to accommodate,' he said.

LeoB

Orizio wrote: »

I think you mean a few people working in Croker are a 'joke'.

There are jokers everywhere;)....... People leaving it to the last minute again. But cash should have been taken at 4 or 5 stiles for the Canal end and leave the tickets for the stands.

Well done Crokes. Fully deserved victory. They put up some miles on the clock today and Cross were never let settle or given time on the ball. It was a good team display and they got the result they wanted. Great discililine to their game. If Trappatoni got a result againt a top team by whatever means his praises would be rang out, so well done again to Crokes. Crokes No2 was super.
Just to correct an earlier poster Crokes had 3 players who didnt play Juvenile for them. Out of 30 thats not bad. A lot of rural clubs might think they are parochial but a lot have a few players from neighbouring parishs and transfer to play Senior.

yop

Qwerty27 wrote: »

Yop, I beg to disagree with tou about Vaughan, he took on som esilly frees, esp one of two on the right sideline where he was trying to clip ball over with the outside of his boot. nearly impossible shots but no way would he allow anyone else take them. 2 of his frees were 21 yard frees although he got one lovely point from play. Poor game overall I thought

Can't agree with you, he missed a few but what he added with his work rate and the points he did score made the difference

**Cant believe I am defending Vaughan It wont happen after Sunday lol **

dcr22B

yop wrote: »

Can't agree with you, he missed a few but what he added with his work rate and the points he did score made the difference

**Cant believe I am defending Vaughan It wont happen after Sunday lol **

Doesn't matter yop, none of the Crokes contingent will be playing in either the Mayo match or the following game against Kerry.

kerry4sam

Was at the game on St.Patricks' Day ... he had our tickets pre-purchased but we still endured a wait of near on 20mins to get through the gates (went after the parade finished). The weather could not have been better and the atmosphere was amazing - always seems to be a friendly and more relaxed atmosphere on club final day in Croker.

What puzzles me though is that the officials could have easily predicted the influx of people after the parade as has happened the last few years and with the weather being glorious, people wanted to make the most of the day. Even if people didn't have pre-purchased tickets their really shouldn't have been a wait of an hour for people to get through the turnstiles imo