Dublin vs Armagh

Trampas

DUBLIN (SF v Armagh)
1. Michael Savage
2. Darren Daly 3. Rory O’ Carroll 4. Philly McMahon
5. James McCarthy 6. Ger Brennan [Capt] 7.Craig Dias
8. Michael Darragh Macauley 27. Eamon Fennell
10. Paul Brogan 11. Alan Brogan 12. Paul Flynn
13. Diarmuid Connolly 14.Eoghan O’Gara 15. Tomás Quinn

ARMAGH (SF v Dublin)
1. Philip McAvoy
2. Andy Mallon
3. Brendan Donaghy
4. Declan McKenna
5. Kevin Dyas
6. Ciaran McKeever
7. Paul Duffy
8. James Lavery
9. John Kingham
10. Aidan Forker
11. Malachy Mackin
12. Colm Watters
13. Caolan Rafferty
14. Anto Duffy
15. Brian Mallon

keane2097

Is McMenamon dropped or injured?

hisholinessnb

keane2097 wrote: »

Is McMenamon dropped or injured?

Just dropped as far as I know

keane2097

Seems strange, thought he was Dublin's best forward against Kerry. How did he go against Laois?

hisholinessnb

He did ok in fairness but nothing amazing. I suppose its more about giving different players their "turn" to impress at this stage.

celticbest

Looking foward to this one, it should be a decent game.

Lets hope we follow on from last weeks performance against Laois in what should be much better weather conditions.....

blackbelt

A little concerned over the full back line for a change.Thought the first 20 minutes of the Laois match was a bit patchy and had Laois better forwards, we could have been 3 or 4 down at one stage.If Armagh get hold of the game, we will find it harder to come back.

However I think our forwards are better and we should outscore them in a thriller with O Gara continuing on from last eek,Conolly and Alan will grow into the game. Kev Mc, Paddy Andrews and Bernard Brogan are not bad forwards to be able to bring on.

Any news on Cian O Sullivan and Barry Cahill?

MickySticks

Armagh to win by 4.

Guitarplayinman

Hi All, Will I be able to buy tickets at the ground for this match?

dats_right

MickySticks wrote: »

Armagh to win by 4.

Just a bit off with that one!

MickySticks

dats_right wrote: »

Just a bit off with that one!

Good one, waiting all day to post that were you? :rolleyes:

jack presley

MickySticks wrote: »

Good one, waiting all day to post that were you? :rolleyes:

To be fair, it was well known that Armagh would be missing their Crossmaglen players today so they were always going to struggle so your prediction that they'd win by 4 was a bit on the optimistic side.

greenman09

Terrible Armagh side today. Too many handling errors and lapses of concentration. Too many wides from both sides to strike fear into any team.

copacetic

Good win for Dublin, bit too easy and a bit sloppy but can hardly complain. Fennell and McCauley had great games, as did Connolly obviously and O'Gara. Improved a bit in second half but it was a no pressure situation then so was to be expected.

Pity the hurlers couldn't hold on for the win, real kick in the teeth losing out to a late winner having fought back hard to be ahead for most of the second half.Much better competitive game than the football though.

Good day Out all in all. Anyone know who got man of the match on TV in this and the hurling?
Guessing Connolly got it for football, but it should have gone to McCauley or Fennell. Hope Sutcliffe got it for hurlers.

billyhead

Good performance from us today. MDMC had a savage game in midfield and the forwards really combined well again. Positive signs. Hopefully the Kerry game was just a blip. Thought the hurling match was very good and we were unfortunate to lose by a point. Very entertaining stuff though for this time of year. On a side note the interval between both matches is rediculous. Most people went to Croke Park to see a match not a friggin concert:mad:

MrJoeSoap

Enjoyable day out today, although bitterly disappointed the hurlers couldn't hang on to get the win. Though Sutcliff had a fantastic game in the middle, Dwyer and Rushe were a handful up front and overall the second half performance was encouraging against a pretty strong Cork line-up. That said, I can't see anyone other than Dublin and Waterford finishing in the bottom two.

The footballers were impressive early on against Armagh, went straight for the jugular and had a handy win in the end. Some awful play by Armagh, and eventually by Dublin, led to it being a fairly poor game of football. McAuley was in great form in the middle, and Connolly, Quinn and O'Gara had great games up front. Very disappointing to see yet another red card for the Dubs though, that is three already this season, as well as the suspension of Bryan Cullen. The Dubs discipline since Gilroy took over has been pretty atrocious.

MickySticks wrote: »

Dublin v Armagh, Croke Park, 4.15pm Dublin by 3

MickySticks wrote: »

Armagh to win by 4.

:rolleyes:

MickySticks

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

:rolleyes:

HappyBalance

Great performance by the Dubs.

corny

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Very disappointing to see yet another red card for the Dubs though, that is three already this season, as well as the suspension of Bryan Cullen. The Dubs discipline since Gilroy took over has been pretty atrocious.

In fairness there were probably 15 yellow cards in that game and not one bad tackle or really cynical foul was made. McMahon on both occasions made genuine attempts for the ball. I know its common place in the league this year but the referee did his best today to get involved and some of the cards he dished out were for the most innocuous fouls a player can commit. This can't be the direction the GAA are taking.

On the game. I thought Dublin were very good and its heartening that for the first time in a long time we might have genuine alternatives in the key positions. The obvious stand outs have been mentioned but special mention for Ger Brennan. He was our best defender last year imo (Nolan got an All Star for one point he scored) and his standards haven't dropped.

Armagh were physically not up to it which surprised me even taking into account they're missing a few.

copacetic

corny wrote: »

In fairness there were probably 15 yellow cards in that game and not one bad tackle or really cynical foul was made. McMahon on both occasions made genuine attempts for the ball. I know its common place in the league this year but the referee did his best today to get involved and some of the cards he dished out were for the most innocuous fouls a player can commit. This can't be the direction the GAA are taking.

+1, this farcical talk of consitent discipline 'problems' is getting to me at this stage. McCarthy got sent off for nothing v Mayo and the ref today again was a joke, he blew his whistle loudly at every opportunity before loudly blowing it again to let everyone know he meant the first one. It ruined any chance the game had of flowing.

The sending off was laughable, neither foul was dirty or cynical, and the second was debatable as a foul at all.

MrJoeSoap

corny wrote: »

In fairness there were probably 15 yellow cards in that game and not one bad tackle or really cynical foul was made. McMahon on both occasions made genuine attempts for the ball. I know its common place in the league this year but the referee did his best today to get involved and some of the cards he dished out were for the most innocuous fouls a player can commit. This can't be the direction the GAA are taking.

Completely agree, the referee was very whistle-happy. I was in the Cusack next to McMahon for his second yellow. There was very little in it when I looked at the replay but at match speed I did think he had raised his hands and made quite a high tackle. Still a pretty silly foul to give away, whilst on a yellow card at that stage of the game.

Also, after he was given the yellow he walked back towards the square, before the referee pointed out he was giving a red card. Anyone know what happened there? Did he not realise he was on a yellow?

dats_right

MickySticks wrote: »

Good one, waiting all day to post that were you? :rolleyes:

Not particularly. I can't deny that I enjoyed watching Dublin taking apart, without even gettin into 2nd gear, a team with notions above their station though. In reality there are only 4 teams worthy of being in division 1 (kerry, cork, dub and mayo), the rest would struggle in division 2. Armagh are but a shadow of the team of early-mid noughties.

MickySticks

dats_right wrote: »

Not particularly. I can't deny that I enjoyed watching Dublin taking apart, without even gettin into 2nd gear, a team with notions above their station though. In reality there are only 4 teams worthy of being in division 1 (kerry, cork, dub and mayo), the rest would struggle in division 2. Armagh are but a shadow of the team of early-mid noughties.

The same Armagh team that went down to Killarney and beat Kerry? Give me a break they were without their Cross players today.

dats_right

MickySticks wrote: »

The same Armagh team that went down to Killarney and beat Kerry? Give me a break they were without their Cross players today.

Two comments:

1. I can't wait to face Kerry again!

2. I think your in denial. Crossmaglen players may have kept the difference within the respectable range, but you must face up to the fact that your team is poor.

MickySticks

dats_right wrote: »

Two comments:

1. I can't wait to face Kerry again!

2. I think your in denial. Crossmaglen players may have kept the difference within the respectable range, but you must face up to the fact that your team is poor.

:rolleyes:

My team beat Derry by 5 points today so I don't think we are that poor.

J Cheever Loophole

dats_right wrote: »

Not particularly. I can't deny that I enjoyed watching Dublin taking apart, without even gettin into 2nd gear, a team with notions above their station though.

Armagh have notions above their station? Really? Where did that come from?

Yesterday was quite a painful experience I have to say - looked up at the big screen after the second goal went in and saw less than ten minutes on the clock and knew it was going to be a long, long afternoon.

Gulf in class was of course evident throughout, but that does not excuse the nature of some of our play, where we needlessly coughed up possession, and given that Dublin were in rampant form, we were punished to the full - the second and third goals came from what the late great Dan Maskell would have called "unforced errors".

I got a sense from our team that they were in awe of the Dublin players, and this and the element of occasion got to them and they simply froze. Indeed I lost count of the number of times that Dublin players lost possession but were able to re-gather in a degree of comfort with little or no hassle.

Dublin on the other hand played like the All Ireland Champions they are - winning last September has brought them on a bag full - they will be hard stopped this year. Dublin had stars in Fennell and McAuley (brilliant performance), Connolly and O'Gara, whilst their defence was very strong. Dias also has the look of greatness in the making.

For us, the best that can be said was that a number tried hard in the face of overwhelming odds - McParland and Aidan Forker will be useful additions, Mal Mackin, Bran Mallon, Donaghy and Andy Mallon tried hard and Philly McEvoy made a couple of great saves.

There were many lessons to be learned yesterday - if they are taken on board, then in the long run yesterday may not be a total write off. It's still all to play for, and there is nothing to fear from the remaining three fixtures - to stay up would be a great achievement in the circumstances and that is still on the cards.

keane2097

Some people are showing a fair bit of ignorance ITT with the "Ah shure ye're only missing a couple of Cross lads" stuff.

Armagh are missing half a team of good to excellent players at the moment, at a minimum compared to yesterdays lineup they have Paul Hearty, James Morgan, Aaron Kernan, Kieran Toner, Charlie Vernon, Eugene McVerry, Jamie Clarke and Stevie McDonnell.

Trampas

Hurling was a great game and really enjoyed it

Footballers were hard to tell how good they were as Armagh were poor but the midfielders were top notch.

Mossy place kicking was terrible as usual now.

Thankfully we have Cluxton and Brogan as the main men and even Connolly could take a few.

Paul Brogan improved on his Laois performance but I think he lacks that pace over a short distance.

I though McMahon 2nd yellow was harsh.

Collins certainly likes blowing his whistle. I think I had nightmares over it

copacetic

Trampas wrote: »

Hurling was a great game and really enjoyed it

Footballers were hard to tell how good they were as Armagh were poor but the midfielders were top notch.

Mossy place kicking was terrible as usual now.

Thankfully we have Cluxton and Brogan as the main men and even Connolly could take a few.

Paul Brogan improved on his Laois performance but I think he lacks that pace over a short distance.

I though McMahon 2nd yellow was harsh.

Collins certainly likes blowing his whistle. I think I had nightmares over it

Brogan improved his general play on Laois game but every time he went to shoot I was praying for him not to bother, short, left, short, right, short is how I think they went?

This new whistling loudly for the score and then whistling loudly to say it was ok to kick out was a bit off putting, seemed to be happening in hurling a bit too.

corny

keane2097 wrote: »

Some people are showing a fair bit of ignorance ITT with the "Ah shure ye're only missing a couple of Cross lads" stuff.

Armagh are missing half a team of good to excellent players at the moment, at a minimum compared to yesterdays lineup they have Paul Hearty, James Morgan, Aaron Kernan, Kieran Toner, Charlie Vernon, Eugene McVerry, Jamie Clarke and Stevie McDonnell.

True but i think everyone not on a wind up knew that.

GAAman

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Enjoyable day out today, although bitterly disappointed the hurlers couldn't hang on to get the win. Though Sutcliff had a fantastic game in the middle, Dwyer and Rushe were a handful up front and overall the second half performance was encouraging against a pretty strong Cork line-up. That said, I can't see anyone other than Dublin and Waterford finishing in the bottom two.

The footballers were impressive early on against Armagh, went straight for the jugular and had a handy win in the end. Some awful play by Armagh, and eventually by Dublin, led to it being a fairly poor game of football. McAuley was in great form in the middle, and Connolly, Quinn and O'Gara had great games up front. Very disappointing to see yet another red card for the Dubs though, that is three already this season, as well as the suspension of Bryan Cullen. The Dubs discipline since Gilroy took over has been pretty atrocious.





:rolleyes:

Don't feed the.......

Myself I was very impressed with the hurlers performance and I am sure someone will say it is just a bias on my part but the ref gave two very wrong calls which led directly to two cork points, we should have won by a point rather than lose by one! I was also surprised by O hAilpin's performance, three times he broke into an almost jog from one side of the pitch to the other to get water.........and that's it!

The footballers, well I am always hesitant to heap praise when the opposite team were poor, I have a soft spot for mossy but by God he hit some howlers! O' Gara and fennel both need to work on their temperaments if they want to continue to play at top level. Paul brogan, well I am sure that someone else is of the opinion that he either needs to up his fitness levels or move aside for a different player to take the jersey!

Good result for us but if we go into matches with down, mayo and donegal with a cock of the walk attitude we might get a nasty surprise!

keane2097

corny wrote: »

True but i think everyone not on a wind up knew that.

lol -"missing a few" eh!

Stoner

corny wrote: »

On the game. I thought Dublin were very good and its heartening that for the first time in a long time we might have genuine alternatives in the key positions. The obvious stand outs have been mentioned but special mention for Ger Brennan. He was our best defender last year imo (Nolan got an All Star for one point he scored) and his standards haven't dropped.

.

I thought Brennan has played well this year, however I don't think he was Dublin's best defender last year. IMHO he can get a little hot headed when a calmer response is best for the team so much so that teams target it as a weakness.

Last year he carried the ball into the tackle too much IMHO no other Dublin defender does that, in fact in the final he lost a free because he stuck his hand in the face of an opponent in front of the ref. BTW I'm not suggesting that Nolan deserved an all star ahead of Brennan or the other way around, it's just an observation about Brennan.

I know this is criticism but they are all things he can fix, I think he reads the game very well and the things I don't like about his game can all be worked on, and it looks like he is doing that. I think that fixing Brennan improves the team as he is a good player and character.

Armagh were very poor yesterday, they were were missing the spine of the team and it was very easy for Dublin to run through them, it can't be easy for a team to loose so many regulars.

Also to counter some of the comments about how many players Armagh were missing this was not Dublin's best team, they were missing All Star players and others who could have made an impact eg Kevin McManamon and his ability to run at defences team would really have suited the set up yesterday.


Also on the red card, I though it was fair enough as they were both yellow card offences, however my issue with it was that there was plenty of similar stuff that went unpunished in the game, mainly at the start of the second half when the Armagh back were determined not to let in more goals, these were similar but only received a mark in the book, simply because Armagh were loosing by so much and the ref wanted to make a game of it as much as possible. I don't really have an issue with that type of thinking but consistency from refs is rare in too many games these days. He could easily have let the last yellow from McMahon go too, or else punish them all.

celticbest

Pre match on sunday..

corny

keane2097 wrote: »

lol -"missing a few" eh!

A few is not a definitive number genius. You might think you deserve a gold star for your little list but like i said I and everyone else with a brain knew that was a weakened Armagh team.

Stoner wrote: »

I thought Brennan has played well this year, however I don't think he was Dublin's best defender last year. IMHO he can get a little hot headed when a calmer response is best for the team so much so that teams target it as a weakness.

Last year he carried the ball into the tackle too much IMHO no other Dublin defender does that, in fact in the final he lost a free because he stuck his hand in the face of an opponent in front of the ref. BTW I'm not suggesting that Nolan deserved an all star ahead of Brennan or the other way around, it's just an observation about Brennan.

I know this is criticism but they are all things he can fix, I think he reads the game very well and the things I don't like about his game can all be worked on, and it looks like he is doing that. I think that fixing Brennan improves the team as he is a good player and character.

Out of interest who do you think was Dublins best defender last year?

If you check back on nearly every game last year he tops or nearly tops the possession stats, accurate kick passes, accurate hand passes and he's normally in possession more times than every other Dublin player bar, arguably, Alan Brogan. Against Tyrone his distribution was magnificent. He's so often the link to the forwards. You say he carries the ball into the tackle too much, which i'd dispute because i can only think of the Kerry game where it happened, but i say he's the most willing Dublin defender to get on the ball and use it. Thats invaluable for team like Dublin who aren't necessarily blessed with gifted playmakers and have a very inexperienced back unit. Add to that he's a tireless defender who isn't easily passed and as you said he reads the game very well.

I know what you're saying about his discipline and up until last year he was an absolute liability at times but bar the incident in the final he never crossed the line which is the be all and end all of a judgement. His position demands a certain level of physicality too.

keane2097

corny wrote: »

A few is not a definitive number genius. You might think you deserve a gold star for your little list but like i said I and everyone else with a brain knew that was a weakened Armagh team.

You know yourself, makes no odds to me.

Stoner

corny wrote: »

If you check back on nearly every game last year he tops or nearly tops the possession stats, accurate kick passes, accurate hand passes and he's normally in possession more times than every other Dublin player bar, arguably, Alan Brogan. Against Tyrone his distribution was magnificent. He's so often the link to the forwards. You say he carries the ball into the tackle too much, which i'd dispute because i can only think of the Kerry game where it happened, but i say he's the most willing Dublin defender to get on the ball and use it. Thats invaluable for team like Dublin who aren't necessarily blessed with gifted playmakers and have a very inexperienced back unit. Add to that he's a tireless defender who isn't easily passed and as you said he reads the game very well.

I agree with most of what you say to be honest, I could use the stats to make my case too, he holds onto the ball for too long IMHO, it's just an opinion but this action would boost a players possession stats.
I think that he has excellent positioning and that he is improving his already good game, I honestly see him as a huge plus as he/ management are working these fixable areas. He is Dublin's number 6 IMO. He does bring a maturity to the role, as does Cullen when played there. I've had opinion and expressed it to others about how he carries the ball into the tackle well before the Kerry game, it did not spring from there. I also agree that the physicality he brings to the role were needed in the past when the likes of Brian Dooher ran through the Dublin defence, between Brennan and McAuley running/tracking back abilities Dublin are at less risk from that type of player now. I think these are fixable things, much easier to address then say a misfiring free taker.