Armagh vs Monaghan 6/6/10

Andy Smith and Gizzy Ling got straight reds for very similar types of offences to Mallons on Hughes, in Nowaln Park last week, John Mcyntire is appealing on the grounds that it punishes players for over-commitement rather than something more sinister. He's right but then again Im ammuming that it would have been made clear to players what is acceptable and what is not with regards to charging against opponents this year.
Red card leaves Armagh in dire straights for the 2nd half as Monaghan had assumed control even before it.

Mc Hugh on BBC said its a disappointing game???? Very enjoyable IMO.

Armagh scored their 6th point in the 18th minute - and their 7th in the 48th minute. Not good enough.

O'Rouke is actually worse than Peter McDonnell. He is clueless when Armagh lose a player they just curl up into a ball and die. I am not too sure if I want O'Rouke to stay now it was a painful second half no changes at all its a terrible day for us. Grimley has masterminded Armagh's worse championship defeat in years. How is that man a referee, he done exactly the same against Armagh vs Down in the first match...if anything he should not be allowed to referee ever again.

Well Done Monaghan.

Shocking display by Armagh. Have not been convinced by them at all and today shows why. Fair play to Monaghan - some great scores. Imagine a Monaghan-Cavan semi!!

Dick Clerkin

GAA-Fan wrote: How is that man a referee, he done exactly the same against Armagh vs Down in the first match...if anything he should not be allowed to referee ever again.

Yes, the although the biggest mistake that he made was not sending-off Aaron Kernan.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Shocking display by Armagh. Have not been convinced by them at all and today shows why. Fair play to Monaghan - some great scores. Imagine a Monaghan-Cavan semi!!

Calling Armagh shocking is an insult to the word shocking.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

GAA-Fan wrote: How is that man a referee, he done exactly the same against Armagh vs Down in the first match...if anything he should not be allowed to referee ever again.

Yes, the although the biggest mistake that he made was not sending-off Aaron Kernan.

Stopped watching in ten minutes ago. What happened? That shoulder earlier? If it was that hardly a red card.

Game was played in a good spirit and some of the yellows were a complete joke. How did he give Conor McManus a yellow card - he seemed to be indicating a jersey pull - directly after giving him a free kick?? Some others were a joke too but the sending off was bang on.

Armagh very poor. O'Rourke obviously expected Monaghan to play with 5 forwards, but they played with 6. As a result, McKeever didn't know whether to play as a sweeper or to mark Hanratty, and in the end he did neither, and got caught ball-watching for the goal.

A few Armagh lads battled well (Duffy in particular), but overall they were what they are - a young, limited side, who aren't anywhere near the top sides in Ireland.

Monaghan, on the other hand, are among the top 6.

GAA-Fan wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

GAA-Fan wrote: How is that man a referee, he done exactly the same against Armagh vs Down in the first match...if anything he should not be allowed to referee ever again.

Yes, the although the biggest mistake that he made was not sending-off Aaron Kernan.

Stopped watching in ten minutes ago. What happened? That shoulder earlier? If it was that hardly a red card.

Ah GF, take off the orange-tinted glasses. Kernan's was a very late and dirty hit and he should definitely have walked. Mallon also deserved to go.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Armagh very poor. O'Rourke obviously expected Monaghan to play with 5 forwards, but they played with 6. As a result, McKeever didn't know whether to play as a sweeper or to mark Hanratty, and in the end he did neither, and got caught ball-watching for the goal.

A few Armagh lads battled well (Duffy in particular), but overall they were what they are - a young, limited side, who aren't anywhere near the top sides in Ireland.

Monaghan, on the other hand, are among the top 6.

Would agree with that on the last 2 performances. Armagh are going to have to come out all guns blazing in the qualifiers, none of the **** they have been producing is doing them justice.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

GAA-Fan wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

GAA-Fan wrote: How is that man a referee, he done exactly the same against Armagh vs Down in the first match...if anything he should not be allowed to referee ever again.

Yes, the although the biggest mistake that he made was not sending-off Aaron Kernan.

Stopped watching in ten minutes ago. What happened? That shoulder earlier? If it was that hardly a red card.

Ah GF, take off the orange-tinted glasses. Kernan's was a very late and dirty hit and he should definitely have walked. Mallon also deserved to go.

Orange tinted glasses arent on. Monaghan player did the same to Kernan; much later than Kernan did on Woods was it?

If anything Armagh never recovered from Monaghans goal in the first half. It came against the run of play and caught Armagh off guard. That they had no answer whatsoever and were completely abject for most of the rest of the game is fairly danming for many on that team and on their sideline.

GAA-Fan wrote:O'Rouke is actually worse than Peter McDonnell. He is clueless when Armagh lose a player they just curl up into a ball and die. I am not too sure if I want O'Rouke to stay now it was a painful second half no changes at all its a terrible day for us. Grimley has masterminded Armagh's worse championship defeat in years. How is that man a referee, he done exactly the same against Armagh vs Down in the first match...if anything he should not be allowed to referee ever again.

Well Done Monaghan.

No use in looking for people to aim your finger of blame in the aftermath of this match GF. It had to be obvious to anyone who followed Armagh closely enough where they would fall down, O'Rourke can only work with the raw materials at his disposal, and Stevie McDonnell is the only decent scoring forward that Armagh have. Instead of blaming the manager, why not blame the players? They are the ones who after going out and making a show of the county?

Some of the players aren't good enough - simple as. Where was Vernon today? There's a world of difference between League 2 football and the Championship. Its all very well throwing in young players - but they have to be good enough too.

I was at the Armagh vs Down match [1st game] yet again, Armagh player sent off, O'Rouke done nothing. The players were just as bad to but also no consistency there, not once have I said they are one of the best in Ireland but they are a decent enough team. Monaghan will win Ulster easily.

That performance today wasn't Armagh playing football, it was Armagh giving up.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Some of the players aren't good enough - simple as. Where was Vernon today? There's a world of difference between League 2 football and the Championship. Its all very well throwing in young players - but they have to be good enough too.

Indeed. A certain county will have an acid test or two in this regard to overcome in the very near future.

GAA-Fan wrote:I was at the Armagh vs Down match [1st game] yet again, Armagh player sent off, O'Rouke done nothing. The players were just as bad to but also no consistency there, not once have I said they are one of the best in Ireland but they are a decent enough team. Monaghan will win Ulster easily.

That performance today wasn't Armagh playing football, it was Armagh giving up.

Not the first you have completely over-reacted in the wake of a defeat to either Antrim or Armagh.

GAA-Fan wrote:I was at the Armagh vs Down match [1st game] yet again, Armagh player sent off, O'Rouke done nothing. The players were just as bad to but also no consistency there, not once have I said they are one of the best in Ireland but they are a decent enough team. Monaghan will win Ulster easily.

That performance today wasn't Armagh playing football, it was Armagh giving up.

Hold on just a second!

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Some of the players aren't good enough - simple as. Where was Vernon today? There's a world of difference between League 2 football and the Championship. Its all very well throwing in young players - but they have to be good enough too.

Indeed. A certain county will have an acid test or two in this regard to overcome in the very near future.

Indeed ... come on Laois!

Think the red card was a bit harsh but as McHugh said in the analysis, when you do tackles like that you need to do be careful or else you run the risk of a red. Intentional or not, Mallon's arm was up and it clearly struck Woods in the face. It happened very quickly of course and replays always make things look worse. I think it should have been a yellow card but it was the sort of tackle that you really have to be sure of and it was a tough one for the ref.

Paddy O'Rourke doesn't deserve all the flak, Armagh had a lot of opportunities in the 2nd half but poor shooting and shot selection let them down. And we could talk about tactics all day but quite simply, beating Monaghan while a man down is no easy task.

I'll put my neck out and say I think Monaghan would have won the game either way, they just looked that bit hungrier. They'll take some beating this year.

And saying Monaghan will win Ulster easily is quite a statement. Ok, Cavan and Fermanagh probably won't be considered contenders but if they get to the final they'll have to play either Tyrone or Down. Down are the sort of team who can beat anyone one day and collapse the next but they came through a dogfight in Ballybofey and if they can overcome a Tyrone team hungry for revenge for 2008 they'll be quietly confident I'm sure. And we need no reminder of Tyrone's ability and superiority over the past few years.

Monaghan have set their stall out.....Down and Tyrone will set theirs out on Saturday week. But let's not write off Fermanagh and Cavan too easily, they'll know what to expect.

I for one am not taking anything for granted with regard to either Cavan or Fermanagh - both counties have beaten us in the past when we did that. I really don't like these people talking of an Ulster final at this stage.

Great win today, commiserations to Armagh, they were poor and the red card obviously helped us, but I firmly believe we would have won the game regardless. This was a massive game for us, one we had to win as an Ulster is first and foremost our target. Our preparations weren't ideal by any stretch of the imagination with Hughes having to go in goals, but I have to say I think he did superb considering he was thrown in at the last minute. He was actually a county minor keeper in 2005 and that stood to him I'd say.

I was worried at the start of the game as McDonnell was tearing our full-back line to pieces, and Jamie Clarke was showing up well too, but thankfully we managed to put the shackles on it eventually and we were able to go forward and play our own game. In past years our heads would have dropped and Armagh would have stormed ahead but this team has matured alot in recent years.

I'm absolutely delighted with the manner of our win, everybody was predicting a poor, negative game. I always knew we have the players and in particular the forwards to put it up to any team, and they stepped up to it today. Freeman, Finlay, McManus were brilliant up front and the support play from the likes of Clerkin, Corey, D Freeman, Walshe(excellent on his debut) was outstanding. Everyone played very well but those stood out I thought. I know rightly alot of people won't give us much credit and put it down to Armagh's faults but I'm happy with our performance.

Anyway, on to the semi-final now and a very tough game I'm sure. As people are saying we've shown our cards today and whoever we meet will be well prepared. Looks like we'll have the favourites tag which we always struggle with so there's alot of work to be done in preparation for this. All Monaghan eyes on Cavan-Fermanagh next week.