Ard Mhacha 13
Well-Known Member
Good luck to the management & squad for the match this evening.
C'MON ARMAGH.
C'MON ARMAGH.
Armagh U17s/U20s
- Thread starter KilleavyGael
- Start date
ragingbull
Well-Known Member
audio of the game is on armaghgaa.net
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
1475 wasn't a bad turn out for a minor/U17 game at that time on a Saturday. It would have been nice if the team had of turned up though. I thought during the warm up that Armagh were playing Armagh there were that many out on the field. Looked like they ALL left before throw in and a few lads were plucked from the stand, because they never looked like getting into it at all. Down went 45 or 46 minutes without scoring at all in the first 60+ and we couldn't capitalise at all so that was brutal.I will be there cheering them onIt's a shame this competition has been completely separated from the senior championship, there is no doubt it will have an impact on the attendance figures.
I saw these two teams play in the league a few weeks back and Armagh controlled the game completely. That edge wasn't there last night.
Thought the ref was brutal too. Not biased in any way, just indecisive. He blew Down for over carrying and let us away with obvious over carrying. He blew our lads for putting the hand on his opponents back, yet let Down away with it. Really inconsistent. Unfortunately didn't affect the result though. That was down to us!
Ard Mhacha 13
Well-Known Member
Good luck to the U17s for their match this evening.
C'MON ARMAGH.
C'MON ARMAGH.
ragingbull
Well-Known Member
Hammered 1-05 to 3-14
ragingbull
Well-Known Member
Someone got the score wrong
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
Where was that??
ragingbull
Well-Known Member
Playing club games while the under 17s were playing in the ulster championship is a great way to promote under age football in the county CB clowns
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
Have to agree 100% I know the club games were fixed before the county game was, but still, some compromise should/could have been made
PatMustard
Well-Known Member
Does this mean we went through to the next round then?
Depressing result and performance and even more depressing tactics employed
We have a much better bunch of minor lads than was shown in those 2 matches and should have been allowed to go man for man rather than the defensive nonsense
The academy system is simply not working
Too many cliques and connections at play too little scoping around the clubs and what is the result - too many good lads opt out don’t make themselves available
3 nights a week since last September for lads doing exams will and has excluded a lot
Total nonsense the whole thing but I suppose it looks good on paper for the CB to talk it up but what has it achieved since setup
Has the academy improved our under age system - the opposite i believe it has encouraged elitism and discouraged those outside of the group
We have a much better bunch of minor lads than was shown in those 2 matches and should have been allowed to go man for man rather than the defensive nonsense
The academy system is simply not working
Too many cliques and connections at play too little scoping around the clubs and what is the result - too many good lads opt out don’t make themselves available
3 nights a week since last September for lads doing exams will and has excluded a lot
Total nonsense the whole thing but I suppose it looks good on paper for the CB to talk it up but what has it achieved since setup
Has the academy improved our under age system - the opposite i believe it has encouraged elitism and discouraged those outside of the group
cast no shadow
Member
Absolutely agree, development squads need to be consigned to the bin! The focus should be towards coaching within the club and providing high level coaching to kids, all kids within the club setting. School football should also be a major focus! Less of this elletist/selection sh1te at such a young age! The under 17 grade is far to young and will only serve the bigger counties with bigger player! We should take a strategy long term view here to develop quality footballers! Not just for county football but with a view to improving the overal quality of our league and clubs.
The u20 grade should be our measuring stick!
The u20 grade should be our measuring stick!
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
Can't disagree with that!
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
Yep. A lot of high level and knowledgeable players/voices say that resources should be put into the schools where the mentoring is shared around a lot of local clubs in one move. Fund clubs to get better equipment to use for training and encourage mentors with consistent courses, help and advice. Build consistency and not elitism. We're going down this route right across the board with this super 8s bollox. It's gonna destroy all but the strongest in exactly the same was as Hurling has went nationally. Even the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship has been scrapped. It may have been useless as a competition in the eyes of some, but we were strengthened by it getting to two consecutive Ulster Finals. Sadly no title and that's not good enough, but that door is now closed so what example is that setting? If your not elite, you're not worthy of a competition!! If you're not in the academy, you're not good enough.
Let these lads play with their schools and clubs and enjoy being lads nurturing their own talent. Let them decide if it's for them. Maybe then we won't lose players to soccer etc. because they'll choose soccer early on and not waste time trying to please an academy mentor and the other lads that want to stay with GAA will possibly develop! Just a rambling thought!!
I have to agree the performance against Down and Derry was piss poor and not what they showed in the league. They looked lethargic and disinterested. They looked as if they just wanted to get home and sell their lovely shiny new gear on eBay. "Should they get that until they have achieved something?" was a remark made the other evening. Made me think. Try getting a builder to finish a job when he's paid in full before he starts!! (nothing to do with the post, but had another fifteen seconds to fill before logging off)
The expectations on the young lads in these ‘elite’ squad is ridiculous and the level of coaching is poor from what I have been told. I’ll throw a genuine comment out to you all. In primary school when I was growing up the McGreevey cup was the ‘Ulster’ championship. I was lucky enough as a P6 to win it with St Pats primary Cullyhanna (as I’m often reminded of by my Cullyhanna neighbours that my first Ulster was won in a Cullyhanna jersey!). That single primary school team produced 7 players who played county minors with 2-3 of them on the minor team of 1992 and of those 7, 3 played senior for Armagh, including Des Mackin. The following year St Pats Cross won it and that team produced 4 of the Armagh team that won the AI in 2002, Oisín, Francie and the Twins. The next team in Armagh that won it was surprisingly Cross. That team had the Kernan’s, Mickey Mc, and a few others who went on to win u21s and then produced for Armagh. The next team that won it was bedrocked by Paul McKeown, Paul Kernan, Jamie Clarke, Kyle Carragher to name a few and the next one was the team that was our minor team that won the Ulster with the O’Neills and Stephen Morris etc who are now maturing into serious players. My understanding is that competitive football in primary school is more or less gone. All run through the go games type blitzes. I’m sorry but the evidence I’ve just thrown up shows how wrong this is. At primary schools we played South Armagh schools league. There was us in Cullyhanna, Cross, Upper Killeavey, Lower Killeavey, and a few other amalgamations of schools. We played full 15 v 15 and played for the hour. We knew how to determine the size and positioning on the field and as a result our game awareness grew. The weaker players did get left behind but in my experience of underage coaching this hasn’t changed since go games has been brought in. The weaker u10 is still sitting making daisy chains in the corner and the stronger player is just playing on. I honestly believe that primary school is where the focus should be and really push it instead of development squads. A house built on weak foundations will eventually crumble.
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
To me a perfect description of the way it was and should be. Let the natural weeding process occur (yes there will always be an anomaly of a lad/lass developing in late teens or early twenties, but so rare it will sort itself out). These players will not feel threatened by being embarrassed at being picked/not picked to be "elite". Thanks @bcb1
Thanks @Calm1 The thing to is that at that time that I was playing and for a good few years after it there were 2-3 men who were involved in the schools did Trojan Work. I don’t know if their like is still involved but Armagh GAA owe an unpayable debt Malachy McGeeney and Tom Mallon and a few others. These men were not young men either, nor were they paid individuals. They were school teachers and volunteers. What they did for juvenile football in south Armagh was immeasurable
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Big Jim
Well-Known Member
And I worry about the volunteer ethos in our sport. I know full well it's still prevalent, but too many want rewarded now. Don't get me wrong, I've no issue with sponsors covering remuneration, but full time paid "experts"??? Sorry it's a no from me! Those men you mention did it because they loved it and wanted to, not because they had to or were paid to. It's super that you acknowledge them and their part.
Toms son was a regular poster on the old forum but I’m not sure if he transferred across. These 2 in particular were key to a lot of things generally. Obviously in our own club you have Tim Gregory who has coached every single Cross player of the last 30 years or more and for many years took nearly every underage team in Cross. His influence can’t be overstated either.