Muckser
Well-Known Member
Rian was lucky at 1 point as elbowed his opponent is the stomach right in front of me off the ball. That's what lead to the flair up on the Cavan bench and a later booking for his opponent.
McKenna Cup 2022
- Thread starter PatMustard
- Start date
Diarmi
Well-Known Member
Ssssshhhhh
Diarmi
Well-Known Member
Dr McKenna Cup Section B, round one: Cavan 0-11 Armagh 1-12
From Andy Watters at Kingspan Breffni
A STEWARD joked: “There must be nothing on the telly” as vehicles packed out the capark at the back of the stand last night.
He obviously didn’t expect the action-packed 70 minutes the sides’ served up in wintry conditions. Armagh bossed the first half, Cavan – who missed four goal chances – were on top for spells in the second but ultimately it was the visitors who began their year with victory.
Ciaran McKeever, deputising for manager Kieran McGeeney, was pleased with what he saw from his an Armagh side backboned by experienced performers.
“We knew what we were going to get here – Cavan are always competitive, they get men behind the ball, they make life difficult and want to hit you on the counter,” he said.
“We were the architects of our downfall at times in the second half by giving them cheap ball and letting them get in behind us but in the last quarter the boys showed good composure and implemented what we’ve been working on on the training ground. Eventually it worked for us and we created a couple of nice scores and got the goal at the end.”
It took seven minutes before the first score of 2022 arrived. Gearoid McKiernan tapped over a free after Armagh, who dominated the half by gobbling up midfield possession and cutting through the Cavan defence with pacey runs from midfield, had missed two chances.
Aidan Nugent also shot wide and Cavan’s counterattacking tactics paid off when Burns and Jemar Hall combined to foul James Smith and Paddy Lynch put the home side two in front after 11 minutes.
Aidan Forker took Grugan’s pass and opened Armagh’s account with his trusty left boot but Cavan’s direct running continued to draw fouls from the Orchard defence. Ryan O’Neill was taken down as he drove forward and again McKiernan obliged from the placed ball.
Armagh’s defence was jittery but, going forward, they were too slick for their hosts. Grugan’s delightful pass sent Ciaran Mackin through for a fisted point and then Burns equalised when he joined the attack.
There were misplaced passes you would expect at this stage of the season and Conor Madden and Smith both missed good opportunities to send the Breffnimen back in front.
Armagh’s wide count had reached six by the 23rd-minute mark but Stephen Sheridan sent them ahead for the first time with an excellent finish from the Cavan 45-yard line. A Hall point followed as the Orchardmen - utilising their array of high-fielding options - packed the midfield and dominated Galligan’s restarts.
Grugan’s free left it 0-6 to 0-3 on the half-hour mark and that, at the end of a half that Armagh had dominated while kicking nine wides, was the score at the interval although Cavan could have been on level terms had Thomas Galligan’s flick not gone the wrong side of Blaine Hughes’s right post.
Sheets of icy rain greeted the players as they emerged for the second half but Cavan, as they showed in their Ulster title run in 2019, can click into gear; and they did. Smith pulled a point back and Armagh’s goal lived a charmed life when McKiernan somehow shot wide with the goal gaping and Smith hammered a shot off the crossbar.
McKiernan atoned for his earlier miss to leave one in it, Conor Madden equalised and another from McKiernan gave Cavan the lead after five electric minutes.
And there was no let-up. Hall’s second point levelled it again and Hughes saved brilliantly from Conor Madden before Burns edged the visitors ahead.
McKiernan levelled and then Armagh missed a gilt-edged goal chance. Men in orange jerseys were queueing up to shoot but Sheridan and then Nugent failed to apply the finishing touch before Greg McCabe lashed the ball over the bar from close range.
Galligan’s free meant the sides were level for the fourth time in the half but again Armagh replied, this time through Nugent. Oisin Kiernan and Galligan both missed chances to restore parity as sleet turned to snow at Kingspan Breffni.
Lynch did find the target though to leave it 0-10 apiece and the tit-for-tat action continued with both defences lashing the ball to safety under pressure before McKiernan scored for Cavan and Rian O’Neill replied for Armagh.
Deep into injury-time, O’Neill ran onto Conor Turbitt’s ball and was dragged down. Grugan converted the free and then Ross McQuillan ran the ball into an empty net to send Armagh fans home with smiles on their frozen faces.
Cavan: R Galligan (0-1 free); E Finnegan, K Brady, L Fortune; O Kiernan, C Conroy, J McLoughlin; J Smith (0-1), M Argue; O Brady, G McKiernan (0-6, 0-2 frees), Cian Madden; Conor Madden (0-1), P Lynch (0-2 frees), R O’Neill
Subs: T Galligan for O’Neill (33), K Clarke for Argue (HT), G Smith for Finnegan (45), C O’Reilly for Conor Madden (59), J McKenna for Cian Madden (59), C O’Reilly for Conroy (61), B Kelly for Lynch (66), P Smith for McKenna (70)
Yellow card: K Brady (42)
Armagh: B Hughes; R Finn, A McKay, Ciaran Mackin (0-1); Connaire Mackin, G McCabe (0-1), J Og Burns (0-2); S Sheridan (0-1), N Grimley; J Hall (0-2), A Nugent (0-1), S Campbell; R Grugan (0-2 frees), R O’Neill (0-1), A Forker (0-1)
Subs: C Turbitt for Forker (42), R McQuillan (1-0) for Hall (50), J Morgan for McCabe (53), J Kieran for Sheridan (59), C O’Hanlon for Campbell (61), C Higgins for Finn (63), N Rowland for Burns (66)
Yellow card: McCabe (53)
Referee: A Marron (Monaghan)
From Andy Watters at Kingspan Breffni
A STEWARD joked: “There must be nothing on the telly” as vehicles packed out the capark at the back of the stand last night.
He obviously didn’t expect the action-packed 70 minutes the sides’ served up in wintry conditions. Armagh bossed the first half, Cavan – who missed four goal chances – were on top for spells in the second but ultimately it was the visitors who began their year with victory.
Ciaran McKeever, deputising for manager Kieran McGeeney, was pleased with what he saw from his an Armagh side backboned by experienced performers.
“We knew what we were going to get here – Cavan are always competitive, they get men behind the ball, they make life difficult and want to hit you on the counter,” he said.
“We were the architects of our downfall at times in the second half by giving them cheap ball and letting them get in behind us but in the last quarter the boys showed good composure and implemented what we’ve been working on on the training ground. Eventually it worked for us and we created a couple of nice scores and got the goal at the end.”
It took seven minutes before the first score of 2022 arrived. Gearoid McKiernan tapped over a free after Armagh, who dominated the half by gobbling up midfield possession and cutting through the Cavan defence with pacey runs from midfield, had missed two chances.
Aidan Nugent also shot wide and Cavan’s counterattacking tactics paid off when Burns and Jemar Hall combined to foul James Smith and Paddy Lynch put the home side two in front after 11 minutes.
Aidan Forker took Grugan’s pass and opened Armagh’s account with his trusty left boot but Cavan’s direct running continued to draw fouls from the Orchard defence. Ryan O’Neill was taken down as he drove forward and again McKiernan obliged from the placed ball.
Armagh’s defence was jittery but, going forward, they were too slick for their hosts. Grugan’s delightful pass sent Ciaran Mackin through for a fisted point and then Burns equalised when he joined the attack.
There were misplaced passes you would expect at this stage of the season and Conor Madden and Smith both missed good opportunities to send the Breffnimen back in front.
Armagh’s wide count had reached six by the 23rd-minute mark but Stephen Sheridan sent them ahead for the first time with an excellent finish from the Cavan 45-yard line. A Hall point followed as the Orchardmen - utilising their array of high-fielding options - packed the midfield and dominated Galligan’s restarts.
Grugan’s free left it 0-6 to 0-3 on the half-hour mark and that, at the end of a half that Armagh had dominated while kicking nine wides, was the score at the interval although Cavan could have been on level terms had Thomas Galligan’s flick not gone the wrong side of Blaine Hughes’s right post.
Sheets of icy rain greeted the players as they emerged for the second half but Cavan, as they showed in their Ulster title run in 2019, can click into gear; and they did. Smith pulled a point back and Armagh’s goal lived a charmed life when McKiernan somehow shot wide with the goal gaping and Smith hammered a shot off the crossbar.
McKiernan atoned for his earlier miss to leave one in it, Conor Madden equalised and another from McKiernan gave Cavan the lead after five electric minutes.
And there was no let-up. Hall’s second point levelled it again and Hughes saved brilliantly from Conor Madden before Burns edged the visitors ahead.
McKiernan levelled and then Armagh missed a gilt-edged goal chance. Men in orange jerseys were queueing up to shoot but Sheridan and then Nugent failed to apply the finishing touch before Greg McCabe lashed the ball over the bar from close range.
Galligan’s free meant the sides were level for the fourth time in the half but again Armagh replied, this time through Nugent. Oisin Kiernan and Galligan both missed chances to restore parity as sleet turned to snow at Kingspan Breffni.
Lynch did find the target though to leave it 0-10 apiece and the tit-for-tat action continued with both defences lashing the ball to safety under pressure before McKiernan scored for Cavan and Rian O’Neill replied for Armagh.
Deep into injury-time, O’Neill ran onto Conor Turbitt’s ball and was dragged down. Grugan converted the free and then Ross McQuillan ran the ball into an empty net to send Armagh fans home with smiles on their frozen faces.
Cavan: R Galligan (0-1 free); E Finnegan, K Brady, L Fortune; O Kiernan, C Conroy, J McLoughlin; J Smith (0-1), M Argue; O Brady, G McKiernan (0-6, 0-2 frees), Cian Madden; Conor Madden (0-1), P Lynch (0-2 frees), R O’Neill
Subs: T Galligan for O’Neill (33), K Clarke for Argue (HT), G Smith for Finnegan (45), C O’Reilly for Conor Madden (59), J McKenna for Cian Madden (59), C O’Reilly for Conroy (61), B Kelly for Lynch (66), P Smith for McKenna (70)
Yellow card: K Brady (42)
Armagh: B Hughes; R Finn, A McKay, Ciaran Mackin (0-1); Connaire Mackin, G McCabe (0-1), J Og Burns (0-2); S Sheridan (0-1), N Grimley; J Hall (0-2), A Nugent (0-1), S Campbell; R Grugan (0-2 frees), R O’Neill (0-1), A Forker (0-1)
Subs: C Turbitt for Forker (42), R McQuillan (1-0) for Hall (50), J Morgan for McCabe (53), J Kieran for Sheridan (59), C O’Hanlon for Campbell (61), C Higgins for Finn (63), N Rowland for Burns (66)
Yellow card: McCabe (53)
Referee: A Marron (Monaghan)
KilleavyGael
Active Member
Take a win when we can get it. Our defence is barely division 2 standard, especially with no kennedy. Big area of concern. Hopefully see a few of the county champions coming in, but even they didnt look too hot at the back against Derrygonnelly.
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a dire night and performance and lucky to get the win reading through these. I'm sure "they'll" be dreading the thought of playing us next week in Omagh. Just thinking about the preseason drubbing they gave us there a few years back.
On a positive note, that's the first time in a while we've started off a new year, new season with a win. Well done to any supporter that made the trek down. Like @PatMustard said, hopefully all got there and back safely. Now, harder ground and warmer days ahead, so let's stay positive (aside from the inevitable coming from the reigning AI champs and masters of this competition). A little reverse psychology just might work on them as they read through our posts - of course they do!!
On a positive note, that's the first time in a while we've started off a new year, new season with a win. Well done to any supporter that made the trek down. Like @PatMustard said, hopefully all got there and back safely. Now, harder ground and warmer days ahead, so let's stay positive (aside from the inevitable coming from the reigning AI champs and masters of this competition). A little reverse psychology just might work on them as they read through our posts - of course they do!!
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
Seems like Donegal struggled past Down this evening and Monaghan were lucky to get a draw against Derry. Obviously we have no idea what teams were actually played, but it looks like our win last night may have been hallow with results useless all over. Either that or the pendulum has swung and it really will be an interesting season once we get going properly.
ragingbull
Well-Known Member
let's say Armagh had most of their big gun's playing where Donegal,Down,Derry,Monaghan didn't
green flag
Active Member
Just looking at the starting 15 almost 50% of the defence were from Shane O'Neills.
Diarmi
Well-Known Member
I'm normally a very optimistic type of individual but I think we are in big bother this year. Our defence is very poor and that's not necessarily a criticism of the players, who are all good footballers, it is just we lack a couple of top class defenders, critically at full back and centre half back. We are also seriously lacking a defensive system which was evident on Thursday. In fact the Cavan game was almost a copy of the Monaghan championship game except Cavan didn't score the goals. Hopefully this will be the kick in the arse that the management need and they will put something in place. I do appreciate they are in a difficult position in that they are trying to play open, attacking, attractive football but the balance is not right at present. I should say that I am a big fan of they forward style of football we are playing as the current tactics being employed by most other teams would scour the hole off you. Armagh were at the forefront of the new style in the early 2000's so maybe we can be the pioneers again. It's just it would be nice not to concede 4 goals a game in the process. Barry McCambridge looks like a player who could tighten things up a bit and I think Aidan Forker needs to be redeployed as a proper defender.
I thought Jarly Og looked good against Cavan, he certainly got on a lot of ball and was impressive going forward. I would love to see Ross McQuillan getting more game time, he is a class act. He appears to be in competition with Jemar for a place and I wonder if the latter would be better suited to a defensive role. Hall is a good tackler and is very tenacious so might be a good corner back? I know many of you will be saying that in the modern game positions mean nothing but with the style of play we employ that is not really the case.
How does the following look?
Hughes
Hall McCambridge McCabe
Jarly Og Forker O’Hanlon
Grimley Sheridan
McQuillan Nugent Soup
Grugan Rian Turbit
I thought Jarly Og looked good against Cavan, he certainly got on a lot of ball and was impressive going forward. I would love to see Ross McQuillan getting more game time, he is a class act. He appears to be in competition with Jemar for a place and I wonder if the latter would be better suited to a defensive role. Hall is a good tackler and is very tenacious so might be a good corner back? I know many of you will be saying that in the modern game positions mean nothing but with the style of play we employ that is not really the case.
How does the following look?
Hughes
Hall McCambridge McCabe
Jarly Og Forker O’Hanlon
Grimley Sheridan
McQuillan Nugent Soup
Grugan Rian Turbit
ragingbull
Well-Known Member
We should play all our forwards in defective instead of actually defender's
Diarmi
Well-Known Member
You at the drugs again???
JoeH
Well-Known Member
And how about
Mark Shields
Aaron mcKay
Tiernan Kelly
Oisin ONeill
Ben Crealey
Andy Murnin
Conor ONeill
Cian McConville
Paddy Burns
Ethan Rafferty
James Morgan
I'm sure there are more and assuming those above are part of the squad.
With the way teams play now it's going to be hard for most teams to defend against counter attacking
No harm thinking outside the box, but someone at Hall's height would be a liability in a FB line. Any opponent with sense would target that and cause mayhem. Hall is very decent at what he does around the middle, and will continue to be an asset there.
Big Jim
Well-Known Member
Yeah I find myself agreeing with this even though I like what @Diarmi opened with. I think Jamar is very "Marty O'Rourke" esque in his style. By that I mean he's not afraid to win dirty ball around the middle and be a play maker even though he's not the tallest. Martin certainly was never afraid to get stuck in and win the valuable free, but also had a mastery of seeing where the breaking ball would be. You can't teach that. Jamar tends to get himself into those positions too when left to roam.
"lacking a defensive system" ????
For how long have we been saying that?
I also love to see attacking football and no doubt we have lots of quality attackers. But surely by now Geezer (and his numerous assistants) should have implemented a suitable defensive system.
The defensive display against Monaghan last year was embarrassing. Hopefully we are not embarrassed again when we meet the big boys in division one.
Here's hoping - but not with any great confidence, based on Geezers record to date.
For how long have we been saying that?
I also love to see attacking football and no doubt we have lots of quality attackers. But surely by now Geezer (and his numerous assistants) should have implemented a suitable defensive system.
The defensive display against Monaghan last year was embarrassing. Hopefully we are not embarrassed again when we meet the big boys in division one.
Here's hoping - but not with any great confidence, based on Geezers record to date.
PatMustard
Well-Known Member
Yes, that type of player you describe is hard to find. MOR/Jamar have done that role to good effect. But it’s rare you’d find that type of player that can really exert big influence on the game like Galvin, Dooher, or Greg Blaney (the best at that role imo).
I’m going back a bit here, but I remember Martin Toye playing that role for a while. We beat Dublin once in the AG (must have been around 94-97), and Toye was outstanding. His performance that day really stuck in my mind. Anticipating the breaking ball, winning dirty ball, linking the play and generally being a nuisance and covering every blade of grass. He even Did a Simpsons ‘yoink’, stealing the ball out of a Dublin players hands. The crowd cheered. He got MOTM that day, and he could have played that role more often but didn’t , for some reason. I suppose a player doesn’t have to generally be a typical half forward type to perform that role. Toye played all over, but probably never nailed a particular position
Anyway, I don’t know why I brought that up. Maybe cos herself is off shopping and I’m just doing a bit of Sunday reminiscing.
Jamie's Coffee
Active Member
Has Shea Heffron been given a recall does anyone know?? Good young player a few years ago but dropped off. Older wiser & stronger now I’d say and had a great Championship for CE. He’s not the sort of defender we can overlook IMO. That’s assuming he makes himself available for County
Armaghball
Well-Known Member
And a Cruppen goalkeeper. Great wall of Camlough.
Armaghball
Well-Known Member
Very attacking looking defence there. McKay, Morgan and Shields will all be likely starters.