National Football League 2024
- Thread starter Big Jim
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Armaghabroad22
Active Member
Obviously pleased with today's result, but have to say I came away feeling somewhat deflated for Kildare.
For whatever reason they are a team I like to see do well, perhaps it's the Johnny Doyle affect.
But relegation now looks inevitable and it is going to be a long road rebuilding their team after the exodus of players they have had.
Watching their manager standing on the line, with his arms folded and shaking his head for the entirety of the game, wasn't exactly inspiring.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if there is a mid season change in management there, particularly after hearing about the post match disagreement with local media outlets.
That aside, we have a big game ahead of us next week in Donegal, today was a great confidence booster and pleased that we came away with no serious injuries! McGeeney will be stratching his head this week picking his starting 15, a luxury we haven't had for some years.
For whatever reason they are a team I like to see do well, perhaps it's the Johnny Doyle affect.
But relegation now looks inevitable and it is going to be a long road rebuilding their team after the exodus of players they have had.
Watching their manager standing on the line, with his arms folded and shaking his head for the entirety of the game, wasn't exactly inspiring.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if there is a mid season change in management there, particularly after hearing about the post match disagreement with local media outlets.
That aside, we have a big game ahead of us next week in Donegal, today was a great confidence booster and pleased that we came away with no serious injuries! McGeeney will be stratching his head this week picking his starting 15, a luxury we haven't had for some years.
Armaghball
Well-Known Member
Yeah Kildare in bother all is definitely not right there.
Great competition for places, every sub that came on today is well able to be a starter. Add to that Rian, Conor O’Neill, McQuillan plus more.
What’s the story with Cumiskey and McPartlan anyone know if they are carrying knocks? I know Morgan and Rafferty had longer term problems, any updates on them?
Think we go into next weeks game as underdogs to donegal. At this stage of who we have available and playing regularly. Although nobody was poor today i don't think paddy burns is up to it anymore, purely from the point of view that i dont think he is nimble enough for this level any more
Ard Mhacha 13
Well-Known Member
As a player who received heavy criticism & at times abuse from a certain section of Armagh supporters, Blaine Hughes has come in & replaced Ethan & hasn't put a foot wrong to date yet there's been very little praise for his performances. He was often much maligned for his inability to command the square & claim a high ball, no such problem today. Fair play to him for coming back into the squad, he obviously has a mental toughness that not all of us possess.
Ard Mhacha 13
Well-Known Member
Did you not see his runs down the sideline?!?!! Jeez I wish I had half his nimbleness.
I agree with you on Blaine Hughes, he has been excellent this season and I'm not paddy Burns biggest fan but he has also been great this year so far
have to agree with you on Burns. I am far from his biggest fan but praise where it is due. He has been excellent this year and deserves his place
Diarmi
Well-Known Member
I thought Blaine was excellent under the high ball and has been very impressive this year. I can't see Ethan getting that jersey back unless Blaine's form dips considerably. The double bounce was out of sheer flabergastation at being so far up the field with no pressure being applied on him.
Diarmi
Well-Known Member
Kildare appeared to start the game by trying to prove the county chairman wrong and showing their toughness. Even before the throw up their midfielders were pushing and shoving our lads but it looked very unnatural for them and I think actually back fired as it seemed to distract them. Like @Armaghabroad22 I feel genuinely sorry for Kildare, when they are going well they are a joy to watch but that is certainly not the case now. They seemed to get the game back to front. In the first half when they needed to keep things tight they were wide open at the back with Conaty in particular able to walk the ball over the bar but in the second half, when they clearly beaten, they decided to shut up shop which made no sense.
Diarmi
Well-Known Member
Cian McConville will struggle to keep his place as the year goes on. Any chance he had has been wiped out by Conaty who is a similar player but has proven to be much more effective on the score sheet. It takes a very special player to play that role and whilst Cian is excellent I just think he is missing that extra bit that is needed at this level. I'd be happy to be proved wrong.
Blaine has done great but, in fairness, he has got it easy so far. Most teams have let us have the restart. Donegal won’t. They will press and then we have to see is Blaine up to it. I hope he is. I am assuming management will have worked on some kickout variations to try and win it short. If we can’t, we gotta go long so we need big men in the middle next week as a Plan B on the kickouts.
William Of Orange
Well-Known Member
Nothing more to be said apart from the fact there has Two Matches in a row and the Rennies packet is still full , no heartburn in sight ,Kildare dont seem to have a plan A , never mind a B & C and never laid one hand on us all game , apart from silly stuff at the start , trying to look like they where but they werent really . On to the whinge bags from the highlands with their scouse lookalike second coming of the messiah if he had permed hair manager and a proper test , this will show exactly where we are and i think the impact of the bench in this one will be crucial , its likely the same team will start barring injuries , but we will have to use all the resourses we have to get over this one .
Armaghball
Well-Known Member
Have a feeling we’ll definitely see Rian next week either from the start or definitely being brought on.
ragingbull
Well-Known Member
Noel Mooney from Cavan is referee for Donegal game, I'll say it again referees from counties that are in the same division as Armagh,Donegal shouldn't be doing their games
pablo
Well-Known Member
Agree with this-Blaine has done very well and shown confidence under that high ball. He will be tested more rigoursly next week but so far he has done everything and more that has been asked of him. Would have to say I have also been impressed with Joe McElroy over the past few games.. He is developing into that role of link man very well.
Like a few others have expressed on here, while delighted with the win, sorry to see Kildare in such a bad way. Have family roots in Kildare and have always kept an eye for how they were doing. They love their football down there. The club scene is strong with great underage teams coming through-but I suppose they are an illustration for all of us that without the right senior structures, all this does not neccesarly translate to success. In 2023 championship, they narrowly lost to Dublin (who only went ahead in 65 min), beat the Rossies and almost/should have beaten Monaghan
Enjoyed the boyo giving a belter version of the anthem followed by the roar 'come'on the Lilly whites!!'
Patrick-Armagh
Well-Known Member
Yesterday was a really clinical performance. I said in the week that our focus and mindset on this game was going to be so crucial, as the temptation would be there to take the eye off the ball. So to win so well was very impressive. We were ruthless and in all honesty, we never really moved out of 3rd gear. We got a bit of luck with the first goal, as there was a dropped ball and a couple of deflections that all went our way. The second goal came after Kildare had a point waved wide when it looked over. Those goals gave us a buffer to control the tempo and pick off scores at will.
At the start of the game as the teams were lining out, their midfielders were giving a few pushes and shoves and I was thinking these guys are going to be up for this after the comments during the week from the county chairman and their under par performances so far this season. But that's as good as it got for them, because from there on out we totally dominated them. I always think back to that qualifier game against Kildare in 2017 at Croke Park. Kildare were raging hot favourites that day. They were one of the most physically imposing teams I've ever seen. They were absolutely massive across the park and Armagh had to stand up to it. We saw that titanic battle between James Morgan and Daniel Flynn and Jamie Clarke tore Ollie Lyons apart. Clarke's performance was so devastating that Cian O'Neill retired Lyons from Kildare after that game. That Kildare side had so much going for it in terms of size, pace, quality players, but were just lacking that out and out scorer. It's been on of Armagh's best performances under McGeeney. So to see them play like that yesterday was quite shocking.
I'd echo the comments about Blaine Hughes. He's done all that's been asked from him so far. I'd caveat that by saying that he hasn't been overly tested yet and the Donegal game will be the first big test. There were a couple of worrying signs with our kick outs against Meath, but overall he's looked very comfortable. I thought Joe McElroy played very well, getting around the pitch, sweeping up dirty ball. I was critical of seeing him and Conor O'Neill named in the half forward line earlier in the league as it seemed overly defensive. If one plays in the half back line and one in the half forward line, then it seems to be a better balance. We have a couple of players who can do that role like Jemar Hall and Jason Duffy, so he's doing well to keep his place. Oisin Conaty continues to impress with his pace and score taking. Conor Turbitt also seems to play better when Rian O'Neill isn't in the side. If we can get those two playing well together, with Conaty, Campbell and Grugan playing off them, then that's some firepower.
The Donegal game is going to be box-office and will be a true test. We haven't done well against them for the last few years between league and championship, so we will have to up our game considerably. We've got progressively better as the games have gone on. We were awful against Louth, better against Meath and impressive yesterday. But those were all games we should be winning. Donegal will bring a level of intensity and physicality that we won't have experienced this season, so will be very revealing as to where we are as a team this season.
At the start of the game as the teams were lining out, their midfielders were giving a few pushes and shoves and I was thinking these guys are going to be up for this after the comments during the week from the county chairman and their under par performances so far this season. But that's as good as it got for them, because from there on out we totally dominated them. I always think back to that qualifier game against Kildare in 2017 at Croke Park. Kildare were raging hot favourites that day. They were one of the most physically imposing teams I've ever seen. They were absolutely massive across the park and Armagh had to stand up to it. We saw that titanic battle between James Morgan and Daniel Flynn and Jamie Clarke tore Ollie Lyons apart. Clarke's performance was so devastating that Cian O'Neill retired Lyons from Kildare after that game. That Kildare side had so much going for it in terms of size, pace, quality players, but were just lacking that out and out scorer. It's been on of Armagh's best performances under McGeeney. So to see them play like that yesterday was quite shocking.
I'd echo the comments about Blaine Hughes. He's done all that's been asked from him so far. I'd caveat that by saying that he hasn't been overly tested yet and the Donegal game will be the first big test. There were a couple of worrying signs with our kick outs against Meath, but overall he's looked very comfortable. I thought Joe McElroy played very well, getting around the pitch, sweeping up dirty ball. I was critical of seeing him and Conor O'Neill named in the half forward line earlier in the league as it seemed overly defensive. If one plays in the half back line and one in the half forward line, then it seems to be a better balance. We have a couple of players who can do that role like Jemar Hall and Jason Duffy, so he's doing well to keep his place. Oisin Conaty continues to impress with his pace and score taking. Conor Turbitt also seems to play better when Rian O'Neill isn't in the side. If we can get those two playing well together, with Conaty, Campbell and Grugan playing off them, then that's some firepower.
The Donegal game is going to be box-office and will be a true test. We haven't done well against them for the last few years between league and championship, so we will have to up our game considerably. We've got progressively better as the games have gone on. We were awful against Louth, better against Meath and impressive yesterday. But those were all games we should be winning. Donegal will bring a level of intensity and physicality that we won't have experienced this season, so will be very revealing as to where we are as a team this season.
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Why would you feel sorry for them? I honestly do not understand this