Ulster Senior Football Championship 2021

[Armagh_paul]

Ulster - Donegal just think they have too much for some. Murphy I doubt will play until Tyrone... Was a bit stupid playing him against Down tbh.

Leinster - Dublin. Kildare are probably the only other challengers would be Kildare but they are nowhere near Dublin.

Munster - Kerry. Cork in a division 2 relegation play off against WM. WM were as bad as Down.

Connacht - Galway. I think Galway and Mayo are on a par and to an extent probably Roscommon who don't have the same depth. There is too much hype about Mayo and imo it isn't warranted.

 

[Armaghball]

Ulster - Donegal just think they have too much for some. Murphy I doubt will play until Tyrone... Was a bit stupid playing him against Down tbh.

Leinster - Dublin. Kildare are probably the only other challengers would be Kildare but they are nowhere near Dublin.

Munster - Kerry. Cork in a division 2 relegation play off against WM. WM were as bad as Down.

Connacht - Galway. I think Galway and Mayo are on a par and to an extent probably Roscommon who don't have the same depth. There is too much hype about Mayo and imo it isn't warranted.

I’d say Mayo are head and shoulders above anyone in Connacht tbh. Would have said they’d get a bit closer to the Dubs than last years final but O’Connor is a huge miss. Without him they’ll probably still win Connacht but Dublin will beat them well.

 

[pablo]

Nah, it wasn’t that bad!

Well-maybe more like what would be considered a well attended Irish Cup Final, but without the stabbings

 

[Armagh_paul]

I’d say Mayo are head and shoulders above anyone in Connacht tbh. Would have said they’d get a bit closer to the Dubs than last years final but O’Connor is a huge miss. Without him they’ll probably still win Connacht but Dublin will beat them well.

I find Mayo are a difficult team to gauge as they are a team coming up to D1 while their main competition are both leaving for D2. Don't forget last year was their first provincial title since 2015. I would be very wary of them playing Roscommon or Galway, both will be hurting and will have a point to prove. I mean ffs Mayo play Sligo and then Leitrim and they are in a final and will have home advantage.

In 2019 they were beat by Roscommon, we lost to them by a point and in the Super 8's they beat Meath and Donegal but were beaten well by Kerry and Dublin. Last season was bizarre and a lot of teams would have fancied Mayo's route to an AI.

 

[gael_force_orchard]

Whats the thoughts for this weekend then? I think tight enough first half and then we will pull away to win by about 7 in the second half.

 

[Armagh_paul]

This forum is dead for a game that is coming up in less than a week

I should be working though to be honest.

Anyway, my take on the game...

My big concern is the mentality, it is always mentality. McGeeney has improved on the side line with making changes and decisions big time and Donaghy may have a hand in that. Our defence is suspect but so is every other team in Ulster - even further afield in Connacht. This needs attention and it needs to be revolutionary so when teams come up against us they are wondering "WTF is this?" and don't have answers to unlock us. Paddy Andrews in OTB GAA podcast was shocked when he seen Armagh play after Monaghan he said:

"I didn't know much about Armagh because we haven't played them much with Dublin. Jesus Christ they play a million Mph from the throw in, all out attack from everywhere. It was great to watch, very interesting to watch there is some energy from them even into the 70th minute."

[For anyone who is interested -

]

Anyway, back to the mentality of the team before this game and after this game. Posters might say "it is only Antrim" but the problem with that thinking and that is we will lower our game and if it comes down to being a dog fight Antrim will fancy their chances. In the past it always felt like we would beat a team in Ulster, a big deal would be made of it and the next game we flatline and we are out. I don't care if it is New York, Sligo or Antrim I think we should always approach games like we would against Dublin or Kerry. I am not saying we don't do it but complacency is an element that needs to be eradicated.

 

[Armagh_paul]

Armagh at -9 are evens
Armagh to win by 16 or more is 6/1

I am quite tempted by those prices.

 

[Sean Og]

I don’t care if it’s only by a point, just want into the next round.

 

[Armaghniac]

Bit of rain likely on Sunday,
The pitch at the Athletic Grounds didn't look great against the Rossies, A bit of rain on a hard surface could be slippery.

 

[ragingbull]

Armagh win England knocked out of the Euros please it's all I'm asking for so it is

 

[The Sideline Eye]

️PREVIEW PODCAST️

Jim McCorry, Paddy Savage & Chris Kerr join me as we look forward to Armagh's Ulster opener vs Antrim this weekend!

WATCH OR LISTEN ON

YOUTUBE

SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/episode/75...Wu5jZa57BCJg&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1

CASTBOX https://castbox.fm/vb/399809162

 

[Armagh_paul]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57667163

I think this highlights the need to be cautious

 

[Muckser]

I just want a ticket but used all my favours on em up for the Roscommon game.....

 

[Big Jim]

Does anyone actually know anyone that has a ticket (other than me) or are they just a rumour?

 

[The Sideline Eye]

RECENT HISTORY

It’s almost forty years since these sides clashed in the Ulster Championship!

Meetings have been confined to the McKenna Cup more recently, along with a national league game back in 2017!

https://thesidelineeye.com/2021/07/01/recent-history-armagh-vs-antrim/

 

[Armagh_paul]

Never with this COVID and crowd bo**ix as it won't be changing for this weekend at least so best to get on with it.

Any injuries?

Last few days I have been feeling confident of a nice win. However, Antrim have made progress and Enda has been up against Mickey Harte and McEntee and pulled off wins against both. Cavan the current ulster champions didn't exactly hammer Antrim in Ulster last year. I don't expect us to lose and I am not expecting it to be close either but I would love for this to be a dog fight and have the team focused for Monaghan. However, I expected Armagh to have a minimum of a 7 point lead at H/T and push on in the second half.

Armagh 3-19
Antrim 0-11

 

[Taff]

Armagh can have bigger crowds then?

 

[The Dark Knight]

Seen the executive just announced “unlimited numbers” at outdoor events subject to risk assessment of who is running the event. GAA & Ulster GAA time for them to get the finger out and get some big capacity crowds now in for this Ulster championship. Surely they can have a good risk management set up with it all outdoor and run more tickets. 500 just not enough. Could easily get 10,000 into athletic grounds this Sunday

 

[Taff]

Seen the executive just announced “unlimited numbers” at outdoor events subject to risk assessment of who is running the event. GAA & Ulster GAA time for them to get the finger out and get some big capacity crowds now in for this Ulster championship. Surely they can have a good risk management set up with it all outdoor and run more tickets. 500 just not enough. Could easily get 10,000 into athletic grounds this Sunday

Only issue is getting tickets online, stewards, risk assessment which will be needed no doubt

it’s a lot of work for 3 days time?

Don’t get me wrong, I want to go but the timeframe isn’t ideal

 

[PatMustard]

Only issue is getting tickets online, stewards, risk assessment which will be needed no doubt

it’s a lot of work for 3 days time?

Don’t get me wrong, I want to go but the timeframe isn’t ideal

I can’t see anything changing at this late stage. Too late to alter attendance now.


And, sure someone will have to go around removing the police tape from every other seat. And can you imagine the mayhem if they wrap themselves up in it? The match might have to be cancelled while they unravel them from the sticky mess.