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Armagh managed to hang on to their unbeaten Allianz League status tonight after a game that had a bit of everything.
It was a wet and chilly Athletic Grounds and from an Armagh point of view it was a dull first half, with Monaghan on the attack although they could have been ahead by much more at half time if some of their nine wides had been on target. Regardless half time saw Armagh trail Monaghan 0:4 to 0:8.
The second half belonged to Armagh with Monaghan just adding a further two points to their tally. Monaghan were down to 14 men when Conor McManus was sent off, although on more than one occasion Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan compensated somewhat by taking on the additional role of a full forward!
A Penalty by Rian O'Neill came off the upright and was then cleared by Beggan * but Monaghan's relief was short lived with Armagh awarded a penalty and Conor Turbitt finding the back of the net three minutes later.
Trailing 1:4 to 0:9 Armagh added three more points to put them a point ahead, but a win wasn't to be with Monaghan taking a point to bring them back level just before full time. Despite four minutes of injury time, that's where it stayed.
Final score Armagh 1:7 Monaghan 0:10
*Or was it? See bottom photograph!
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It's hard to believe that 20 years have passed since Armagh’s most glorious summer.
Is it really two decades since those dramatic days of galloping forwards, replays and nerve-jangling wins and Kieran McGeeney lifting the Sam Maguire? Remember Armagh went to La Manga? Remember Ray Cosgrove hit the post for the Dubs? Remember Oisin McConville hitting the Kerry net?
Joe Kernan, the architect of the Orchard county’s success, remembers every single detail.
“My God, that 20 years has gone in a flash,” says Kernan who will be reunited with his players (and some of their opponents) at a charity function in the Carrickdale Hotel on March 18.
“It was an unbelievable year from start to finish. The League campaign didn’t go as well as we wanted and we finished up getting a bit of a hammering from Laois and maybe it just refocussed us? But it was always about the Championship and having Tyrone in the first game was some start.”
Before Tyrone there was that famous trip to La Manga, Spain for a training camp. A GAA team going for warm-weather training? As in training, not a holiday? It was unheard off at the time.
“That got everybody talking,” says Joe.
“We came back and played Tyrone and I’ll never forget coming walking up after the warm-up and these Tyrone supporters started to slag us about our sun tans and ‘How did the holiday go?’ If I’d paid them a thousand pound each they couldn’t have said it any better - I hardly had to say anything to the boys in the dressingroom.
“We worked hard in La Manga at that training camp. There was no drinking by anybody – players or management – we stuck to the reason why we were there and then to come home and be told by the opposition supporters that we were on a holiday? That set the tone and we had two tough matches against Tyrone.”
A late Sean Cavanagh goal meant the first meeting finished in a draw and it was “quick thinking and good finishing” from one of their unsung heroes that saved Armagh’s bacon in the replay a week later.
“As far as us winning the Ulster and the All-Ireland, Barry Duffy’s goal the second day was the difference,” Joe explained.
“It was a great team effort.”
Armagh lost Tony McEntee in the drawn game. An ankle injury robbed the team of his influence throughout much of the campaign but the loss of the Crossmaglen player was made up by the emergence of a teenager from the Cathedral City called Ronan Clark.
“A young lad of 19 and he fitted in as if he’d been playing all his life,” said Joe.
“The things that happen in matches, the things that people forget, as a team management we remember every single item. The season started off with excitement and we were on the edge of our seats for the whole year.”
Of course the Tyrone draw wasn’t the only one of the campaign. After Armagh had beaten Donegal to win a third Ulster title in three years, a talented Sligo side proved to be very dogged opposition in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Indeed, the Yeatsmen – who had trailed by six points at one stage - had a late chance to win at Croke Park but Dara McGarty opted to fist a point when he was through one-on-one with Benny Tierney.
“I thought it was all over,” Kernan admits.
“We weren’t happy with what we did that day but we put it to bed in Navan (venue for the replay which Armagh won by two points).
“There were a couple of things that day – Paul McGrane gave an exhibition of fielding, he gave us nine clean catches from kickouts and then Ronan Clarke’s goal and another man who wasn’t heard of too much that year was John Donaldson.
“We were having problems with their wing half-forward so we put on ‘John D’ and we never seen yer man again and John went up the field and got us a free for a point.
“He didn’t take any more part and hadn’t played before that game but he was the man that day.
“These are the players that people don’t remember but we certainly do as management and team-mates.”
There were so many moments over eight games of football and only the Ulster semi-final against Fermanagh could be described (on the scoreboard at least) as a ‘comfortable win’. Is there a moment stands out for the Armagh manager?
The All-Ireland semi-final was an extraordinarily intense tussle against the Dubs at a packed Croke Park. A pressure-cooker game boiled down to a late Ray Cosgrove free. In normal circumstances it would have been a tap-over but there was enormous pressure on the shoulders of the Dublin forward, who had been outstanding throughout the game.
He the ball high towards the Hill and it curled in from right to left, but not enough. The ball hit the outside of the post and alert Armagh defenders cleared the danger in the remaining seconds.
“My wife Patricia always said that the semi-final was more emotional than any other game,” says Kernan.
“The free at the end… It was such a relief. I remember Sean O’Neill telling me a long time ago that you have to believe that every shot from the opposition is going to hit the upright.
“He scored a great goal for Down against Kerry one year. The ball hit the post and, while Kerry were looking up, he had the ball in the back of the net.
“When the whole of the Hill and the Dublin players was looking at the post and the ball hitting it, Francie Bellew got it and gave it to John McEntee and the final whistle blew.”
Then there was the final against Kerry. The Kingdom were superior in the first half and made scoring look easy at times until Armagh dragged themselves back into the game.
Oisin McConville’s goal blew the lid off the final and once Armagh got their noses in front there was no way they were going to loosen their grip on the Sam Maguire. There were no scores in the last 12 minutes of that game and every single ball was a battle.
“The intensity, the workrate… we never folded and to me that showed the character and the reason we won,” says Joe.
“We took the pressure and held our nerve. There was one ball in particular: It hit shoulders, hit knees, hit hands… I turned to the boys on the line and I said: ‘It has to be our day when you win a ball like that’.
“Tony McEntee came on that day and was brilliant. The last ball he got Justy McNulty gave it to him and he gave it to Geezer. How appropriate that Geezer finished with the ball.”
Kernan, McGeeney, Benny Tierney and Oisin McConville will be among the guests reliving those halcyon days on March 18 and all proceeds from the event will go to the James Reel Playpark appeal.
“I hope we all live a long time but that day against Kerry and that year will never be forgotten. A lot of the things that people didn’t see and didn’t hear about, they’ll hear about them if they come to the Carrickdale that night,” said Joe.
“They can ask the questions that maybe people were afraid to ask at the time about the things we did. Once the Reel family mentioned this, it was always going to be a winner. They’re a great family and what happened to James was an awful tragedy but they’re going to leave something now for the community that will remember James for all time.
“It’ll be a fantastic night and fair play to them for wanting to do it – they’re very driven, they’re committed and certainly they want to leave a legacy and they will do that and we’re only too glad to help.
“They want it to be a happy night, a great night of remembrance that everybody will enjoy and nobody enjoyed that year more than James.”
Joe Kernan joins Armagh players including Kieran McGeeney and representatives from some of the Orchard county’s opponents at a reunion in the Carrickdale Hotel on Friday, March 18 to relive the 2002 season.
Sunday Game presenter Joanne Cantwell will MC a night of football and fun and tickets are available through Eventbrite, the Carrickdale Hotel and Silverbridge Harps GAC.
See a-night-with-the-02-s for more info and the link to tickets.
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Warrenpoint company CTS (Connect–Transform–Sustain) are supporting Down Ladies footballers in 2022, supplying them with new training tops.
Welcoming the opportunity and wishing the team a successful season CTS Managing Director Connaire McGreevy said “We are delighted to support the Down Ladies in their new training jerseys.
“Sport and business have many similar traits and as a successful business with a winning team we are proud to partner with the Down team and hope they have a successful season ahead."
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Ulster Junior Hurling Club Champions Craobh Rua, Camlocha are hosting a ‘Cupan Beag / Wee Cuppa’ morning this Saturday 26 February from 10:30am to 1pm. The club have extended an invitation to all to attend. Write a comment
Mayo finished with a flourish to deny Armagh a morale-boosting win at Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon.
The Orchard county led the Division One clash by three points with five minutes of normal time remaining but they were unable to withstand Mayo’s late rally and as they lost composure, the westerners grew in confidence and nailed on the last five points of the game to win.
Armagh began the game with a Ciaran Mackin goal straight from the kick off and led 1-3 to 0-1 early in the second half and, although Mayo’s fought back through key forward Ryan O’Donoghue, two Rian O’Neill scores left Kieran McGeeney’s side 1-5 to 0-6 ahead at half-time.
Despite the loss of Mackin to a black card, Armagh continued to give as good as they got in the second half and back-to-back points from Cullyhanna’s Aidan Nugent saw them take what looked like a match-winning lead in the final quarter.
Poor Decision Making
However, Mayo, bolstered by the introduction of several substitutes most notably Paddy Durcan, kicked for home and Armagh manager McGeeney was disappointed with how his side lost composure in the closing stages.
“We gave away a three-point lead and they weren’t even putting us under any pressure, it was just our stupid passing,” he said.
“We weren’t under any pressure, but we just gave the ball away – fist-passing to a Mayo man, dropping ball, kicking ball away… It was very annoying.
“We were sitting well there with the wind at our back and we just gave the ball away so it’s just disappointing, we tried hard but our decision-making was very poor.”
Allianz National Football League Division One Final Score: Mayo 0-15 Armagh 1-10
Teams
Mayo: R Byrne; L Keegan, R Brickenden, M Plunkett; O Mullin, S Coen, S Callinan; J Flynn (0-1), M Ruane (0-1); F McDonagh, D O’Connor (0-2), C Loftus; A Orme (0-1 mark), F Irwin, R O’Donoghue (0-7, 0-6 frees)
Subs: K McLoughlin (0-1) for Irwin (20), P Durcan (0-2) for Brickenden (32), P O’Hora for Callinan (HT), A O’Shea for Loftus (HT), J Carney for McDonagh (57), F Boland for McLoughlin (72)
Yellow card: Callinan (35)
Armagh: E Rafferty; P Burns, A Forker, A McKay; Connaire Mackin, N Rowland, J Og Burns; Ciaran Mackin (1-0), B Crealey; S Campbell (0-1), R Grugan (0-2, 0-1 free), T Kelly; J Duffy (0-1), R O’Neill (0-, 0-2 frees), A Nugent (0-2)
Subs: C Turbitt (0-1) for Duffy (40), J Morgan for McKay (52), S Sheridan for Crealey (55), O O’Neill for Rowland (65), C O’Neill for Forker (72)
Yellow cards: Rafferty (33), R O’Neill (60), P Burns (65)
Black card: Ciaran Mackin (35)
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath)
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Mossley 1’s 4-3 Newry 1’s
After a week off Newry travelled to Mossley trying to get some points on the board after the league split. It was nip and tuck for the first quarter with both sides feeling each other out without any break throughs. Mossley did find a way through in the second quarter with a reverse stick shot from a short corner. And only minutes later it was two again through a short corner. Mossleys tails were up and near the break they got their third with a quick break through mid field and a rocket finish into the top of the net.
3-0 at half time and it looked like the game was done and dusted, even more so when Mossley got a fourth again through a short corner. Newry did not give up and started the last quarter lively and when Keith McWilliams broke clear and was felled by the keeper Newry were award a penalty stroke which Colin Holmes dispatched. Less than 1 minute later Newry won a short corner of their own which Peter McKnight fired home on the reverse. The tide had turned as Newry got their third goal in five minutes with Colin Holmes again on hand to drive home from the top of the circle. With 6 minutes left in the game Newry were going all out for the equaliser, Ivan Steen came so close to getting it only to see the keeper make a great save to deny him. The time was against the visitors and they ran out of it as they came away with a narrow defeat in this enthralling game.
Team
R. McGivern, C. Henning, C. Holmes, A. Baird, J. Greer, I. Steen, N. Davenport, C. McKnight, K. Fletcher, P. McKnight, K. McWilliams, J. Porter, C. Large
Newry 2's 3-2 North Down
Newry 2’s came into the game looking for 3 points to their league campaign. The game started off with end to end hockey with chances falling to both sides
Newry continued to push and were rewarded when McCafferty’s goal bound effort was illegally stopped by a North down defender and a penalty stroke was awarded, with McCafferty stepping up to fire the home side ahead
North Down came back at Newry who switched off at times and were punished when the away side scored to level up the encounter.
Newry brought on the experienced Jonny Gregg who started to dictate the play in midfield he played a through ball to Jonah Lutton who showed great composure to slip the ball past the advancing keeper to give Newry the lead.
Newry definitely had the momentum and found themselves with a 3-1 lead when McCafferty found Simon Moffett who fired across the keeper for his 5th goal of the season. North Down did manage to get a late goal but proved only to be a consolation.
Team
R. Henning, S McCafferty, S. Moffett, S. Blakley, N. Lutton, J. Lutton, M. McCullough, J. Gregg, J. Whiteside, D. Lawson, J. Lawson, S. Graham
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Feargal Presents at Ulster Conference
Congratulations to Feargal McCormack on his presentation, 5 Year Development Plan to the Ulster Council Conference held online on Saturday the 18th of February. With over 200 logging on to the event it proved to be a great success and a useful morning for all participants.
Cumann Pheadair Naofa Membership Registration
The Annual Cumann Pheadair Naofa Membership Registration now takes place online for adult and juvenile members. This is a key month in the Club’s annual calendar, whereby existing underage members and new underage members need to register with Cumann Pheadair Naofa for the new season for all game codes: Gaelic Football, Hurling, Camogie, Ladies Gaelic Football and Handball, in addition to all cultural activities: dancing, drama and music .
The season for the juvenile sections has commence, it is therefore essential that all juvenile members are registered to ensure that our young people can actively participate in the new strength and conditioning sessions.
Registration can be completed online via the following link HTTP://RETURNTOPLAY.GAA.IE and by following our user registration guide attached here: HTTPS://BIT.LY/3HMJ49K
If you have any queries then please contact any committee member.
Scór na nÓg 2022
Scór na nÓg 2022 got underway this weekend, we were delighted to be represented in many sections with Claudia Mallon, Lily Maher, Éaodain and Micheal Walsh and Emily McGrath all participating in the solo singing. Emily and Claudia progressed through to the South Down Final on Sunday along with our Instrumental and Ballad Group, Ceili team and Recitation.
At Sunday’s final the Ceili team and Ballad group fought of some tough competition to make it through to the county final. Congratulations to all our competitors who were just delighted to be back performing.
U14 Ladies’ Gaelic Football
Cumann Pheadair Naofa v Annaclone – Challenge Match. 26th February 2022.
The U14s ladies had their first run out of the season at Milltown on Saturday morning against Annaclone. We start this season 2 divisions below today's opposition & management are delighted with the performance on show. This game was not about the scoreboard but rather about testing ourselves against tough opposition. Some of our new players seemed completely undaunted by the jump from U11.5 to U14 & slotted right in to a fairly settled team from last year & along with the older girls, showed great effort & teamwork throughout the game. Numbers at training have been very good, keep up the hard work girls! This was a great game to blow off the winter cobwebs & was an encouraging first outing of the season.
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Southern Regional College girls’ volleyball team have been crowned winners of the Schools Cup winning over Portadown College in the final.
The SRC team took on Dalriada School, Ballymoney and Lurgan College in the quarter and semi-finals, securing wins in both matches to then face Portadown College in the final. It was a close game with each team going point to point, but the SRC girls successfully edged forward with a 25-22 win.
SRC Captain, Emma Duke, led the team well in team defence and hopes to continue her success this weekend in Dublin as she has been selected to play for the Northern Ireland Under 19 Women’s team.
The SRC pass on congratulations to all SRC volleyball team members and best of luck to Emma Duke this weekend in Dublin.
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SDLP Sports Spokesperson Justin McNulty has paid tribute to the work of GAA For All an organisation that encourages children of all abilities to take part in sport.
Mr McNulty invited St. Peter’s GAC to Stormont on Wednesday in recognition of their inspirational efforts and the positive impact they are having on children with special needs.
The Newry and Armagh representative said “It was a privilege to be able to bring the young people involved in GAA For All, as well as their coaches and families to the Assembly today and we even managed a kick around on the Stormont green.
"GAA for All is the brainchild of Decky and Helen Carville, whose 12 year old son Michael has special needs. The family are all members of St Peter's GAA Club in Warrenpoint, but over the years it became increasingly difficult for Michael to participate on an equal footing with his teammates. That was when Decky and Helen put their heads together and came across GAA For All, which a scattering of clubs nationwide have introduced.
“There was nothing like this for children with special needs in Armagh or Down, but since Decky and Helen brought the idea to their chairman, the club welcomed it warmly and GAA For All has taken off strongly in Warrenpoint, serving a cluster of local clubs. Now other clubs in other counties are beginning to follow their lead. The potential positive impact of this initiative being embraced by clubs is far reaching and goes way above and beyond sport.
“GAA For All is proof of the positive impact sport can have on people’s lives. Sport should be accessible for people of all abilities. It teaches important life lessons like overcoming obstacles, teamwork, and responsibility.
“I have been amazed by the progress the young people involved in this initiative have made. One parent told me that their child, who had always been non-verbal, had started speaking for the first time as a direct result of becoming involved in GAA for All. If that doesn’t show that sport and community initiatives like this can be life-changing, I don’t know what does.
“We need to see more initiatives like this set up across the North to benefit children and young people with special needs. The dedicated coaching and camaraderie involved is life enhancing for the children involved, and I will continue to fight for support for initiatives like GAA for All, so that local clubs, community groups, and children of all abilities can flourish and thrive.”
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