Armagh GAA - Orchardcounty.com - Gaelic Football

McDonnell Wants Orchard Progress

Armagh boss Peter McDonnell insists Sunday's NFL clash with Dublin in Crossmaglen will tell him the distance the Orchard county have still to travel in 2008. McDonnell was keen to put his side's 4-20 to 0-8 hammering of Roscommon in perspective, and believes Paul Caffrey's Dublin side will provide a sterner test of Armagh's credentials. "The big challenge for us is: can we still implement our gameplan in a much more heated and physical cauldron? Can we keep our heads when everybody around us is losing theirs? That in itself is a tremendous test," said McDonnell.

The Dubs and Monaghan lead the way at the top of Division Two, but mid-table Armagh can thrust themselves into the promotion shake-up if they can record their third straight home win in the division this weekend. "If we're in the promotion shake-up at the end, then great," McDonnell said. "From the outset there was nobody thinking about relegation. I'm confident Armagh will most certainly not go down and that was the position I had before the campaign." McDonnell says he has tried to build on the foundations left by former boss Joe Kernan by "tweaking certain areas" in order to make Armagh a more mobile and prolific unit.

The Future's Bright - The Future's Orange

When Joe Kernan was in charge of Armagh it was all about the soul. For McGeeney, the McEntees, McGrane, McConville and Marsden football evolved into something more than a game. For them, it was a Darwinian pursuit in its rawest form. Armagh's training sessions are the stuff of legend.

Big Joe was himself a hearty man, but even his toes curled when Marsden and McGeeney charged into one another on the training field. Those imaginative chief execs at Nike missed an opportunity. You could have pictured McGeeney, McGrane and Marsden in one of those futuristic ads. Sparks would be flying, tanks would be overturned by armour-plated full-back Francie Bellew.

Armagh Rout Leaves Maughan's Men With Questions

ARMAGH 4-20 ROSCOMMON 0-08 - ARMAGH manager Peter McDonnell enjoyed two huge bonuses when his side totally overran a weak Roscommon outfit at Crossmaglen yesterday in an embarrassingly one-sided encounter. Not only did McDonnell see his team underline their desire to stay in the promotion hunt but in giving second-half game time to Francie Bellew, Oisin McConville and Brain Mallon he laid down a marker that competition for places is suddenly being stepped up.

Finlay Fires Farneymen To Late Win over Orchard

Monaghan 1-11 Armagh 1-10 - All possible outcomes were still up for grabs into injury-time - but score number eight from Paul Finlay made it a great win for Monaghan against an Armagh team reduced to 14 men after the controversial dismissal of captain Paul McGrane. The hosts probably just about deserved a narrow victory after some wasteful wides, but the fact that it came in the fourth minute of added time was cruel on the Orchard county. Defeat was especially hard on Aaron Kernan and Aidan O'Rourke, both of whom had had bad enough weeks already.

The latter watched his Queen's team lose their grip on the Sigerson Cup in midweek, going out after extra time against arch-rivals Jordanstown - and his dramatic levelling goal in the 70th minute proved in vain here, despite it capping a brilliant individual performance. The previous Sunday, Aaron and his Crossmaglen colleagues lost their All-Ireland SFC title with a semi-final defeat by St Vincent's - and on Sunday he could not convert a tricky free that would have put Armagh ahead in injury time.

Armagh Still s-martin after loss to Westmeath

Armagh's Martin O'Rourke says his side will be on a mission to bounce back against Ulster rivals Monaghan in Sunday's Allianz NFL Division Two clash in Clones. The Dromintee man was disappointed with his side's result against Westmeath and felt that they could have done better. "We were disappointed with the result the last day but generally I felt our performance was okay," says O'Rourke. "We dominated possession all over the pitch but we just couldn't take our scores.

"The first day against Cavan we also struggled to take our chances but we got out of jail that day and then we had two weeks to work on things. We have been working hard since the Westmeath game but there is no-one pressing any panic buttons just yet. "We are on the road long enough now not to be panicking at this early stage. It's a little bit early in the year to be at that, you don't win All-Ireland Championships in February or March.

Armagh Wait On Cross Crew

Armagh manager Peter McDonnell hopes to have some Crossmaglen players back on board for their League derby against Monaghan - but insists he will not put any pressure on them. The Rangers lost their grip on the All-Ireland Club SFC title in defeat by St Vincent's of Dublin in the national semi-final on Sunday, so at least six of them are now available for county duty.

However, McDonnell is aware that such a loss can be hard to recover from, certainly in the short term, and admits he does not know if any will join up for Sunday's showdown at Clones: "I haven't made contact with anyone from Crossmaglen. I'll probably be talking to some of them. I'll be feeling the ground, seeing how people are. "There's a legacy, people will be emotionally and physically drained; it's not easy getting over a disappointment like that.

Three Off As Lake Cause A Splash

Westmeath 1-11 Armagh 1-06 - Westmeath upset the odds as they sent Armagh packing in a match that saw three players red-carded at Cusack Park, Mullingar. Tyrone referee Martin Sludden gave Martin O'Rourke and Enda McNulty of Armagh and Westmeath's Michael Ennis their marching orders after they picked up two yellow cards each.

Dessie Dolan had been a doubt all week with a shin injury but he made the starting line-up after a late fitness test. He sent over two frees but was forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury late in the first half. Westmeath opened the scoring with Fergal Wilson pointing from play and Dolan adding a free before Paddy and Ciaran McKeever had the sides level after 11 minutes.

Charlie Vernon - Shoulder To Blame

ONLY last season Charlie Vernon enjoyed success with Queen's in the Sigerson Cup and Armagh in the Under 21 provincial championship. But on Sunday afternoon he will be a reluctant spectator when Armagh begin their Allianz League programme at home to Cavan in Crossmaglen.

A shoulder injury sustained before Christmas sees him cast in the role of spectator and it's not something he's looking forward to. From the time he captained Armagh minors in 2004 the Harps clubman has been singled out as the next big thing in Armagh football. It's something he could do without, but in fairness he doesn't let it bother him.

Kernan Proves To Be A Local Hero

Armagh 0-14 Cavan 1-10 - Armagh took the opening day spoils in yesterday's Allianz National League Division Two match in Crossmaglen but they made hard work of it. Like a middle-distance runner the home side smoothly made up a daunting half-time deficit and spent most of the second 35 minutes hovering on Cavan's shoulder before kicking for home in the closing minutes.

New Armagh manager Peter McDonnell made changes at half-time and they worked. In the first half his team had squandered a succession of chances while Cavan picked away more productively at what came their way.

Kernan's Still No Ordinary Joe

There are two types of people in this world. There are those who can make a decent cup of tea and those who can't. Joe Kernan makes a surprisingly fine brew. We are sitting on stools at his kitchen table talking football. A range of subjects have already been discussed. Mick O'Dwyer's endless enthusiasm. The excellence of John McEntee's long range passing. Tony McEntee and his 'spakes.' The subject has now moved to point kicking.

Joe names Pat Spillane as a prime exponent and notes how rarely the Kerry legend ever got blocked. The topic interests him and suddenly he bounces off his stool with a lightness and agility that belies his hefty frame. He's demonstrating how forwards can avoid getting blocked by taking an extra step to the side and kicking on the turn.