Armagh are some team over the years to give away cheap frees in the last attack of a level or one point game at Croke Park.
The drawn semi-final against Kerry in 2000
The Cosgrave free in 2002 (which they got away with)
The Canavan free in 2005 (which they didnât)
The one on McManus today
You can throw other times theyâve folded there in razor tight games:
v Galway in 2001 - Justin McNulty got blocked down by Michael Donnellan and Paul Clancy pointed the winner
v Sligo in 2002 - they inexplicably collapsed against 14 men and were saved by the bell and Sligo not going for the jugular when they should have
v Fermanagh in 2004 - lost to a last minute point
v Galway 2022 - were ahead very late in extra-time.
They totally folded in the when in a great position against Meath in 1999.
They fell back in defence when in a great position against Kerry in the 2000 replay.
They fucked away the 2006 quarter-final against Kerry with a gift goal when only two points down with five or six minutes left and with the momentum behind them.
They got away with it against Kerry in the final in 2002 despite doing their best to fuck it away.
Throw in the three penalty shoot out defeats and thatâs a county with a pathology about winning big games.
Armagh play the worst style Iâve ever seen, even worse than anything Donegal produced under McGuinness.
Pile everyone back, every time, and then break at speed. Donât even keep one or two forward which means the opposition have to keep two or three back.
And the infuriating thing is theyâve good forwards, better than most teams. Including Monaghan. But no, have to follow the process. Do me a favour. McGeeney an absolute clown.
Any manager that canât envisage oâneil catching a ball on the edge of the d, turning his man and slotting over a point basically has no business managing oâneill.
Canât praise vinny enough for galvanising this group of players. Things looked fairly bleak in early Feb and itâs astonishing weâre looking at an All Ireland semi final 5 months later. This team has given the county an incredible lift and owe us nothing next day out.
Mansy, Hughes & OâConnell have been playing their âlast ever gameâ for a few weeks now and theyâre leaving it all out there. Conor McCarthy is a baller. The move to half back this year is proving genius.
I was half hoping some of the Monaghan players would give it the big âun at the end following the pens but they were fairly respectful and subdued (or maybe just plain knackered). If the boot was on the other footâŚ
Hard to see Monaghan raising a gallop in the semi but that was some win tonight. McManus is the GOAT.
Maybe my favourite day following Monaghan. A fair few Armagh ones crying badly on the way out, a horrible way to lose. I was totally expended by the end, shaking hands with all the randomers around me, we did it together lads.
We might need Cork to beat Derry to have a chance in the semis.
Still though, think of how badly the league started. The situation seemed very bleak at the start of the year. Now weâve a minor AI final to look forward to, an AI semi, another year of division 1. Seems to me like plenty of new players getting blooded. Croke Park monkey off our back. Not reliant on Mansy anymore, at least until today. A few men who we were waiting on to move to the next level now seem to have made the leap. I wouldnt want to exaggerate but overall the future looks ok. Not too bad, not bleak anyway.
That was a much better performance than against Kildare BTW. Far more purposeful in attack, much better movement. We really should have blown them away only for the wides. I can see progress, im not sure if itâs apparent on the screen. Some obvious weaknesses in the team, I wont even bother pointing them out. The only time they went flat was at the start of extra time but thatvwas because we moved 3 of our attackers into the square where they couldnt contributr and then never fed them. It wasnt a lack of energy. Im not sure if that came across on tv or not.
Hard to credit the apple munchers losing out on pens yet again. Nothing against them but McGeeney seems like an awful flute. He was giving it the big one after they got handed the win with 2 soft as shite frees against Galway late on.
Youâd have to be happy for the Farney men but it probably wonât lead to an interesting semi-final.
I remember him having a hold of an Aussie on the ground and the poor Aussie didnât know what to do. Whatever about liking him or not liking him, he was as stand up as they came .
Imagine if Jason Sherlock had got it that time. God forbid. Vinny Corey doing an excellent job.
The Monaghan boys displayed a steely determination after every kick while the Armagh group of 5 were celebrating like soccer players and trying to direct verbals at the next Monaghan kick taker. Even Grugan got sucked into giving it the big un in front of the cluster of young families in the Canal End.
