Football

Four still standing and the phone is ringing off the hook

Dermot from Portadown wants to see Kieran McGeeney include Stefan Campbell in a six-man forward unit against Kildare
Dermot from Portadown wants to see Kieran McGeeney include Stefan Campbell in a six-man forward unit against Kildare Dermot from Portadown wants to see Kieran McGeeney include Stefan Campbell in a six-man forward unit against Kildare

HERE we are approaching the month of August and we’ve still got four runners in the race for the Sam Maguire.

Tyrone, Monaghan, Armagh and Down (not necessarily in that order) are all in there and so the once dusty Off the Fence phone is now ringing off the hook. We’ve had calls on the Orchardmen, the Red Hands and the Mournemen.

LETS start with “Dermot from Portadown” who wants to see Armagh go out blazin’ when the take on Kildare in Saturday’s round four Qualifier at Croke Park.

“We have super forwards like Stefan Campbell, Ethan Rafferty and Oisin O’Neill who can kick scores from anywhere and a lot of supporters can’t understand why they’re not starting,” writes “Dermot”.

“Put them alongside Jamie Clarke, Gavin McParland and Rory Grugan and then we have six scoring forwards in the team.

“I hope Kieran McGeeney reads The Irish News and puts them all on against Kildare.

“These players are quality and in a small county like Armagh we have a great set of forwards at the minute in time so hate to see them on the bench and only giving a few minutes to rescue us.

“Big shout out to Ciaran McKeever who has been excellent when he has come on too. Unlucky not to start.

Response: Why not throw in Andy Murnin and Anto Duffy in and play eight up sure?

On a serious note, Armagh are blessed with dangerous forwards but while I admire your gung-ho approach, putting all your eggs in one basket is not the way.

In the modern game, playing with six forwards only limits the already limited space in your opponents’ half and don’t forget that Rafferty and O’Neill got Armagh over the line when they came on against Westmeath and Campbell helped seal the win in Tipperary.

Isn’t that right Geezer? (yes, he’s reading this).

STAYING with Saturday’s action, but moving on to the re-run of Down versus Monaghan and “Down man” is confident that red and black flags will still be flying long after this weekend.

“We beat Monaghan already and we’ll do it again easily,” says “Down Man” who adds with intoxicating certainty: “I don’t think we have much to worry about this year.

“Dublin don’t have their best player (Diarmuid) Connolly and we always beat Kerry.”

RESPONSE: Where are you staying the night before the final ‘Down Man’?

The big issues for Saturday are: Can Down reproduce what they did in the Ulster semi-final and will Monaghan have learned their lessons and give a better account of themselves.

The Farneymen didn’t look like world beater against Carlow while Down didn’t disgrace themselves against Tyrone. I don’t share your optimism, but I’m looking forward to Saturday’s opener.

REMAINING with Down (sort of) and “Sean from Newry” took issue with the circumstances surrounding Pete McGrath’s recent exit from Fermanagh.

“The manner of Peter McGrath’s exit from Fermanagh was a disgrace,” he said.

“He did wonders for the county who had a distinctly average squad of players to say the least, unlucky this season with injuries and absentees, not his fault,

“I think Fermanagh have lost a lot of friends across the country I wish peter a successful return to the county scene, Fermanagh’s loss big time.”

And “Charlie from Ballinascreen” agrees.

“I’m a Fermanagh supporter and I’m gutted to see Pete McGrath go. A true legend.”

RESPONSE: What happened in Fermanagh was like the Accrington Stanley players voting out Fabio Capello.

Pete McGrath has two All-Irelands under his belt, a proven track record of underage success and his vast experience also includes a term as Ireland’s International Rules manager.

Fermanagh going to bring in exactly who to replace him?

MOVING on and “Anon” rather harshly lets rip at our three intrepid reporters who braved traffic, sunshine and a hill to make the Anglo-Celt decider in Clones.

“Three Irish News reporters on the way to one match?” he muses.

“No wonder it’s 90p for all that GAA rubbish every day.”

GAA rubbish? Three Irish News reporters? One match? 90p?

It was only THE BIGGEST game of the year and the coverage was excellent (I wasn’t one of the three). Cheap at twice the price.

Anyway “Colm from Belfast” shared the lads’ pain. He was caught up in the traffic jam in Monaghan.

“I went to Clones on Sunday and I’m sure like many other people I left Belfast at 10.30am and got to Monaghan town at 11.20am. From there it took me two-and-a-half hours to get to Clones.

“That worked out travelling at 6mph for two-and-a-half hours. Talk about parking at Casement? There was a wee cottage along the road that had opened its driveway and people were parking at it.

“We stayed in Clones until 6pm but it still took an hour-and-a-half to get past Monaghan town. Casement is right beside the motorway and there’ll be plenty of places within a mile or two-mile walk, a lot of schools that will be able to cash in by providing parking facilities.”

Response: If I was going to Clones I wouldn’t start from Belfast Colm. That was your first mistake. But on a serious note, getting to Clones has always been a challenge, but two-and-a-half hours from Monaghan town to Clones is ridiculous and it’s unacceptable to say ‘sure that’s just the way it is’ in this day and age.

What about introducing a park-and-ride system in the future?

Park up in Monaghan and get the bus to Clones and back again afterwards. Simples.

I SAY the coverage of the Ulster final was ‘excellent’ but “Frank McGirr” begs to differ.

Speaking Frankly, he reckons (his cousin) Padraig Hampsey should have got the nod for Man of the Match in the final instead of Declan McClure.

“Padraig Hampsey was man of the match and played a superb game,” says “Frank”.

“It’s great to see we have young footballers on the bench that can come on and make an impact. We have a great panel that could come on at any stage.

“They’d get their place in any other county. Down played very well and a good team they are (you went a wee bit Yoda there Frank?).

“But the man of the match was Padraig Hampsey of Coalisland. I’d be related to him and he’s a great, great footballer.”

Response: There is no doubt that Padraig had a great game against Down and would have been a worthy recipient of the coveted Irish News M-of-the-M award.

But after our three-man panel had come together they gave Declan the nod for his second half display when he turned the game with a superb showing in midfield.