Dr. Crokes v Crossmaglen

[Deleted]

Anyone see the steward there not letting the Cross boys down the tunnel,must be a part of the new safety rules in Portlaoise after the Dromid match,good first half,game been played at a fast pace

[Ard Mhacha]

Feb 18, 2012 14:39:05 GMT Mickmack said:

yerra not at all Ard Mhacha

are u at the game or "watching" it on the radio

I'm watching it on TG4. Replays inconclusive.

[Mickmack]

point for Cross

1.06 to 1.05

Good effort for a point by Daithi Casey goes wide.

Another wide by Looney

Ambrose and Buckley on top in midfield

[Mickmack]

Goal for Cross.

Ball came off the post and went in off the keeper

4 mins gone second half

[Mickmack]

fecks sake... i thought this game wasnt live on TG4

[Ard Mhacha]

Cracking point from Jamie Clarke.

Cross have outscored Croke's 2-6 to 0-1 this last 20 minutes or so.

[pony]

Feb 18, 2012 14:29:18 GMT fenit67 said:

Coldrick is very, very whistle happy today with Crokes getting the benefit at this stage

think that is being balanced out in the second half, and then some!!

[Kingdomson]

Has Cooper seen any ball at all in this second half?

[Kingdomson]

1-5 to 1 point down early in the first half, down to 14 men for most of the second half and still Crossmaglen kept ploughing on. Some team, some club.

[Mickmack]

the moment found the man.......Just after Chris Brady of Crokes scored their second goal a guy called Cunningham soared high to fetch the kickout and then floated a perfect football into Jamie Clarke........ Kernan ended up scoring the third Cross goal.

Crossmaglen full value for their win.

Nothing went right for Colm. On eof those days. Brosnan had a good game.

Sending off was harsh.........two yellows would have been right

[fenit67]

Well done to Crossmaglen and good luck in the final.

[Kingdomson]

Well done to Crossmaglen Rangers. They were the better team and fully deserved this victory. Hard luck to Dr.Crokes.

[Ard Mhacha]

Cross don't know when they're beaten. It wasn't looking good when Croke's drew level, but they always seem to get a score from somewhere. Awesome team.

15 out of 16 county titles, 9 Ulster titles and on course for 6 All-Ireland club titles since 1996. Phenomenal record.

[seamo]

Feb 18, 2012 15:27:10 GMT Ard Mhacha said:

Cross don't know when they're beaten. It wasn't looking good when Croke's drew level, but they always seem to get a score from somewhere. Awesome team.

15 out of 16 county titles, 9 Ulster titles and on course for 6 All-Ireland club titles since 1996. Phenomenal record.

Honestly, that's pretty sick! That record compares with any of the great teams in any sport, unbelievable dominance.

Well done to Cross.

[muse]

Just after watching the game, this is a game that the Crokes could have won and in some respects should have won. Crokes defence were terrible, too much ball wasted, hand passing poor, Colm Copper didn’t play well. K O' Leary was awful, Jamie Clarke was excellent and has a bright future. This team has some record and will probably go back to back. Overall it was typical of the Crokes build up a lead and lose it.

[muse]

Feb 17, 2012 21:48:21 GMT truthseeker said:

Feb 17, 2012 19:42:41 GMT 6 in a row said:

The defensive net of Crokes is going burst tomorrow. It has only being scraping by all season and tomorrow it will burst and we will see what the real crokes are made off

Did Jackie Healy Rae ever build that ole pier in Cromane?

Up Kerry!

What has this got to do with anything discuss here?

[Ard Mhacha]

Feb 18, 2012 15:29:54 GMT seamo said:

Feb 18, 2012 15:27:10 GMT Ard Mhacha said:

Cross don't know when they're beaten. It wasn't looking good when Croke's drew level, but they always seem to get a score from somewhere. Awesome team.

15 out of 16 county titles, 9 Ulster titles and on course for 6 All-Ireland club titles since 1996. Phenomenal record.

Honestly, that's pretty sick! That record compares with any of the great teams in any sport, unbelievable dominance.

Well done to Cross.

What's sick about it?

I'm not comparing Cross to any other team or any other sport. I'm just saying it's a fantastic achievement with what they've won over the last decade and a half.

[6 in a row]

Well Done to Crossmaglen today.

I said it before whwn the Crokes come up against the best teams they will flopp and they did today. Build up a 7 point lead and then lost by 3 points, the same old Crokes. Kieran O Leary held scoreless, cooper average they played bad. I said also that the crokes defence was shaky and it proved to be with 3 goals conceeded.

WELL DONE CROSSMAGLEN

[veteran]

Naturally, I am very disappointed with the defeat of Dr. Crokes today. The older you get, it seems, the more painful a Kerry defeat becomes. Perhaps, it is a subconscious realisation that twilight beckons and, therefore, there will be time for fewer victories. However, today's disappointment is tempered by the pleasure experienced at witnessing a football team triumph. It was instructive, or it should be, to watch Crossmaglen go about their business. There was nothing mysterious about it. Simplicity at its zenith, designed for slow learners like myself. They got the ball, a brief look up, then the ball was sent on its probing way, at a speed far greater than, for instance, Eoin Brosnan can solo from his half back line. Of course, all those kicks by the Crossmaglen men did not reach their intended target but enough did, plenty indeed, to decide the issue. As I said, not every ball kicked was won by a team mate but those lost ,at least ,were removed from their danger area.

Removed from the danger area? Witness, immediately before half time, the Crokes backs pass the parcel and inevitably concede an easy pointed free due to over holding. Witness on the restart, while playing with a gale, Crokes, inexplicably, take a short kick out. Surprise, surprise, the ball is lost and another present to the Armagh boys. Those boys do not need presents. Playing with a gale, what is the logic of your best back needlessly expending energy by soloing the length of the field when a shrewd kick would be far more advantageous to players like Colm and KO'L. Playing with that gale ,I saw Colm come out to take a short free about fifty yards from the opposition's goal, I saw KO'L pick up a pass in his own half back line. Smart?

Sadly, what I have outlined is what we see Kerry dish up too often. Endless, "round and round the garden path" hand passing, with our crack forwards on a pilgrimage to outer space. Smart? Reflect on the last seven minutes or so of the All-Ireland final.

As I said, there was nothing mysterious about Crossmaglen's football today. If anybody is still deluding himself in thinking otherwise, may I refer you to day's Irish Examiner. There is an extensive interview with Tony McEntee, one of the main Crossmaglen backroom men. He reveals all! Their game is based on smart kicking of the ball. Imagine that. They have the wit to realise that a football is primarily for kicking. Coaches/footballers all over the country seem to have forgotten that tenet as they doze along their byzantine travels. Not surprisingly, Tony was able to pinpoint why Kerry lost last year's final. Glittering forwards like Colm and Declan hand passing way out in no man's land while KD, who, as he correctly said was well over Rory O'Carroll, was ignored culminating in him and Kerry being starved to death. Hardly, Agatha Christie mystery status then?

The distressing question is this. When will the slow death, hand pass virus be eradicated from Kerry football? I wonder, because it is so embedded in our football gene, if it will happen in my lifetime?

[glengael]

Agree 100% veteran. You make some very valid points.

Commiserations to the Crokes .

Well done to Crossmaglen. It should be any interesting Final with Garrycastle.

[greengold35]

As usual Veteran you are so right! Interesting to read the piece by Oisin McConville about training sessions where hand passing is banned and only kick passes allowed- most of the modern day coaches could tell players to leave their boots at home due to the amount of hand passing they do!

[townend]

croke's choke again i am afraid

[kerrygold]

Cross owned the second half and controlled the game thereafter, a very impressive display. Crokes can have no complaints, beaten by the better team. Crossmaglen are the standard bearers of club football in the country. It is very impressive to keep rebuilding a club team like that. Fair play to them, you have to stand back and repect sporting excellence when you see it. They simply broke down the Crokes as the game wore on.

[seamo]

Feb 18, 2012 15:44:12 GMT Ard Mhacha said:

Feb 18, 2012 15:29:54 GMT seamo said:

Honestly, that's pretty sick! That record compares with any of the great teams in any sport, unbelievable dominance.

Well done to Cross.

What's sick about it?

I'm not comparing Cross to any other team or any other sport. I'm just saying it's a fantastic achievement with what they've won over the last decade and a half.

You've misunderstood me completely!!! haha I mean "sick" in a good way, their acheivements are unbelievable.

I'm comparing them to some of the best teams in the world!! lol From any sport, no other team wins 15 from 16 in any sport. NFL? no, NBA? no, "Soccer" no................and then to win what 6? All-Ireland's in that time frame? I think Kerry have won 6 in the same time, but it's far harder to win a club All-Ireland.

So I'm full of praise for Cross..........you need to watch more American tv, haha less Fair City, then you'll know what "sick" can mean!!

Again congrats to Cross.....should be a good final against Garrycastle

[seamo]

Good to see others noticed the damn handpassing by the Crokes!! Not kicking a team when it's down, but Jesus these guys can kick the ball yet don't. They may win plenty in Kerry, but not because of the way they play the game, their footballing philosophy is fcuked up.

Doolan, O Leary, Cooper...all have worn the Kerry jersey at some stage, all can skin any full back with their pace so let it in quick and low to them.

29th minute Crokes messed about handpassing the ball around their own 14 and the ref ended up giving Cross a free which they scored bringing them I think to within 2 of Crokes, having been 7 down!!!

[misteallaigh abú]

Congrats to Crossmaglen, they are a magnificent club. Was up there for a league game in 2002/3, i think, and the hospitality we received was unbelievable. Have had a soft spot for them ever since. It was refreshing to see the foot back in football.

[armaghniac]

Crokes asked some questions today, but in the end Rangers had the answers.

Tony McEntee may be one of the youngest All-Ireland winning managers around, but his philosophy is as old as the hills. The wind today was very changeable and wasn't ideal for pin point kicked passes and so Cross' used more ground balls and handpassing in the second half. But the basic plan is simple, kick an accurate ball and your man will win it and do likewise. Altogether much better to watch than the present inter-county Ulster champions.

[bigfoot]

Crossmaglen were impressive today.. interestingly, the only crokes players whmo i felt could hold their heads up high were brosnan, donovan and to a lesser extent buckley. These also happen to be the big lads on the crokes team. i felt cross were a lot more physically imposing! i was especially impressed with the number 17 from cross i thought he had a great game!!

[fritz]

Bigfoot, I would agree with you re number 17. I thought Crossmaglen were struggling physically at midfield and he made a big difference yesterday when introduced. The Crossmaglen line deserve a lot of credit. They were not afraid to react early and made a number of substitutions in the first half (although at least one was injury related). Jamie Clarke is a very nice footballer, it was my first time seeing him in the flesh and can see where the comparisons with the Gooch come from. Although not blessed with huge speed or strength, his balance and skill make him an elusive opponent.

As for the Crokes, it was very disappointing after a sensational first 20 minutes or so. The tactics looked to be spot on, particularly when the likes of Eoin were running direct. The decent lead, though, should have been more and those scores conceded before half-time were very costly (especially the bad frees, which Crossmaglen punished ruthlessly). Crokes then unfortunately withered in the second-half, with the backs particularly exposed. In defence of the defence, Shane Myers was a big loss and in any case Crokes' back line all year has been weaker since the loss of Smiler and Shane Doolan.

That said, what was gut wrenching was that when Crokes got an unexpected lifeline towards the end, Crossmaglen promptly went upfield virtually untouched and got what proved to be the decisive goal. But there can be no complaints about the result, especially when your two inter county forwards have a poor day. Doolan in my view was Crokes best forward, he was really outstanding in the first half. From what I have seen of him he appears to be extremely erratic, but on his day is a serious talent.

Finally, a word about Eoin. I felt he was magnificent yesterday, taking the game to Crossmaglen in the first half and desperately trying to shore up the Crokes rearguard in the second. What an athlete. I would suggest he is playing better than ever at present. One less thing for Jack to worry about.

[dec]

Feb 18, 2012 15:44:12 GMT Ard Mhacha said:

Feb 18, 2012 15:29:54 GMT seamo said:

Honestly, that's pretty sick!

What's sick about it?

I'm not comparing Cross to any other team or any other sport. I'm just saying it's a fantastic achievement with what they've won over the last decade and a half.

I guess he means this -- m.urbandictionary.com/#define?term=sick

Get with it...