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The Best Ulster side of the last 30 years?

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Replying To redhanddefender: "the Down team of 2016........oh sorry I thought you said worst ; )" Deep down you have a soft spot for the Mournemen, I just know it! MourneArmy (Down) - Posts: 1787 - 25/07/2016 16:44:27 1889871 Link
Tyrone for me for consistency alone and re-inventing itself over time! Having the same manger helps. Down are a close second Derry third great in leagues too I do not rate Armagh/Donegal in the same bracket as those top three because they did not have the same consistency as the others. If it was at club level it would be no contest with Armagh (cross) the kings. gormdubhgorm (Dublin) - Posts: 990 - 25/07/2016 16:49:26 1889877 Link
Replying To gormdubhgorm: "Tyrone for me for consistency alone and re-inventing itself over time! Having the same manger helps. Down are a close second Derry third great in leagues too I do not rate Armagh/Donegal in the same bracket as those top three because they did not have the same consistency as the others. If it was at club level it would be no contest with Armagh (cross) the kings." Derry??! Ahead of Armagh and Donegal? are you serious? Derry have won two Ulsters in 30 years, the last being nearly 20 years ago. mhaith_fear (Donegal) - Posts: 75 - 25/07/2016 17:22:08 1889899 Link
Replying To jimbodub: "That Dublin team were finished after 2007... all down hill from there I mean.. did you see how rubbish they were on the day compared to the game they gave you in 2005 Sure Kerry and Meath did the same the next two years... Until Gilroy realised that a sea change was required, Dublin setup far more tactically and beat a much fancied Tyrone side in 2010 who had just cake walked Ulster, kicking scores from all over the pitch against Monaghan. They came to CP with great confidence after Dublin shipped such a hiding against Meath only a few weeks earlier. You see what the back door advantage can bring.... you boys sitting around doing nothing while Dublin learned their lessons, changed players, moved things around, got a couple of encouraging wins and match sharp/ fitness ... and then knocked out the Ulster Champions and a heavy favourite Tyrone side... can you see certain similarities starting to form?" so you must have caught that Cork team real cold in the semi final - how much did ye win that one by again?? cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5012 - 25/07/2016 17:41:13 1889910 Link
Tyrone 2003-2008 are the best Ulster team of the past 30 years. They faced outside the province a great side in Kerry 2000-2008 that produced two great All-Ireland Finals in 2005 and 2008. I would also put the Armagh team of 2000-2008 above the early 1990's teams. I dont think any team matched the performance of Tyrone in beating the three provincial winners of Dublin, Armagh and Kerry inside one calender month in 2005. Peter Canavan and Sean Cavanagh will always be high in the list of gaelic greats no matter what era. Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1780 - 25/07/2016 19:03:08 1889957 Link
Armagh won an All-Ireland and made the final in the following year, 02-03. Kerry are the only other county to do that in the last 25 championships, 04-05, 06-07, 07-08 and 14-15. Armagh won 6 Ulster titles in the 00's. As Ulster champions in 06 they were unlucky to come up against a Kerry team in the quarter-finals wanting to get the northern monkey off their backs. In 2000 Armagh had lost out to Kerry after extra time in the replayed semi-final. legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7853 - 25/07/2016 20:57:00 1890007 Link
Replying To legendzxix: "Armagh won an All-Ireland and made the final in the following year, 02-03. Kerry are the only other county to do that in the last 25 championships, 04-05, 06-07, 07-08 and 14-15. Armagh won 6 Ulster titles in the 00's. As Ulster champions in 06 they were unlucky to come up against a Kerry team in the quarter-finals wanting to get the northern monkey off their backs. In 2000 Armagh had lost out to Kerry after extra time in the replayed semi-final." and your point is.....they're not as good as Donegal, Down, Derry or Tyrone? IrishGael3 (USA) - Posts: 1092 - 25/07/2016 21:11:43 1890018 Link
Tyrone would have to be considered as probably the best. Yet in 1991/92/93 we had good teams in Down /Derry /Donegal who after winning Ulster went on to collect Sam. Plus that Donegal team went to five Ulster finals in a row. But I'd like to know how Donegal 2012 would have compared with the oo's Tyrone /Armagh. This Donegal team has only lost three times in Ulster in the last six seasons. Only Monaghan and Tyrone have beaten us and we beat all the 8 Ulster counties over that five years Plus as a county we have reached 15 of the last 30 Ulster finals. We made it to our sixth Ulster final in a row this year. That has not been done since Down back in the sixties. Don't get me wrong , I'm not saying Donegal were better than either of Tyrone or Armagh in the 00's( I would say we were not) but as a county we have done very well in Ulster. Getting to an Ulster final is tough but winning one is a lot tougher. So I am very happy with what we have done over the last 30 years as we only reached our first final in 1963 and won our first in 1972. We might never have been the best ever Ulster team but we are a force to be reckoned with in Ulster SamOnErrigal (Donegal) - Posts: 1427 - 25/07/2016 21:34:59 1890034 Link
Replying To alano12: "tyrone for me..that kerry team of the noughties and armagh were exceptional sides and tyrone beat both of them beating kerry 3 times and armagh twice...the dubs werent exactly a bad side most years either" Agree Tyrone for me, Armagh and Kerry were serious outfits in the 00s mhunicean_abu (Monaghan) - Posts: 1044 - 25/07/2016 22:50:31 1890073 Link
1993 Ulster Championship in Newry: Down 0-9 Derry 3-11 Tyrone 2003-2005 would never have taken a thumping like that. Down were a very good side, but not as good as the Tyrone and Armagh sides of the 2000s. Thomas Clarke (Tyrone) - Posts: 1002 - 25/07/2016 23:54:59 1890084 Link
I'd say count who has won the most Ulster Championship matches in the last 30 Ulster Championships, that might give a statistical indication of who are the more consistent performers. GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3017 - 26/07/2016 01:51:04 1890096 Link
Ah, love to hear people referring to the great Mourne teams of the early '90s as the best and naturally, my bias would be for them too. Derry and Armagh probably should have won more Sams in this 30 year period themselves. However, it is in my my mind that had the late Cormac been playing, Tyrone would have won Ulster and Sam every year during that early 2000's period, such was his influence, and there would be no debate. Suas Sios (None) - Posts: 1550 - 26/07/2016 01:54:16 1890099 Link
Replying To SamOnErrigal: "Tyrone would have to be considered as probably the best. Yet in 1991/92/93 we had good teams in Down /Derry /Donegal who after winning Ulster went on to collect Sam. Plus that Donegal team went to five Ulster finals in a row. But I'd like to know how Donegal 2012 would have compared with the oo's Tyrone /Armagh. This Donegal team has only lost three times in Ulster in the last six seasons. Only Monaghan and Tyrone have beaten us and we beat all the 8 Ulster counties over that five years Plus as a county we have reached 15 of the last 30 Ulster finals. We made it to our sixth Ulster final in a row this year. That has not been done since Down back in the sixties. Don't get me wrong , I'm not saying Donegal were better than either of Tyrone or Armagh in the 00's( I would say we were not) but as a county we have done very well in Ulster. Getting to an Ulster final is tough but winning one is a lot tougher. So I am very happy with what we have done over the last 30 years as we only reached our first final in 1963 and won our first in 1972. We might never have been the best ever Ulster team but we are a force to be reckoned with in Ulster" I think the Donegal team of the 00's were the most unluckiest group of players. That Donegal team were exceptional, they put some great performances together. In any other era they would have dominated Ulster and probably won an All Ireland. I think of the AL semi final 03, , QF 02 against the dubs and the Ulster semi 04. The fact they came at the same time as arguably the two.strongest Ulster teams in 50 years stopped them in there tracks. Who can forget the Armagh performance in the 04 Ulster final, poor Donegal were in the wrong place. When McGuinness came in he still had the necleus of the 00's team, and was able to add a few U21s and look what theu achieved. Sadly Donegal will not be mentioned for being successful during the 00s but they did hold there own and participated in a lot of big games. sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 999 - 26/07/2016 11:11:13 1890227 Link
Replying To Thomas Clarke: "1993 Ulster Championship in Newry: Down 0-9 Derry 3-11 Tyrone 2003-2005 would never have taken a thumping like that. Down were a very good side, but not as good as the Tyrone and Armagh sides of the 2000s." The Armagh noughties team better than the Down early 90's team? Sober up! MourneArmy (Down) - Posts: 1787 - 26/07/2016 11:55:12 1890274 Link
Gary... see below. Slow day in work. results from 87 to 16 championships as per Wickepedia. 240 games with results and 34 draws. Thing that stands out for me is Down's poor returns overall. So much for Kerry of the North... Won lost drawn Total Win % Titles in period Donegal 43 25 7 75 57% 5 Tyrone 42 21 12 75 56% 9 Armagh 36 23 12 71 51% 7 Derry 33 27 6 66 50% 3 Monaghan 24 27 6 57 42% 3 Down 25 28 8 61 41% 2 Cavan 17 29 9 55 31% 1 Fermanagh 15 30 5 50 30% 0 Antrim 5 30 3 38 13% 0 himachechy (Donegal) - Posts: 293 - 26/07/2016 11:58:04 1890277 Link
Replying To MourneArmy: "The Armagh noughties team better than the Down early 90's team? Sober up!" To be fair, they were. cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5012 - 26/07/2016 12:09:54 1890286 Link
Its a tie between Down early 90s and Tyrone 00s as Down won 2 All Ireland's and Tyrone 3 (2 through qualifiers so that negates some of the difficulty in winning). In terms of the best teams to watch Down and Derry early 90s. Free flowing football. That was a magnificent Derry side. They should have maybè had a second All Ireland in the 1990s. Also Donegal were great in early 1990s. Armagh had a great run of Ulster wins in 2000s. REDANDBLACK30 (Down) - Posts: 1617 - 26/07/2016 12:15:29 1890295 Link
Replying To MourneArmy: "The Armagh noughties team better than the Down early 90's team? Sober up!" Hardly a bold statement. That Armagh side won 7 Ulster titles between 1999-2008, and also an AI in 2002. They came very close again in 2003 & 2005, losing the latter in a semi-final that many regard as one of the greatest games ever played. They also won a National League in 2005. Down reached the Ulster final only twice between 86-95, though on both occasions they went on to win the AI. The failed to win a national league, and they didn't come close to matching Armagh's longevity, as their 2 Ulster titles spanned on 3 years. While Down were dazzling at their best, they seemed to go missing year after year, aside from 91 & 94. Now, I have a lot of time for that Down side, particularly their forward line. On their day, they were special. However, their defence was suspect, and that meant that, when things went wrong, they went badly wrong (e.g. the annihilation at home to Derry in 1993). Armagh had good forwards though perhaps not quite as great as Down's, but the Orchardmen had a much stronger defence and a more reliable midfield. Overall, there was little to choose between the individuals on those 2 sides, and both played in highly competitive eras for Ulster football. The missing 2nd AI aside, Armagh had more success than Down over a far longer period. They had more big performances on big days, and didn't have the ugly defeats like Down did to Derry in '93. While very much admiring both, I'd rate Armagh a superior and more successful team. Thomas Clarke (Tyrone) - Posts: 1002 - 26/07/2016 12:32:07 1890311 Link
Replying To REDANDBLACK30: "Its a tie between Down early 90s and Tyrone 00s as Down won 2 All Ireland's and Tyrone 3 (2 through qualifiers so that negates some of the difficulty in winning). In terms of the best teams to watch Down and Derry early 90s. Free flowing football. That was a magnificent Derry side. They should have maybè had a second All Ireland in the 1990s. Also Donegal were great in early 1990s. Armagh had a great run of Ulster wins in 2000s." What a load of baloney saying winning an All Ireland via back door negates the difficulty - are you for real? The 2 backdoor wins Tyrone had to play 7 and 9 games respectively against Kerry, Dublin, Armagh et al - nice and all as that Down team were theres no way they could have won those All Irelands. IrishGael3 (USA) - Posts: 1092 - 26/07/2016 12:32:20 1890312 Link
Replying To IrishGael3: "What a load of baloney saying winning an All Ireland via back door negates the difficulty - are you for real? The 2 backdoor wins Tyrone had to play 7 and 9 games respectively against Kerry, Dublin, Armagh et al - nice and all as that Down team were theres no way they could have won those All Irelands." Wrong. Under the old system Tyrone would have been gone after an Ulster defeat. Having a second chance makes it much easier. The old system was do or die. I would have hated to have seen Derry again in 1994 after knocking them out. REDANDBLACK30 (Down) - Posts: 1617 - 26/07/2016 12:42:09 1890318 Link