Donegal v Tyrone Ulster Championship

[macdanger2]

I'd fancy Donegal to win by 1-2 points, maybe even after a replay

[BennyHarp]

Tickets are like hens teeth in Tyrone - talk of them not selling is complete nonsense.

[nothingbettertobeat]

I'm waiting to see who Paddy Heaney goes for. It's usually 100% accurate in terms of being incorrect. He hasn't called a winner since 2003.

Paddy Heaney picked Tyrone at Irish news GAA night in belfast monday evening. Surprisingly the whole panel went for Tyrone. id be happy enough with that if i was Donegal.

[nrico2006]

This game could hinge on the performance of young McBrearty who has been on fire lately. If he clicks it will be hard to contain all three full forwards.

Has McBrearty ever really been 'on fire' in his senior inter-county career so far?  Doesn't seem to be too many scores in him.

[God14]

Tickets are like hens teeth in Tyrone - talk of them not selling is complete nonsense.

+1

Definitely a shortage

That story about tickets not selling started from Twitter/FB on Monday, when @TyroneGAALive said a number of terrace tickets were still available through your club - not the Tyrone GAA offices. I believe it was a small number and all went pretty quickly therafter.

[Walter Cronc]

This game could hinge on the performance of young McBrearty who has been on fire lately. If he clicks it will be hard to contain all three full forwards.

Has McBrearty ever really been 'on fire' in his senior inter-county career so far?  Doesn't seem to be too many scores in him.

Christ he's 19 years old!! Give the lad a chance!! It's not as if he has 5+ year of county football under his belt.  He was certainly on fire for the U21's earlier in the year and has started superbly for Kilcar this season!!

[yellowcard]

This game could hinge on the performance of young McBrearty who has been on fire lately. If he clicks it will be hard to contain all three full forwards.

I'd say there is about as much chance of Donegal playing with 3 orthodox full forwards than there is of a pig flying over Ballybofey on Sunday afternoon. Jimmys system tends to make his defenders look betterplayers than they actually are but probably makes his forwards look not as good as they actually are. McBrearty is a very talented player but the system doesn't get the best out of either him or Murphy.

[Fuzzman]

Yeah defenders and midfielders tend to get the most of the scores in these tight matches and with Morgan hitting our frees ye can include a goalkeeper now too.
I watched the second half of last year's game there last night and it sure was physically demanding during the rain for a long period. Stevie lost possession loads of times mainly because as soon as he got it there was 5 men around him.
It must be almost off putting for forwards to get the ball with their back to goal as they know they need to do something special or off load immediately or they're gonna cough up possession.

[BennyHarp]

Yeah defenders and midfielders tend to get the most of the scores in these tight matches and with Morgan hitting our frees ye can include a goalkeeper now too.
I watched the second half of last year's game there last night and it sure was physically demanding during the rain for a long period. Stevie lost possession loads of times mainly because as soon as he got it there was 5 men around him. It must be almost off putting for forwards to get the ball with their back to goal as they know they need to do something special or off load immediately or they're gonna cough up possession.

By the looks of Tyrone in the league they have worked extremely hard on maintaining possession in the tackle. The improvement in the Donnellys is a prime example and they were getting stronger and stronger as the league progressed. An article posted earlier about Matty Donnelly working on leg strenghening was an interesting indication of the type of work they are doing.

I was trying to pick Mickey's team last night and could only come up with 7 or 8 players who will definately start and even then its tough to line them out into potential positions. Was this Mickey's intention throughout the league to keep Jimmy guessing? McGuinness will have no idea what the Tyrone starting 15 will be, but im pretty sure there will not be many changes to Donegal. Its got all the makings of real intriguing encounter - maybe not a classic in the free flowing, high scoring sense, but a real proper championship game.

[donegal lad]

Tickets are like hens teeth in Tyrone - talk of them not selling is complete nonsense.

I only mentioned it because seen it in a report from ulster council yesterday sayin that there was still fe tickets available in Tyrone. Was surprised to hear that because they so hard to get here. Will be plenty available around ballybofey on Sunday I'd say if anyone is willing to pay the price

[donegal lad]

This game could hinge on the performance of young McBrearty who has been on fire lately. If he clicks it will be hard to contain all three full forwards.

Has McBrearty ever really been 'on fire' in his senior inter-county career so far?  Doesn't seem to be too many scores in him.

The lads only 19 would cut him some slack. Last year jim had him playing further out the feld than he would of liked and he admitted himself he would prefer to be in the ff line getting the scores bu was willing to do what was asked of him. Anyone from donegal can tell you he is a class act carried the u21 team to an ulster final this year and his scores have put his club on top of the div1 league

[Fuzzman]

Yeah BennyHarp I think your right and sure hope it works out that way.
When I watched that last night I thought Tyrone looked very edgy in possession as they moved into Donegal's half. Their body language looked like they expected to get caught up in the net or spill possession. Donegal seemed more patient moving the ball around and waiting for an opening to come.

I am hoping the match v Dublin will stand to us but we got a lot of shooting opportunities which won't be there on Sunday you'd imagine. Kicking points from 40 yards would be important you would imagine and so people like Sean, Joey, McAliskey and even Gormley could be vital in that context.
Where to play Stevie is as usual the big problem so that you can get him into the game or get him some shooting opportunities. Could we isolate him out on the right wing 

The one thing I hate about these types of matches is this slow hand passing up the field, not knowing how we're gonna break the line and then inevitably a loose pass or someone gets a hand in and then they go down the other side and get a soft score. As well as conceding the score it really damages your team psychologically as the next time they now have the fear of that happening again. As pundits often say, Donegal GRIND you down and cause fear & panic whilst draining all your forwards confidence away.
I'd like to see McAliskey win his first ball (if he plays of course) and turn and shoot right away.
If he misses he misses but at least he gets his shot away. It's games like this I'm glad Mugsy is not playing as he often was too slow to just catch turn and shoot.

On another note. I wonder how well McGuinness and Co will keep their heads if things start to go against them. If the ref isn't giving them frees or sends someone off. We rarely see Harte lose the head so wonder will Jimmy manage the same. He has really talked this game up now all year and so the pressure is on him & his team. If they lose will he say "Yes we actually are happier to go down the back door route this year"

[J70]

McGuinness has never lost the head so  far. In fact, one of the most impressive things about his tenure has been his calmness and decision making on the line. You don't see Donegal playing a shite half and coming out and repeating it. You couldn't say the same for his more recent predecessors.

[God14]

Tyrone injury news...

Ronan O'Neill - out for a few weeks. Carlin doubtful

Better news for Cassidy & Justy
http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=192827

Am delighted to see Cassidy back. Could make a big contribution coming on second half.

[Hillbilly]

Tyrone by 4.

Donegal 0-11
Tyrone 1-12

Donegal scorers: Murphy 0-7 (0-6f, 0-1 45m), McBrearty 0-2 (0-2f), McFadden 0-2 (0-1f)
Tyrone scorers: Harte 1-2 (1-1f), S Cavanagh 0-4 (0-2f), S O'Neill 0-2 (0-1f), Penrose 0-1, Morgan 0-1 (1 45m), McAliskey 0-1, Mark Donnelly 0-1

Cant see tyrone holding them scoreless from play