Tyrone v Meath round 2 qualifiers 11th July 2015

[agorm]

Well done Tyrone. A draw would have been a fair result but an incredibly soft penalty after McCann was taken down, complete overcarrying in the lead up to the penalty which was a complete game changer. Two games in a row in which an incorrect referee decision was a game changer  but it shouldnt have mattered against Westmeath and if we had beaten them then we wouldnt have been in Omagh today.

At this stage I dont know what to say about the management of the team. There has been good characteristics shown and finally finally he is starting to play players in their natural positions. But he continues to persevere with bringing on young Joey Wallace. He hasnt freshened up the squad at all since the league when there are players on the panel he has patently no faith in.

However Meath in recent years have ran out the last two management teams with no idea of how to replace them . In hindsight getting rid of Eamonn OBrien was a mistake and Banty was not popular with many in the county. If MOD wants to stay on he needs to prove hat he has addressed some of the issues that were persistently evident this year. I would prefer to see an experienced / proven manager take over but we such a person that is a better option may not be available. Perhaps MOD with GG, Darren Fay or similar.

[Throw ball]

First half plus 5/10 minutes at start of second was absolutely shockingly, it appeared that the team had more or less consigned themselves to defeat early in second half. One instance summed it up for me when Colm Cavanagh intercepted a ball on our 40 and released Petey Harte, he had two support runners who more or less left him to his own devices and Harte got turned over allowing Meath to tag on a point.

Shortly after this Tiernan McCann came thundering into the game and had his best game for us, IMO. Ran straight at the heart of Meath's defence and they couldn't stop it, as far as I make it he scored 1 point himself and had a direct input into at least 1-03 of our second half scores. One in particular would have pleased the Cappagh gaels when Tiernan combined with the younger brother and fed it out to Bradley on the left to fire over a beauty.

Overall, I'm pleased with the performance, especially considering the outlook at 40 mins. Who do we want next? Most favourable draw would be Tipp although an Armagh or Derry game would focus the minds bigtime.

Tipp would be no pushover for Tyrone. Think it will be Derry v Tyrone and Tipp v Galway although hope Armagh win tomorrow obviously.

[ONeill]

Those first 45 mins were hard going. Conditions were not ideal and a wet slippery surface didn't help but some of the shot selection was inexcusable. At the time it was baffling to watch Tyrone play a rugby-league style approach with a decent wind at their back. It really was turgid stuff with both sides leaving 1 forward up on his own and little in the way of adventure.

Afterwards I heard Mickey say that the plan was to do exactly that - suffocate Meath in the first half and avoid a repeat of the way they blitzed Westmeath - then hit them with pace in the second half hence the introductions of McCann and McCurry at half time. It's that's accurate well then, yeah, it worked perfectly.

But Jesus, that was horrible to watch and only for Sean's experience we could have been trailing 4-1 at HT. Who on earth would want to be a forward? Bradley was everywhere. If he wasn't tapping over frees or running at their half back blanket, he was chasing back at full pelt to mark their no 10. Penrose and Dooher used to do the same in their prime but these days all forwards, bar one, are expected to do that. That left the long ball redundant as McAliskey was often surrounded by three Meath men having a picnic. When McCurry appeared and Tyrone reverted to a 2-man FF line it gave Meath something to think about and opened up space for McCann and Harte to exploit.

But going back to Mickey's interview again - if that was the plan it worked (just about - the pen was the difference). But Meath were there to be destroyed in that first half and Tyrone offered them far too much respect. That killer instinct doesn't exist. The confidence isn't there to leave the defence man-on-man and blitz the opposition.

As an aside, when was the last time a Tyrone player emptied someone like Bellew or Gormley would have, with a clumsy legit tackle? Dubs, Donegal and Kerry can all write-off players within the rules.

Tyrone are good enough to beat Derry, Armagh, Tipp or Galway and might even be considered underdog for some of those. To go beyond that is bonus territory and that's when it gets exciting.

Are we down to the last 16 now?

[redzone]

Your right on the consistent hand passing sideways. When Tyrone did run direct  down  the middle they caused all sorts of bother. Likewise Meath done the same near the end and Tyrone couldn't handle it. Harte is definitely a relived man tonight. He lives to fight another day. Only a semi final at least will safe him I'd imagine at this stage

[seafoid]

You can get a tan footing turf.

Not too bothered at least we weren't hammered. Hopefully we'll come back with a new set up next year whether with Mick O'Dowd at the helm or not I don't mind. Hopefully we'll be more match fit and with less injuries. If any good came from today it shows we can play defensive football if need be even without our full strength squad.

Thank God Galway didn't lose to Meath again this year

[smelmoth]

Think it will be Derry v Tyrone and Tipp v Galway

Based on what exactly?

[ONeill]

What did yez think of Morgan today?

A mixed bag but mostly good I thought. One head stagger of a short kick out that led to a Meath pointed free but besides that some brave fielding and a clinker of a long kick out to McMahon first half.

[omagh_gael]

Morgan was steady today, nothing spectacular but caught a few dicey ones and kick outs were, on the whole, spot on.

What's the craic with McShane? Is he injured?

[ONeill]

Not jumping on their grave but the traditional Meathian qualities were not evident and it was strange to see the green jersey and not have that feeling that someone is going to get milled here. Soft centre.

[tyroneman]

I think based on the last 2 games we will struggle to beat Derry, Tip, Galway or Armagh to be honest.

[Goals_Will_Come]

I was at the last two games and I must say Tyrone were shocking in both.
May get lucky next time and possibly the time after if they get Sligo but once they get to croke park, I fear a repeat of 2011 against Dublin.
To many overhyped players that simply don't produce enough. Compared to the big teams we think we can compete with, not many of our players would make their teams.
We need a reality check, no more than a team that can compete on one given day, nowhere anywhere near winning anything.

[Rodman]

What did yez think of Morgan today?

A mixed bag but mostly good I thought. One head stagger of a short kick out that led to a Meath pointed free but besides that some brave fielding and a clinker of a long kick out to McMahon first half.

I think overall he is a liability.  Likely to do anything and hold my breath everytime he comes to claim a high ball outside the square. 1 free kick from 45m and he hit it wide. He would have kicked that over in his sleep 2 years ago.  His kicking has gone to pot.  Mcaliskey's free kicking was awful as well, hit 3 off the ground, didn't connect well with any of them, missed 2 and just about converted the other one from 21 yards. 

[clarshack]

Tyrone made hard work of it today. Morgan and mcaliskey were liabilities tbh. Morgans decision making was poor and the sooner Mickey O'Neill is back the better. Mcaliskey was having a shocker and was even lucky to put one over from 21 yards Off the ground. In the warmup he was banging 45's over no probs. Also Peter Harte was poor up until he scored 1-1. Sorry but not sure if Richie donnelly is up to county level. Positives were that Mark bradley was superb and tiernan McCann made a big difference when he came on. Tyrone have still enough to get through next round but that is as good as it will get.

[tyroneman]

Richie Donnelly had a complete mare but it could well have been nerves. Def worth another few runs. We write players off far too handy.

The key issues today were:

Running into group tackles and getting turned over
A lack of a of free taker (been an issue since PtG retired)
Not releasing the ball quick enough when forwards make the runs
Most of the non forwards being terrified to shoot - in the 2003-8 set up everyone could take a point (bar Hub usually , but he made up for that elsewhere on the pitch)
Poor kick passing (when we did try it)
Lack of reliable 3-4 points a game forward.

All these have been issues for a good while now.

None seem to be being corrected.

[Throw ball]

Think it will be Derry v Tyrone and Tipp v Galway

Based on what exactly?

Nothing.