Tír Eoghain v An Mhí (AI Quarter Final '07)

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

How this isn't merged is beyond me

Wha?

Just to clarify Gnevin, this is a new thread about a new fixture, with another team (TBD). You taking the piss? 

[ONeill]

No, it's just beyond him!!

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

No, it's just beyond him!!

[Goin Down]

Its obviously beyond him, I'd say this threads name will be changed once we know who Tyrone are playing in the q final.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Its obviously beyond him, I'd say this threads name will be changed once we know who Tyrone are playing in the q final.

Yep, that's the plan.

[southderryman]

derry v tyrone in the quarter final would be a nice wee match up IF (and its a big if) we get by laois!


a good omen too:

2001 qualifer - breffni park derry beat laois
2001 quarter final - derry beat tyrone

i'd settle for that! 

[Goin Down]

Derry will get by Laois no problem, Laois are useless.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

derry v tyrone in the quarter final would be a nice wee match up IF (and its a big if) we get by laois!


a good omen too:

2001 qualifer - breffni park derry beat laois
2001 quarter final - derry beat tyrone

i'd settle for that! 

Yep, not until after we'd beaten you in the first game that year, so I'd settle for that, since that would be our first meeting in this Championship year, with the second game to be played... whenever! 

[southderryman]

derry should get by laois if they over come the 2 main obstacles in their way: themselves and laois's runnin game.

As long as there is no complacency they should win, altho I would b worried about the runnin game of laois. derry never cope well when teams run directly at them. take kevin mc cloy for example, great under a high ball but take him for a run and he's lost. this was painfully exposed against donegal and longford last year. hopefully ferghal doc and conway/bradley/diver clean up around the middle so supply will be limited.

[southderryman]

derry v tyrone in the quarter final would be a nice wee match up IF (and its a big if) we get by laois!


a good omen too:

2001 qualifer - breffni park derry beat laois
2001 quarter final - derry beat tyrone

i'd settle for that! 

Yep, not until after we'd beaten you in the first game that year, so I'd settle for that, since that would be our first meeting in this Championship year, with the second game to be played... whenever! 

in the wake of the controversial incident in last weeks minor game we'd be better not talking about that first game in 2001 when gerard cavlan was allowed run about 15 steps for a crucial goal! 

also lookin for omens (and hope this dont come true!) 2005 laois beat derry in the last 12, tyrone beat monaghan and we all know what they did from there......

here's hoping (they dont!  )

[ONeill]

Sure ye don't have Johnny McBride this year to do the dirty deed......

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

also lookin for omens (and hope this dont come true!) 2005 laois beat derry in the last 12, tyrone beat monaghan and we all know what they did from there......

here's hoping (they dont!  )

Yeah, perhaps you shouldn't have gone there   

Would be surprised if Derry don't win this one, much too strong for Laois I'd say, a team that are trying to pick themselves up after a fairly severe trouncing in Croke.

[southderryman]

Sure ye don't have Johnny McBride this year to do the dirty deed......

nor do ye have pete the cheat til try and decapitate paul mc flynn!

[southderryman]

also lookin for omens (and hope this dont come true!) 2005 laois beat derry in the last 12, tyrone beat monaghan and we all know what they did from there......

here's hoping (they dont!  )

Yeah, perhaps you shouldn't have gone there   

Would be surprised if Derry don't win this one, much too strong for Laois I'd say, a team that are trying to pick themselves up after a fairly severe trouncing in Croke.

probably shudnt have gone there, but i try to be fair!

on current form we should, but if the players start believing they just have to turn up to win and dont display the hunger that was so evident against armagh and mayo we could be in trouble....

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

From today's Gaelic Life, Jarlath (Burns) very impressed with Mulgrew in the Monaghan game, though I wouldn't be so sure on his sentiments about how it's Tyrone's to lose at this stage.

All-Ireland is now Tyrone's to lose

Last Sunday, during the Championship programme, in an attempt to show a little perspective on how the world has changed since Monaghan last contested the Ulster final, we showed a few clips from their 1988 effort. Apart from the cheap and cheerful set, the dodgy hairstyles and the grassy/muddy Hill, the type of football played was a light year away from the modern game. Back then, it was catch and kick, no third midfielder, no tactics, no gameplan, no seventh defender; just good old fashioned and very bad football.

For those who like to lament the modern method and point to a glorious bygone age of better, harder and faster, the TG4 series 'All Ireland Gold' has been a rude awakener. Remember the classic semi-final of 1977 between Dublin and Kerry for the right to slaughter the winners of Armagh and Roscommon? When you see it again now, it is amazing in its mediocrity; grey men playing grey football in a grey stadium with seemingly no regard at all for holding onto possession or building moves on the overlap.

But all has changed, changed utterly. Systems, strategies, mental imagery, tactics; gaelic football bears no resemblance to even ten years ago. All of which brings me to the latest 'innovation' in our modern game: The 'numbers mean nothing' tactic. When the match began on Sunday, I spent the first ten minutes trying to get a handle on who had moved where and onto whom and why. I gave up. Cavlan in the corner, Hughes in the centre, Cavanagh at right half forward:is he? Or is he just playing a more forward role because Joe McMahon is a defensive player, and is Dooher in the centre or has McQuaid moved over to mark him? And what have they done in defence? Gormley has picked up Freeman, well then who's playing centre half back? Harte? No, but his man Clerkin has gone into midfield and who's marking him? Has Mugsy gone into full forward, or has Corey gone to mark him because both of them are doing a sort of ballet dance with elbows every time the ball has gone in there. And the boy Finlay who wasn't even named on the first fifteen. Calculus would be easier than this. Managers have always tried an aul move just to upset the opposition, but the recent trend is sort of taking the biscuit. This year in the Sigerson I watched an entire forward line move over one place just like a volleyball sextet every time a point was scored. It was hilarious and confused them more than any of us.

But our county managers are canny folk and there is sound reasoning behind the reshuffling of the trump players. Since psychology is becoming more a part of the game, players and their mentors are now beginning to focus more on the opposition and try to second guess what their strengths and weaknesses would be.
A team with a big midfield and small full back would be sure to see lots of short kicks out and high balls into the square from the opposition. Monaghan in particular enjoy the thrill of strangling their opponents' game plan. For their game against Down it was easy: spoil Dan Gordon and double mark Benny Coulter. For Derry it was slightly more complicated. Crowd midfield again, blot out the high ball going into Muldoon and stand in front of Paddy Bradley. And they managed to disrupt the Tyrone momentum with great flair on Sunday. Monaghan have learnt a lot from their outings this year and they discovered that if they put all their eggs into the midfield basket again, breaking ball would have to end up in their hands and boy did this work.

Over the seventy minutes there were forty kicks out. Monaghan ended up with twenty nine of them. Under normal circumstances, this would translate into a handy victory, but not on Sunday because Tyrone have a tactic of their own which is their ace card. Just watch their three half forwards when they are attacking. Running, supporting, overlapping.

UGLY

That's the easy part. Then they lose possession and now watch them. They turn on their heel and all three of them put their head down and head back into defence. These are the ugly runs. The stuff no one notices, but contain the nuts and bolts on which victory is fashioned. I couldn't see much of Raymond Mulgrew's creativity on Sunday, so I watched him closely for fifteen minutes just to see what he was up to. He never stopped running. Down the field providing options, then turning and racing back. On three occasions he ended up with the ball back in his half back line and set up an attack. OK, he didn't score, he only ended up with one shot on goal, but his workrate was outstanding. Dooher the same. No scores this time, but still honest endeavour. At the end of the day, it's hard to beat hard work and Tyrone have plenty of men prepared to get their hands dirty.

So no fairytale ending for Monaghan. Against Down, Hanratty was the main man with 2-1. For the Derry match, Freeman stood up to the mark and got seven fine points. For Monaghan to win on Sunday, it required both of them to be on their game in a way they have never played before, but while Freeman tortured Conor Gormley, Ricey put Hanratty in his pocket and on a day when all possession in the middle was ending up in Monaghan hands, there was just not enough options for the men on the ball to turn possession into scores.

But they still deserve credit. A brilliant match and a great return to the natural home of Ulster football. Monaghan lost by two points. You get the feeling however that if they were still playing, they would be two points behind and bearing down on goal. This All Ireland is now Tyrone's to lose. Let's hope they go all the way.