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Starting to get a clearer picture of what the games will look like. Second team in each group will host a third-place team.

So far we have the following at home

Tyrone

Louth (Unless they beat Kerry tomorrow, then Kerry second in that group)
Armagh/Galway loser, with Galway if a draw tomorrow
Mayo (unless they beat Dublin tomorrow, then Dublin second in that group)

And they'll play...

Derry
Monaghan/Meath winner tomorrow, Monaghan if a draw
Roscommon
Cork

*There is a chance of Monaghan finishing second in their Group and Louth finishing third...for that to happen the margin of Monaghan's victory when added to the margin of Louth's defeat must exceed 20.

From a Tyrone perspective we'll likely be playing Derry, Monaghan (assuming they beat Meath) and Roscommon. I'd be looking Derry to light the fire and create a cracker of a game.

Draw takes place Monday morning.


Edit for completeness...Mod5

Does the all Ireland follow the senior draws for both u17 and u20?

Ulster v Con

Mun v Leinster

Any thoughts on favourites from both age groups? Tyrone beat in u20 warm up competition final by Donegal but beat the in ulster Semi. Our minors won the warm up comp and should be there or thereabouts at all Ireland level too.

Don't see a thread on this. What's the story then, who would be considered favourites. Can see no sign of bookie odds but Meath's trimming of Dublin bound to have them up there.

Tyrone v Cork
Sligo v Meath

Not up to speed on other provences this year but Tyrone comprehensively beat a fancied Derry team this evening 4-13 to 1-10.

A look over on gaa.ie shows the following games in a fortnight:

Galway v Leinster winners
Tyrone v Munster winners

I'm assuming Kerry must be big favourites with all those minor wins. Any idea on who is best placed to challenge them?

Watched Nolan's show last night on BBC iPlayer. As a 9 year old at this time i was relatively detached from the troubles. Living in Omagh we rarely experienced the worst of the horror until, obviously, 1998.

I wouldn't consider myself and emotional person at all, however, some parts of the show had me choking up big time. The overall feeling was the pointlessness of the whole f**king thing. Society totally lost a grip on every aspect of decency. We all have our own opinions on the genesis of the 'war' and even within that there are many shades of grey. But, on a purely human level it is disturbing to look back at what we could do to our neighbours. The callousness of it all was mind-blowing.

The brutal loyalist-inflicted aftermath genuinely had an out and out civil war feel to it. When Brian Rowan read out the UDA statement declaring war on the nationalist electorate it must have appeared apocalyptic to everyone who understood the gravity of it.

Perhaps this is well known or understood but what is the backstory to the 11 second timer? Were Kelly and Begley literally sent on a suicide mission? Did they know that's all the time they would have? The bomb exploded in Begley's arms. How does his family reconcile that fact (in all likelihood) knowing who it was that sent him on that 'mission?'

Finally, the only taint on the production of the show was Nolan's needless probing of the rescuers to repeatedly recount the gory details of what they witnessed. Unnecessary, voyeuristic shock stuff that was totally unneeded.

So there we have it, the red hands against the Rossies. Whoever draws first blood here stands a great chance of progressing to the Semis.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2018/0707/977085-cregg-massive-achievement-to-reach-super-8s/

Cregg getting a bit carried away there by saying it's a massive achievement getting to super 8s. Jaysis, you were beat by Galway and only beat Leitrim and scrapped by Armagh! In contrast, we've played Monaghan, Meath, Carlow, Cavan and Cork. One division one team, three division 2 teams and Carlow who moved up to division three. Some craic that is.

Think the big win today for our lads will do us the power of good and they'll be well up for this game.

Lastly, Syferus be a sound Aul skin and be on your best behaviour

Looks like some dirty bastard has injured many people in Barcelona (Las Ramblas) area by driving a van into pedestrians. This shit is becoming the new norm. Hopefully there are no deaths but early reports do not look good on this front.

[Winner]

Monaghan huge favourites to meet ourselves in the Ulster final this year. In fact, there's been many a Freudian slip with commentators/journalists/players saying it's a done deal. Can Down spoil the party? Unlikely.

I have been doing a bit of research regarding the future routes of both the winner and loser of this game:

Winner

Meets round 4b qualifier in the quarter final on the 05/08/17 alongside the Leinster champions QF who also meet a team from the 'B' side of the draw (more than likely will be a double header with Dublin in Croker).

(teams in the 'B' side include Leitrim, London, Carlow, Wexford, Westmeath, Offaly, Clare, Limerick , Tipperary, Down, Armagh, Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh)

As the winner of the Ulster final can't meet their Ulster final opponents in the QF they will meet the Leinster runner up (assuming they win their round4 qualifier). The form book at this stage means the Ulster QF could be Tyrone/Monaghan/Down v Kildare.

Loser

The loser of the Ulster final will be out again on the 29/07/17 against a round 3b winner from the teams above. The Leinster loser will also fall into the 'B' side of the draw. Therefore, the loser of the Ulster final (assuming they get through round 4 of the qualifiers will more than likely meet Dublin in a QF as they can't meet the Ulster final winner).

My prediction is:

Ulster final - Tyrone v Monaghan (Tyrone to win, of course!)

Leinster final - Dublin v Kildare (Dubs to win

R4 Qualifier

Kildare v AN other (Kildare to win)

Monaghan v AN other (Monaghan to win)

Quarter finals

Tyrone v Kildare

Dublin v Monaghan

Pie in the sky at this distance, however, those would be two excellent QFs. Would Croker be fit for that double header? They managed it last year with Tyrone, Mayo, Donegal and Dublin. Would be some day out!

Just found this on YouTube (off the ball shared it on Facebook). As a Tyrone man this was hard to post considering our Ulster exit and the Croke park shambles!!

Highlights of almost every game from the 2002 championship...

https://youtu.be/pAnI27a0ATU

Job done for Tyrone yesterday with our first points on the board. Not the most impressive performance with too many (11) scorable wides, simple free kicks missed and gapping holes through the centre of our defence. Good job Dublin won't be in a position to exploit these

However, minds should be focused during the week and better these are exposed and worked on before the sky blue juggernaught steams through and rips us to shreds. For me Mark Bradley has to start and get plenty of ball in good and early. If I was in Mickey's shoes I'd go for:

Morgan (assuming Mickey is rotating)
Hampsey
McNamee
McCarron
McCann
Justy
Munroe
C Cavanagh
M Donnelly (assuming he's fit)
McClure
Sludden
Harte
Bradley
McShane
McCurry

If Donnelly not fit then Sean in at No 9. I would give McShane another go at FF although he needs to sty closer to goal and have either Bradley or McCurry very close to him, if it's going to be given a shot give it a proper go!

Also think Meyler could be squeezed in, although can't find a space for him. Serious selection headaches for Mickey.

Surprised this hasn't been started yet. Donegal should prevail but you never can tell with Cork, they could limp out like a damp squib or put 6+ points on them. With the likes of Kerrigan, O'Neill and Kelleher around anything can happen.

How do Donegal respond to the Ulster final defeat? Do the stick to their usual setup or will they decide to cut loose somewhat and get quicker ball into Murphy, McBrearty et al in the FF line?

If Cork prevail they can meet Tyrone or Dublin if Donegal prevail its the Dubs or bust.

Completely biased here but for me it has to be 2005.

Set your clock to 10th of July and it's Ulster final day in Croker. Huge crowd and great weather sets the scene for the Stevie O'Neill show as he scores 10 points off Francie out of Tyrone's tally of 14. Armagh end the game with a double sucker punch from McDonnell and McGrane. I can still see the ball leaving McGrane's boot from my vantage point directly above the Hill 16 goals and knowing that it was going straight over the black spot. We got some slagging from Armagh fans around us as we made the cardinal sin of singing 'cheerio' to Armagh fans who were making an early get away. Valuable life lesson learned.

In other news; Galway, Kerry and Dublin make it through their respective provinces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM1F-kdVj1k

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/4670081.stm


Fast forward to the 23rd July and Tyrone have Armagh on the wrack again only for young Canavan to be sent off in the 54th minute with O'Neill seeing red six minutes later. Tyrone don't score after Canavan's injustice ( ) and Armagh steal the Ulster crown. However, the red hands will have the last laugh in late August.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/4710545.stm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG8jWZ4g7Nc

Tyrone get things back on track with a routine win over Monaghan in the back door to set up a date with the Dubs in Croker on the 13th August. The Dubs have us in bother at half time with Mossy Quinn scoring a last second goal to go in 5 points up. Tyrone are stuttering and Mugsy hasn't been firing all year, the supporters are losing patience until the 49th minute when Mugsy drops two outrageous dummies and almost tears the net off to set us on our way to a 1-14 apiece draw.

The other Quarter finals pit Kerry against Mayo. Kerry make mince meat of Mayo early in the game and Mayo fight back but fall short, losing by three points. Armagh take care of Laois with little fuss and Cork dispatch Galway.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/4149032.stm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3G1bwD0ao0

To this date I never experienced an atmosphere quite like the 41st to 49th minute in Croke park in the semi final replay from 2005. We had taken a very comfortable lead following an earlier Stephen O'Neill penalty and were 1-11 to 0-06 up in the 40th minute. Cue a run of five Dublin scores from Keaney, Quinn and Shane Ryan and the roof was in danger of collapsing around us. The wall of noise was spectacular. The dubs dreams were dashed in the most clinical fashion by the one and only Mugsy. Who can forget the stare into the hill after cracking the ball past Cluxton. Tyrone go on to wrap up a comfortable win in the end with Dessie Farrell marking his last game the Dubs colours with a goal in the dying moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx3633ea-4I

We meet again. From a personal point of view this was an absolute killer, I had a holiday booked with mates to the S France and ended up in a resort without a single Irish bar (who knew that this was even possible!) Having to rely on the aul boy texting me through score updates tested my inner resolve in a way that I had never encountered. Got the text to say Tyrone equalise through S Sweeney in dying seconds and as the minutes pass the heart rate sails north of 150bpm. The phone beeps and we know this is it, either draw or someone will be hitting the floor hard. "CANAVAN WINS IT FOR TYRONE YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAA" if memory serves me right that was the message Verbatim. Cue four pasty white boys jumping, roaring and singing in a random street in S France with a host of confused locals watching on.

Kerry demolish Cork in the other semi to set up a grudge match on the third Sunday of September. Completely biased here but for me it has to be 2005.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/4213584.stm

Forgetting the drama in the months before, the final itself could arguably be described as one of the greatest of the modern era. Kerry's early goal rocked us back but we came back strong throughout the 1st half which culminated in Canavan's goal and McGuigan's quick fire point to go in leading at half time. I still remember the feeling in the pit of my stomach when Tomas lashed the ball into the roof of the net and thinking that we're f**ked but we dealt with it and prevailed in the end. Watching the youtube clip back reminded me how fortunate that Kerry goal was, two shots by O'Se and Brosan superbly blocked and each time it couldn't have landed better for the Kerry attacker. There was a higher power wearing green and gold that day , for sure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox3JvP4OxZ4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-36510172

Fifty now confirmed dead following mass shooting at a Gay nightclub. Shooter confirmed as an American citizen of Afghan heritage. Absolutely tragic, may they all rest in peace.

Second thoughts after the victims is what will this do for the presidency race? Trump will be all over this like a leetch.

Time to move on from the McKenna cup. Great to get a head of steam built up moving into the league and to test out some of the young lads in a decent atmosphere. I have been most impressed by our willingness to keep going to the end and turning over a relatively experienced Derry team twice when it looked like all was lost.

Nearly impossible to call the starting 15 on Sunday. My best guess is:

Morgan
HP McGeary
McNamee
McCrory (is he available?)
Harte
McMahon
T McCann
C Cavanagh
M Donnelly
McAliskey
Meyler
Sludden
McCurry
S Cavanagh
L Brennan

So many options to pick from though.

Here we go, they'll be frothing at the mouth to get one over on us. We'll need to be wary of the cynical Tipp philosophy of football, they'll try anything to stop our flow.

Hopefully football wins out.

Looking some advice here. My brother just contacted me to say he ran into the back of someone today in his Car. His problem is his MOT ran out at start of the week and his test is tomorrow afternoon. Silly eejit, I know. Will the insurance company automatically run an MOT check or would they ask you to provide the cert if required? I ask this as I had a prang 3 years ago (my fault) and the cclaim went through without any details been asked of me apart from the other parties contact details etc. To sort out their mechanic.

The great man is 30 years dead today. He sang so many clasic songs it's incredibly difficult to choose a favourite.

There'll be some session going on wherever he is.

http://youtu.be/P1vpdsEb_30he

A thread dedicated to those with terriblegrammaritus who require help with those apostrophe, spelling and punctuation c**k ups.

Here's an article that confirms there are other grammar enforcement officers in this world other than our own Hardy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22403731

P.s. Feel free to tear my own grammar etc to shreds.

Will this be a repeat of last year when Kildare ambushed us in the final? Will Kildare have their u-21s available or is the final the week after?

I'm sure we'll see a much improved 1st half performance by Tyrone following the catastrophic first 35 minutes yesterday.

I think we'll see:

Morgan
McCrory (i think someone else should be here instead though)
Justy
McCarron
Joe
Gormley
Clarke
Cavanagh 1
Cavanagh 2
Mark Donnelly
Peter Harte
Penrose
McAliskey
SoN
McCurry