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

[David McKeown]

I disagree Darbyo, tactics and the manager can make a huge difference in games

Don't get me wrong tactics and the manager do have a role and can make a difference but once players cross that white line they are on their own. For example you'll often hear that a manager won the game by the switches he made, but sometimes you put on a sub (Cian Ward V Dublin) and he makes a massive difference and other times you put on a sub (Cian Ward today) and he makes little difference, it's hit and miss more often than not.
                 Some of you guy's are saying that MH made no allowances for Tyrones failings under the high ball but surely McMahon was put back there because of that failing, that it didn't entirely work out is hardly the managers fault. All I'm saying is that Tyrone weren't beaten on the line today but on the pitch and you lads have more reason than most to be optimistic over the next few years

After the Ulster final Mc Mahon was always going to be put back there but unlike Kerry, Meath have three big target men in the full forward line and Mickey seemed to fail to recognise this until nearly half time, which surprised me greatly as i always respected MH for his ability to make difficult decisions quickly.  Also I was surprised to see Mulligan stay on having hit so many wides but what i was even more surprised at, was that after missing three free kicks, Mulligan still took two free kicks within the last 10 or so minutes and again missed them.  To me MH should have been telling someone else to take them.  Likewise allowing O'Neill to take that 50 after two poor misses and barely being on the pitch was also a strange decision although I will accept this may only be strange in hiensight. I have also mentioned how poor a decision i felt it was to start Dooher.

I will though agree that Tyrone have a lot to be optimistic about in the coming years

[ONeill]

I don't think subbing Mulligan was a viable option. As with the quarter 2 years ago, he came to life in the second half, scoring 1-1 and probably should have added 0-4 to that. Mugsy was showing for the ball but things weren't just happening for him. At least he kept at it. He's a class forward and no worse than Mellon and Cavlan yesterday. Cavlan should've been subbed long before that - he doesn't seem to have the stomach for the battle any more and starts to give away silly ball from short frees and play when tired and marked well.

There were only 2 points in it at the end. Take Cavanagh's goal chance (often fists those over but was so off his game that he'd tried to overcompensate with goals), his missed efforts at points as well as Mulligan's wides from play and frees as well as O'Neill's 2 efforts at the end and you can see how close we were to reaching an AISF having played so poorly.

All ifs and buts. A bad day on the field and sideline.

Tyrone haven't put two back-to-back good performances since 2005. Hate to say it but the Canavan things will continue to raise its head.....

[Sandy Hill]

losing sheer quality like O'Neill, Dooher and McGuigan is just too much for any team to bear.

Is it any worse than losing quality like Clarke, Mallon and Bellew?

[Maguire01]

losing sheer quality like O'Neill, Dooher and McGuigan is just too much for any team to bear.

Is it any worse than losing quality like Clarke, Mallon and Bellew?

Probably not, but next year Armagh may well have those guys back - but they're also likely to have a number of retirements too. Tyrone may lose Dooher and Cavlan, but otherwise i'd say they'd have a massive team again if they got McGuigan and O'Neill back.

[tyroneman]

Tyroneman being so childish after Armaghs defeat.

Don't remember that but will stand corrected if true....................

Anyhow - yesterdays game:

Meath:
1. Well done Meath, had a gameplan, stuck to it and much hungrier
2. Bray looks good player
3. Held scoreless for so long in 2nd half = worrying for those Meath fans who think AI is possible
4. GG = still a tr**p
5. Off the ball blocking of Cavanagh worked to a tee. Every run he made he was checked at least twice.
6. (Minority of) Fans could use a lesson in class

Tyrone:
1. Ricey is finished as a man marker - has been evident all year. Used his mouth and reputation to try and cover this. Would still do a great job sweeping or playing in half back line though as his football brain and skill is still there.

2. Mugsy is never going to be a leader. Needs SON / Canavan / AN Other to take the heat off. If he had've bagged the first fre or a point after his goal his entrie minset would prob have changed - he didn't, it didn't - history.

3.MH too slow to make changes at back. Bray dealt with fine after Ricey moved off him. IMHO it was more often the diagonal ball into space for  that kept beating Ricey - not the high ball. Interestingly I have heard from a few sources that the Fermanagh defence didnlt rate meath FF line at all - especailly Bray - felt all you had to do was show him wide and keep on his weak foot -pity we didn't listen.

4. Mulgrew = class act. Our best player by a country mile. Will be immense for Tyrone.

5. Devine - poor /slow kick outs -hurt us too many times

6. The fact that Mugsy (all game) and Ger (60min) stayed on so long obviously says MH has no confdence in the rest of the forward options. Prob because most would be too slight to compete
against Meath.

7. Thought McCaul did alright for starting debut -just me?

8. We will be back.

[tyronechap]

still gutted bout yesterday cant remeber tyrone playin that bad muggys was shocking ricey looked tired oneil ok just come back but wasting good chances devine get away get paki back in goals tyrone man of match only one mulgrew class yesterday he had the fight but he was the only one o well lads always next year

my prediction kerry vs meath final kerry 2 win it

[Main Street]

Whatever about the rights and wrongs of starting Dooher, it did not effect Tyrone on the day.
They were by some miracle only 2pts behiind at HT.
After he went off Tyrone played better.
In the second half they had enough fire, enough will and enough good midfield possession to win that game.
IMO Harte got it right after the game by stating the very very obvious, Tyrone missed too many easy chances.

It was a credit to Mulligan's pedigree that he was left on. The 2nd half, goal apart, was a nightmare for him.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

First off, congratulations to Meath, any other result than a victory for Meath yesterday would have been a travesty (and well done Mannix, you were just 1 point out  ).

Regarding Tyrone, very few of our lads played up to anything like the required standard (Mc Cullagh, Mulgrew, Cavanagh, Gormley, and a promising debut for Mc Caul). We were one or two metres behind the Meath lads for almost every ball. The Donegal game, and the peformance therein, already looks like a different era. We kicked a surfeit of very scorable wides, but so did Meath. Still not convinced about Meath, some great individual talents (great goal by Geraghty, who stayed very composed when lesser individuals might have panicked and fluffed their lines), but I'd feel that there's a little too much mediocrity in too many areas. Look forward to the Cork-Meath clash now; Cork didn't show up yesterday, but then they didn't have to. Sligo took stage-fright it would appear, and when the talismanic O'Hara spent most of the game arms akimbo on the half-way line you had an idea that their ambitions would be severely restricted.

The truth is that we would have struggled against any one of the four qualifiers yesterday.

[Jinxy]

We had to take off Peadar Byrne at half-time as he had been booked and was on a ticking. We brought on a wing-back to replace him. This meant that we lost a good bit of attacking drive from the half forward line (Byrne had a very good first half kicking 1 savage point). As a result it almost seemed as if we were inviting Tyrone onto us. We lost a lot of the momentum we had in the first half and the quality of ball going in to the inside forwards wasn't as good. The players and management will have learned from this as they are learning from every game we play this year. I know there are plenty of people here who don't think we are up to much, but we have a very young team that are still learning their trade. Better to learn while winning games than to learn from losing them. Next year, if everyone stays fit we will have the best FF line in the country, a top 3 centre-back and full-back (Fayser IS getting on a bit ), a top 2 goalkeeper and some excellent u-21 defenders coming through. We also need to unearth another midfielder. We have a couple more lads who should make the step up from last years minor team too, i.e. Alan Nestor and Graham Reilly. All in all, I'm quite happy that we are in the process of building a serious team. A team that is going to be around for some time.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Congrats Meath. Decent game, actually thought Tyrone were the better team in the 2nd half but lacked the class with the injuries. Though Harte made a few mistakes with Cavlan at full forward and Devine in nets, also should have had Gormley on Bray much quicker. Wouldnt be too critical and its good he'll be back. Dont think its the end of the road - Dooher is the only key player over 30. Rest are all at their peak and we must be due a bit of luck with injuries next year. Mulgrew has some potential.  People are criticisng Harte for playing Dooher but if you watch the game he was much more effective than his replacement McGinley. Colm Cavanagh at 6'3 should have replaced Hughes. Had a good second half against Donegal and hasnt been seen since. Wouldnt rule Meath out and contrary to what some are saying theyre a good team with lots of scoring forwards. Also think its been a decent championship but Sligo game was terrible. No decent forwards.

[corn02]

I don't understand the critism of checking Cavanaghs run, it happens in every game across the Country. It is a part of senior football.

[agorm]

We had to take off Peadar Byrne at half-time as he had been booked and was on a ticking. We brought on a wing-back to replace him. This meant that we lost a good bit of attacking drive from the half forward line (Byrne had a very good first half kicking 1 savage point). As a result it almost seemed as if we were inviting Tyrone onto us. We lost a lot of the momentum we had in the first half and the quality of ball going in to the inside forwards wasn't as good. The players and management will have learned from this as they are learning from every game we play this year. I know there are plenty of people here who don't think we are up to much, but we have a very young team that are still learning their trade. Better to learn while winning games than to learn from losing them. Next year, if everyone stays fit we will have the best FF line in the country, a top 3 centre-back and full-back (Fayser IS getting on a bit ), a top 2 goalkeeper and some excellent u-21 defenders coming through. We also need to unearth another midfielder. We have a couple more lads who should make the step up from last years minor team too, i.e. Alan Nestor and Graham Reilly. All in all, I'm quite happy that we are in the process of building a serious team. A team that is going to be around for some time.

Jinxy, I actually was a bit surprised at how little credit Meath have got from a lot of the posters here. They were playing one of the top three sides in the country( albeit minus some great players). Remember Meath were short two defenders as well but made no issue of that. I thiought that Mickey Harte could have given some credit to Meath after the game and as was rightly pointed out in the studio his claim of wides costing them was not the whole story as Meath had more wides.
Regarding Peader Byrne, I thought his first yellow was harsh but it was definitely the correct decision to replace him and the obvious option of Curran/ McLoughlin was passed over in favour of Kenny. At the end of the day, even though we sacrificed attacking options by doing that the proof is in the pudding and we "drew" the second period and tremendous credit must go to Colm, Tommy and Dudley for making the calls. Also, I thought that mcGuinness and O' Connor did well - another well done to them and the management.
Darren Fay is getting loads of well deserved praise but I thought that King and McKeigue worked their socks off throughout as did our midfield. That is how I believe we won this game. The players such as Fay, Moyles, Bray etc. that had played well all season stepped up to the mark once again but what made the difference from previous games was that in this and the galway game the whole team stepped up to the mark and we were not relying on a half dozen guys to get us through.
Key moment? - Two key moments for me. Mulligan's failure to sow it in to us with another point after the goal and then of course Geraghty's goal. People are terming it as a mark of genius and also saying that he acted the thug on Cavanagh. Maybe they are right but if anyone had the correct title of a biography it is him - Misunderstood. I need to look at the cavanagh incident again, Geraghty is no saint as we all know but we also know that he is a tireless worker and a big game player and works even harder in the big games. It was a warm humid day and he is not getting any younger and this could have affected his timing.

What now for both teams? Tyrone can come back even stronger for this. They do need to look a bit more to the future and identify their options in case O' Neill & Doooher dont come back to the same level. I heard that McGuigan's injury is serious - however he should be fresh when he comes back and tyrone must have the talent coming through for Mickey to tweak and freshen the team next year. I know that Meath would not relish playing them again next year as would any other county.

Regarding Meath, they have exceeded expectations at this stage. Previous to this in the qualifiers I just wanted Coyler & co. to develop a team for next year but now that they are in the semis then all out effort must be made to try and win it now. Cork will be formidable and no better manager in the country to know Meath football than Billy Morgan. All to play for in the semi and the team that wants it the most will probably shade it. Longer term, hopefully all the players will stay around for another year and try and win Leinster and build up again from there.

[Jinxy]

I thought King was absolutely superb as well. He's getting better with every game. I also thought there was nothing in the GG/Cavanagh incident. Watched it again as I'd recorded the match. If it was anyone else other than Graham no remarks would have been passed.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Fair summary there agorm, and I wouldn't be too pessimistic about ourselves, despite the inevitable loss of the older players. Mulgrew was majestic, such class now melding well with senior match craft, and Mc Cullagh's getting better and better, to name but two of the up-and-comers.

1996: 9 points beating
2007: 2 points beating
20??: 5 points win... elementary really 

[ziggysego]

Fair summary there agorm, and I wouldn't be too pessimistic about ourselves, despite the inevitable loss of the older players. Mulgrew was majestic, such class now melding well with senior match craft, and Mc Cullagh's getting better and better, to name but two of the up-and-comers.

1996: 9 points beating
2007: 2 points beating
20??: 5 points win... elementary really 

2018