Tyrone County Football and Hurling

[WT4E]

Did I see Johnny Munroe togged out when the camera panned to bench???

[Dire Ear]

Think he was in the crowd

[macca123]

Did I see Johnny Munroe togged out when the camera panned to bench???

Nope you did not, was chatting to him after the game which he was at with his friends

[tothetop03]

Did I see Johnny Munroe togged out when the camera panned to bench???

Nope you did not, was chatting to him after the game which he was at with his friends

Pity i really had high hopes for Munroe...

[Fuzzman]

Interesting take on proceedings by Cahair O'Kane.
I'm amazed to read some people saying that Tyrone did nothing different on Sunday but I think they tried several different tactics. Our usual hand passing game wasn't very evident as we kick passed a lot more.

THE hype machine has propelled Tyrone from being a team with no forwards on Sunday morning to All-Ireland champions-in-waiting by sun down.

But as with most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

This is a team that was in complete control against Dublin at Croke Park in February until Mark Bradley got sent off in the second half, that beat Monaghan the following week, yet would have needed bullet-proof glass to keep themselves sheltered from the reckless firing at them over the last two months.

The way they ended the National League was all the convincing people needed.

Tyrone have no forwards. They don't commit to the attack. They've learnt nothing from last year.

And even though they scored 0-22 against Derry, it was still a relatively unconvincing performance that did nothing to curtail the critics' enthusiasm.

It seems obvious now that they were actually toying with the Oak Leafers, so confident that they'd win the game that they saw no need to show their hand.

Yet anyone studying Tyrone's performances this year would have seen the blueprint that they broke out of the box on Sunday being prepared.

Even the night they were well beaten in Ballybofey in the League was telling. As Tyrone's players and management fretted over the lack of showers in MacCumhaill Park on a Baltic night, there seemed less angst about having lost the game.

Mickey Harte stood at the side of the away changing room door almost totally non-plussed, smiling even, in his post-match interview.

Sean Cavanagh was happy to talk Donegal up on to the list of contenders for silverware.

While Donegal were psyched for a significant league win, Tyrone were looking at the bigger picture.

Cavanagh was one of several players that had a spell at full-forward that night. Peter Harte, Mattie Donnelly and Niall Sludden were all inside at various times as well.

The style was direct but a poor imitation of what we saw on Sunday.

Conditions were atrocious and so was Tyrone's supply of ball inside. Everything they kicked in broke down.

But through the torrential rain, they continued to chisel at it.

The precision just wasn't there. It had been three years since they'd tried to consistently play like that. It was going to take time.

The National League for Tyrone was the breeding ground for everything that came to pass on Sunday. They'd only play that way for a half here and a half there, careful to put all the pieces together away from plain sight.

And on Sunday, it all came together.

The sunshine, the glorious green sward, the lack of any meaningful wind, it all suited the style of play Tyrone brought to Clones.

All that 50-50 ball they'd kicked in Ballybofey had become 70-30 ball. One hop into space kind of ball that a forward like Mark Bradley loves.

It's a myth that they have been completely immune to the idea of kicking over the last three years.

They set out to kick against Mayo last year but grew frustrated and confused by its failure to work.

Mayo were happy after 15 minutes that Brendan Harrison had the measure of Ronan O'Neill. The green and red shirts were able to defend in a different shape.

Their spare men were able to push out and make tackles on the runners. Kevin McLoughlin, having struggled all summer to cut ball out, didn't need to any more. He pushed out and made tackles on his own 45 all day.

Tyrone didn't kick the ball because kicking it wasn't working. It was coming straight back and allowing Mayo to hammer them on the counter-attack.

Critical to the whole venture on Sunday, and now the rest of the summer, was Mark Bradley. He lost the first two balls but won everything else and pulled Donegal around with his corner-to-corner runs.

They had to protect against him because he was giving Paddy McGrath bother. That Tyrone were prepared to use those runs and feed him the ball in turn opened the space for Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte and Niall Sludden in particular.

Donegal were the first team to see the full jigsaw and they didn't know what to do. They ended up neither covering their full-back line nor coming out to meet runners. They did nothing as Tyrone ran in 1-21 and missed five clear goal chances.

They've hit a record 1-43 in two games but Sunday was one of those days when absolutely everything Tyrone kicked went over the bar.

No matter were it from the sideline, from the corner flag, from 50 yards, one after the other the shots sailed between Mark Anthony McGinley's posts.

Monaghan, should they beat Down, will look at it and see a lack of defensive pressure on the shot, and rightly so. You can be sure Darren Hughes and Gavin Doogan won't be sitting back in the pocket watching Mattie Donnelly and Niall Sludden stroll about picking off scores.

Missing five goal chances removes their performance from the 'perfect' bracket and moves into the 'very, very good' box.

Does anyone think that if they get through Saturday night, Malachy O'Rourke won't be sitting lapping up all this hype as he ruggedly prepares one of Ireland's meanest defences to face a team that's ruined its All-Ireland dreams twice?

Tyrone would not blitz Monaghan the way they blitzed Donegal. They aren't going to railroad all in their path to win the All-Ireland. It's conceivable that they won't even win Ulster.

If they go out on July 16 and it's teeming from the heavens and there's a gale blowing towards Monaghan town, they will have to adapt all over again.

For the first time, they look as though they'll be able to.

And for that reason, they will be very definitely in the mix for serious silverware.

[Il Bomber Destro]

Interesting take on proceedings by Cahair O'Kane.
I'm amazed to read some people saying that Tyrone did nothing different on Sunday but I think they tried several different tactics. Our usual hand passing game wasn't very evident as we kick passed a lot more.

THE hype machine has propelled Tyrone from being a team with no forwards on Sunday morning to All-Ireland champions-in-waiting by sun down.

But as with most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

This is a team that was in complete control against Dublin at Croke Park in February until Mark Bradley got sent off in the second half, that beat Monaghan the following week, yet would have needed bullet-proof glass to keep themselves sheltered from the reckless firing at them over the last two months.

The way they ended the National League was all the convincing people needed.

Tyrone have no forwards. They don't commit to the attack. They've learnt nothing from last year.

And even though they scored 0-22 against Derry, it was still a relatively unconvincing performance that did nothing to curtail the critics' enthusiasm.

It seems obvious now that they were actually toying with the Oak Leafers, so confident that they'd win the game that they saw no need to show their hand.

Yet anyone studying Tyrone's performances this year would have seen the blueprint that they broke out of the box on Sunday being prepared.

Even the night they were well beaten in Ballybofey in the League was telling. As Tyrone's players and management fretted over the lack of showers in MacCumhaill Park on a Baltic night, there seemed less angst about having lost the game.

Mickey Harte stood at the side of the away changing room door almost totally non-plussed, smiling even, in his post-match interview.

Sean Cavanagh was happy to talk Donegal up on to the list of contenders for silverware.

While Donegal were psyched for a significant league win, Tyrone were looking at the bigger picture.

Cavanagh was one of several players that had a spell at full-forward that night. Peter Harte, Mattie Donnelly and Niall Sludden were all inside at various times as well.

The style was direct but a poor imitation of what we saw on Sunday.

Conditions were atrocious and so was Tyrone's supply of ball inside. Everything they kicked in broke down.

But through the torrential rain, they continued to chisel at it.

The precision just wasn't there. It had been three years since they'd tried to consistently play like that. It was going to take time.

The National League for Tyrone was the breeding ground for everything that came to pass on Sunday. They'd only play that way for a half here and a half there, careful to put all the pieces together away from plain sight.

And on Sunday, it all came together.

The sunshine, the glorious green sward, the lack of any meaningful wind, it all suited the style of play Tyrone brought to Clones.

All that 50-50 ball they'd kicked in Ballybofey had become 70-30 ball. One hop into space kind of ball that a forward like Mark Bradley loves.

It's a myth that they have been completely immune to the idea of kicking over the last three years.

They set out to kick against Mayo last year but grew frustrated and confused by its failure to work.

Mayo were happy after 15 minutes that Brendan Harrison had the measure of Ronan O'Neill. The green and red shirts were able to defend in a different shape.

Their spare men were able to push out and make tackles on the runners. Kevin McLoughlin, having struggled all summer to cut ball out, didn't need to any more. He pushed out and made tackles on his own 45 all day.

Tyrone didn't kick the ball because kicking it wasn't working. It was coming straight back and allowing Mayo to hammer them on the counter-attack.

Critical to the whole venture on Sunday, and now the rest of the summer, was Mark Bradley. He lost the first two balls but won everything else and pulled Donegal around with his corner-to-corner runs.

They had to protect against him because he was giving Paddy McGrath bother. That Tyrone were prepared to use those runs and feed him the ball in turn opened the space for Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte and Niall Sludden in particular.

Donegal were the first team to see the full jigsaw and they didn't know what to do. They ended up neither covering their full-back line nor coming out to meet runners. They did nothing as Tyrone ran in 1-21 and missed five clear goal chances.

They've hit a record 1-43 in two games but Sunday was one of those days when absolutely everything Tyrone kicked went over the bar.

No matter were it from the sideline, from the corner flag, from 50 yards, one after the other the shots sailed between Mark Anthony McGinley's posts.

Monaghan, should they beat Down, will look at it and see a lack of defensive pressure on the shot, and rightly so. You can be sure Darren Hughes and Gavin Doogan won't be sitting back in the pocket watching Mattie Donnelly and Niall Sludden stroll about picking off scores.

Missing five goal chances removes their performance from the 'perfect' bracket and moves into the 'very, very good' box.

Does anyone think that if they get through Saturday night, Malachy O'Rourke won't be sitting lapping up all this hype as he ruggedly prepares one of Ireland's meanest defences to face a team that's ruined its All-Ireland dreams twice?

Tyrone would not blitz Monaghan the way they blitzed Donegal. They aren't going to railroad all in their path to win the All-Ireland. It's conceivable that they won't even win Ulster.

If they go out on July 16 and it's teeming from the heavens and there's a gale blowing towards Monaghan town, they will have to adapt all over again.

For the first time, they look as though they'll be able to.

And for that reason, they will be very definitely in the mix for serious silverware.

We kicked the ball because we were allowed kick it, there was plenty of space for Bradley to run into.

[redhandefender]

We have not changed, we have just got better at what we are doing, there was space to kick to and our big players stepped up.

People who are saying we have changed are those slobbering that we needed to change and are now trying to vindicate their position.

This board has got an awful lot quieter the last few days

[seanmc123]

Where are the haters now ? f**king hiding that's where. Stay there please and don't come back

[Norf Tyrone]

Morgan took serious time taking his kick outs on Sunday. Nothing was rushed. Tyrone also mixed their tactics much more.

The tactics were definately different. The confusing thing for me is how did that make us much more lethal in front of the posts. Had we more time and space? Didn't seem like it. Where we more confident? Perhaps.

[Fuzzman]

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Norf in that we mixed it up a hell of a lot more.
We went from being a robotic machine where everyone knew we would take short kick outs, we would run the ball all the time, we would concede the short kick outs to a style of we'll play it as we see it and sometimes we'll run it and sometimes we'll kick it in to Bradley or whoever was in. I often saw Petey playing in FF as well.

I think Bradley's movement inside from corner to corner kept Donegal guessing to would we kick it in and if so to which side or would we run it. We were hitting a lot more diagonal balls in as well which we don't usually do.

I think it's crazy some people can't see we definitely played quite different to how we usually do but maybe part of that was because Donegal pushed up a lot more on our kickouts so we bypassed half their team with long kickouts.

Down will be a lot more prepared for that now of course. 

[EastTyrone]

Morgan took serious time taking his kick outs on Sunday. Nothing was rushed. Tyrone also mixed their tactics much more.

The tactics were definately different. The confusing thing for me is how did that make us much more lethal in front of the posts. Had we more time and space? Didn't seem like it. Where we more confident? Perhaps.

He only took his time after Tyrone got on top. In most of the first half, they where out within 5-6 seconds and resulted in the first goal chance for Sean Cavanagh. If you watch the game back, the replays where still showing while Morgan had the ball already in play. He had no reason to rush them once the game was in their hands.
All in all, his kickouts where impressive on the day.

[square_ball]

The replays were driving me nuts on Sunday missed so much action cos BBC were playing several replays. Maybe I should just jump on the bandwagon now and go to the final at least I'll see everything!

[Tyrone Gaa]

The replays were driving me nuts on Sunday missed so much action cos BBC were playing several replays. Maybe I should just jump on the bandwagon now and go to the final at least I'll see everything!

You answered my point.  Get to the game and you wont be relying on a producer or an editor.  Then when you come home you can watch the Sunday game for analysis

[redhandefender]

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Norf in that we mixed it up a hell of a lot more.
We went from being a robotic machine where everyone knew we would take short kick outs, we would run the ball all the time, we would concede the short kick outs to a style of we'll play it as we see it and sometimes we'll run it and sometimes we'll kick it in to Bradley or whoever was in. I often saw Petey playing in FF as well.

I think Bradley's movement inside from corner to corner kept Donegal guessing to would we kick it in and if so to which side or would we run it. We were hitting a lot more diagonal balls in as well which we don't usually do.

I think it's crazy some people can't see we definitely played quite different to how we usually do but maybe part of that was because Donegal pushed up a lot more on our kickouts so we bypassed half their team with long kickouts.

Down will be a lot more prepared for that now of course. 

Nonsense, they did not play different, things clicked and Donegal were poor, simple as. I think you are saying the played different based on kicking more. They will always kick if it is on just won't take stupid chances. That is the only thing you are basing it on.

[Redhand Santa]

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Norf in that we mixed it up a hell of a lot more.
We went from being a robotic machine where everyone knew we would take short kick outs, we would run the ball all the time, we would concede the short kick outs to a style of we'll play it as we see it and sometimes we'll run it and sometimes we'll kick it in to Bradley or whoever was in. I often saw Petey playing in FF as well.

I think Bradley's movement inside from corner to corner kept Donegal guessing to would we kick it in and if so to which side or would we run it. We were hitting a lot more diagonal balls in as well which we don't usually do.

I think it's crazy some people can't see we definitely played quite different to how we usually do but maybe part of that was because Donegal pushed up a lot more on our kickouts so we bypassed half their team with long kickouts.

Down will be a lot more prepared for that now of course. 

Nonsense, they did not play different, things clicked and Donegal were poor, simple as. I think you are saying the played different based on kicking more. They will always kick if it is on just won't take stupid chances. That is the only thing you are basing it on.

Pushing up on the opposition kickout and a focus on winning primary possession around the middle was definitely a shift from previous years. In terms of attacking we definitely pushing forward quicker than in last years games v Donegal and Mayo. But as I said previously on the board we had scored heavily in the games before that and attacked more in numbers but struggled against the big teams to get the balance correct.