Tyrone v Down USFC Semi Final Sat 19th June

[sandwiches_in_the_boot]

Memories of a bygone age for Down, before MH, before tactics and before the breed of 97/98 for Tyrone.

http://bit.ly/aWpafF

[mylestheslasher]

Good show from Tyrone, really turned the screw on Down in the 2nd half. Hard to know why Down collapsed so badly. Have to say was very disappointed in Clarke, heard so much and this is the 1st real chance I had to see him.

Think if Monaghan get to the final they will have a good chance of beating Tyrone, they are showing some weaknesses that were not there before imo.

[sandwiches_in_the_boot]

Two years later and a certain man from north Tyrone is on the scene...

http://bit.ly/cKbfmI

What a pass from Sucky!

[anportmorforjfc]

Good win for tyrone, won today playing about 70% of what they are cabable of. Thought Penrose played some stuff same with dooher 2 cracker points. Good to see that they can win and win well without o'neill. As for down not scoring from play for 44 mins and scoring 2 points in the second half won't win you any ulster championship game especially against tyrone. Thought the ref gave out a few bookings that were harsh but he wasnt as bad as he can be  . IMO neither monaghan or fermanagh will beat tyrone!!

[Club Rossa]

Penrose was excellent today and Tyrone also had very good performances from the McMahons and Dermot Carlin.

[Catch the high ball]

To be honest I thought that nobody played well apart from maybe Maginn and McArdle. Can't believe Poland and Marty missed those 2 very easy free's.

[omagh_gael]

Well done Tyrone, think that game will bring them on immensely. Obviously would have prefered to have shown a bit more scoring wise but we'll be happy enough to save that for later in the year.

Packie: Made two great saves to keep Down at bay in both halves. Kickouts were ok, baring a loose one early in the
first half which lead to a Down point. Certain of the No 1 jersey in the final barring injury. 8/10

Swift: Put in a steady shift, looked a but umcomfortable in
first 20 mins but so did a lot of the back six. Taken off, possibly due to being on a yellow. 6/10

Justy: Another steady shift, whether he was on Gordon or Coulter kept them very quiet. No lung busting runs out of defence but will be more than pleased with his performance. 7/10

Dermy: My MOTM from the back 6, got through a mountain of work and made some great runs up field taking the pressure off the defence also bagging his first point from play. 7.5/10.

Petey: Surprisingly played a defensive role for first 15/20 mind and appeared to be lost. Moved up the field opperating as the spare man and got his hands on a lot of ball. Will be happy with his full debut. 6.5/10.

Block: Another steady Eddie, done all that was asked off him and done it with little fuss. Will be happy to get 70 competitive mins under his belt. 6/10.

Jordan: Done well overall, over ran in first 20 but not really his fault with the Down men piling through from MF. A stereotypically solid 6/10 performance.

Hughes: Very subdued first half, all at sea for the first 20 mins but gradually played his way into the game. Superb catch under pressure under the posts in the 2nd half. 6/10.

Colm Cav: Similarily to hub was all at sea in the first quarter. Down completely destroyed them for first 20 mins but came more into it for last 3/4's of the game. Silly yellow card early in 2nd half could have left us in bother if he'd been given a red. 6/10.

Dooher: Like a fine wine, matures with age. Plays the game like a young buck getting his first start. Harried, hassled, ran himself into the ground and fired over a few beauties. Very close to MOTM award. 8/10.

Sean Cav: Put in a good shift, scored his usual spectacular score and moved around various positions depending on what was needed off him. Solid if not spectacular overall performance. 7/10.

Joey: As expected played most of his football was played in the defence. A real Rolls Royce of a player who very rarely looses possesion or takes the wrong option. Scored the point of the day along with putting the shackles on various Down danger men through out the afternoon. Another man very close to MOTM. 8/10.

Mugsy: A funny day out for Mugsy, very little ball made it to him in the FF line and couldn't get into the game in 1st half. Came into it more in the 2nd roving further out the field to get his hands on the ball and scored his trade mark shimmy point. 6.5/10.

SoN: Touched the ball once before retiring with a heel injury. Not on long enough to be rated, hopefully should be fit for the final.

Penrose: Got through a trojan amount of work and also caped off the day with the top scorer award (0-05). Was all over the pitch between hassling Down men in the Tyrone corner back position to winning break ball in the middle. Gets my vote for MOTM in light of his 5 points and just pips Dooher, Joey and BMcG to the award. 8.5/10.

Subs

B Mc Guigan: Entered the field in the 12th minute and was back to his vintage best. Really calms things down and 8/10 times chooses the right option. Not as potent in front of the posts as he used to be but was involved in a lot of the Tyrone scores. Great to see him back, will push very hard for a starting spot next day out. 8/10.

Red Sean: Done well when he came on, made some good breaks up field and was steady in his defensive duties. 6/10

Rest of subs not on long enough to be rated.

[dodgy umpire]

Two of our biggest names, Clarke and Gordon, were poor. Why Dan didn't bend his back instead of trying to soccer it into the net is beyond me

[OverThePostsAWide]

That's a good wee interview by Niblock. Where's he from?

Magherafelt. He's a full cousin of Kevin (St Gall's) and David (Nemo Rangers) I believe? He does a good job (notwithstanding his Cavan slip up - a mistake of the "in recent times" variety rather than "6 counties", I think  )

[Maguire01]

Went up to Casement as a neutral and have to say it will be a while before I am at a football match again, that was hard to watch.

You sure you were neutral?

Absolutely !

Me too. Great first half. Second half was painful to watch.

[020304 Tir Eoghain]

Two of our biggest names, Clarke and Gordon, were poor. Why Dan didn't bend his back instead of trying to soccer it into the net is beyond me

Benny wasnt great either.

[Any craic]

Turning point. http://www.youtube.com/user/UlsterGAA//
Big Pascal proved his worth, as he did when he came in at the last minute in the 2008 AIF and saved late on.

[Maguire01]

Turning point. http://www.youtube.com/user/UlsterGAA//
Big Pascal proved his worth, as he did when he came in at the last minute in the 2008 AIF and saved late on.

To be fair, he shot it straight at him - the keeper had nothing much to do.

[Maguire01]

I can't understand how Down only made 3 subs and how 2 of them were made so late on. Surely that's poor from a management point of view, given what was happening? Or do Down just not have any options?

[020304 Tir Eoghain]

Did they call out the attendance today? What was it?