Tyrone County Football and Hurling

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Can you go between the nally and the hill. Have 1 for nally and been offered for hill but no point takin it if the cub cant be side me

Nah they have stewards between them.

Yep, not possible.

[Hereiam]

Anyone a Nally ticket for sale. PM me please

[inroundthesquare]

1. Stephen Cluxton
2. Philly McMahon
3. Cian O'Sullivan
4. Eoin Murchan
5. John Small
6. Jonny Cooper
7. Jack McCaffrey
8. Brian Fenton
9. James McCarthy
10. Niall Scully
11. Con O'Callaghan
12. Brian Howard
13. Paul Mannion
14. Ciaran Kilkenny
15. Dean Rock

No surprises.. yet anyway

[GaelTheGael]

1. Stephen Cluxton
2. Philly McMahon
3. Cian O'Sullivan
4. Eoin Murchan
5. John Small
6. Jonny Cooper
7. Jack McCaffrey
8. Brian Fenton
9. James McCarthy
10. Niall Scully
11. Con O'Callaghan
12. Brian Howard
13. Paul Mannion
14. Ciaran Kilkenny
15. Dean Rock

No surprises.. yet anyway

1. Stephen Cluxton
2. Philly McMahon - McAliskey
3. Cian O'Sullivan
4. Eoin Murchan - Sludden
5. John Small - Harte
6. Jonny Cooper - Bradley
7. Jack McCaffrey (McGeary/Meyler)
8. Brian Fenton (Mattie Donnelly)
9. James McCarthy
10. Niall Scully
11. Con O'Callaghan
12. Brian Howard
13. Paul Mannion (McKernan)
14. Ciaran Kilkenny (Hampsey)
15. Dean Rock

Id predict those are the main match ups. Hopefully Tyrone otherwise push right up and have a go. Retreating into too much off a defensive shape will end up just being a keep the score down excercise.

[inroundthesquare]

Looking at the game in Omagh we have 2 changes in the team named for Sunday since then:
Kieran McGeary for Meyler (similar position wise)
Mark Bradley for Hugh Pat McGeary

Hampsey played midfield that day of course but overall we have probably a more attacking team lined out now:
3 "up" (Donnelly McAliskey Bradley) instead of 2.

Will Mickey stick with this or will he bring in Meyler for one of Richie or Sparky?
Dublin have a lot of mobile players around the middle - Howard McCaffrey McCarthy etc.

Personally i would like Bradley to start i think he is our most dangerous forward in that he has the skill and pace to take on his man more so than Richie or McAliskey.

[Thebigdog]

Id like to hear the thoughts of the bigdog and southtyronegael on the actual match itself this weekend.  Would like both of them to review it and give what they think the outcome will be.

Forget about Mickey for the time being if that's possible & base your thoughts on the players and how you see it going.  Lets forget about Mickey for a moment and discuss the football match itself.

I thought Conal McCann showed very well when he came on against Monaghan, fielded a lovely ball when the pressure was on in the last ten. I would drop Richard Donnelly put Colm Cavanagh into full forward putting Conal into midfield. We can't afford to let Cooper and McMahon bully our forwards putting Colm in there would be a real statement of intent. If Tyrone have the athleticism and bench to compete with Dublin for 75 mins then let's go man to man. It's just a matter of improving on what Mayo done. It's time Harte showed faith in these players. Let's get tore into them. The f**king about with defensive stuff is pointless against this Dublin team even with one sweeper. It's high risk but it has to be done.

[BennyHarp]

Id like to hear the thoughts of the bigdog and southtyronegael on the actual match itself this weekend.  Would like both of them to review it and give what they think the outcome will be.

Forget about Mickey for the time being if that's possible & base your thoughts on the players and how you see it going.  Lets forget about Mickey for a moment and discuss the football match itself.

I thought Conal McCann showed very well when he came on against Monaghan, fielded a lovely ball when the pressure was on in the last ten. I would drop Richard Donnelly put Colm Cavanagh into full forward putting Conal into midfield. We can't afford to let Cooper and McMahon bully our forwards putting Colm in there would be a real statement of intent. If Tyrone have the athleticism and bench to compete with Dublin for 75 mins then let's go man to man. It's just a matter of improving on what Mayo done. It's time Harte showed faith in these players. Let's get tore into them. The f**king about with defensive stuff is pointless against this Dublin team even with one sweeper. It's high risk but it has to be done.

Have a look at Conal's level of effort shortly after that catch as Monaghan break out. Not good enough, he should be bursting his balls to put a tackle in at that point in such a tight game. Unfortunately that alone would mean he shouldn't be near the team tomorrow for me..

[Baile an tuaigh]

"The unbreakable bond" documentary was arguably for me, one of the best I have ever seen. T na g deserves a huge amount of credit for delivering a true master piece. A master piece that wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the people behind such a remarkable journey. Practically now a days myself I don't even watch tv anymore, I give it minimum attention too much nonsense for my liking. However though, it must be said we as Irish people should be very grateful for Tnags'  contribution to Irish society.

Like I said a few posts back, before my love in with Tyrone started, was the day I heard about Paul McGirr's death on the 15th of June 1997. That was over 21 years ago!  hard to believe but time really dose not want to wait. The documentary was so emotional and for me very very raw. It brought back a lot of memories of following that great bunch of lads. After the loss in the minor final in 1997. I felt like Stephen O Neill at the end of that match. It was a surreal feeling because I'm not from there. But for those of us who would hang around to read the next chapter in these boys lives we were in for a huge surprise. That Tyrone story and Mickey Harte  its author would give us some of the best moments life has to offer as a Gael. At the same time it would give us the hardest knocks life could possibly throw at you. You could also argue that someone who like Mickey Harte who has committed a quarter of a century of his life to the Tyrone cause that things might just happen "naturally". But there was so much uniqueness in each tragedy that even the most gifted of story tellers would be challenged to come up with something so dramatic.

I remember my wife doing a semester back in the day in Queens University. At a time when it probably wasn't advisable to be walking around in GAA gear. But i always remember the Tyrone students  with their club names and celtic crosses on their kit bags. It made me feel good to be in with your "own". Our streets that time were full of British soldiers on patrol, a sense of Irish pride amongst the aggravation. Mean while in North Antrim where I'm from you could have been pulled over for carrying a hurling stick.For a time they even made a law that you couldn't carry a hurl without a sliotar. Something silly like that. But i always thought that where i came from in North Antrim the match day programs for our hurling teams under "occupations" would read like this. Very typically.  Bricklayers, joiners, plasters, farmers some would say they were unemployed not to get caught doing the double. Very few were college educated. Rather than using our heads we were simply happy using our backs because this is what we always done. This has hindered us in different ways. Working physically demanding jobs takes its toll mentally as well as physically. The young Antrim hurler in his prime could be found in a building foundation laying blocks to a line in the gutters soaked and muddied to the eyeballs. While his Tyrone counter part could have been in a warm class room studying the projectory of a ball and learning the science of the game. I don't want to over state that fact and it was only visiting my wife at queens university i made these observations. To be fair and honest I was very envious of these Tyrone lads. I realized at that stage we in North Antrim were doing it all wrong. The way games have evolved you would need to make sure the elevator goes all the way to the top floor. The games are better off for it to, and are generally much cleaner truth be told.Its less and less we see the big agriculture career ending tackles.

I read about Kevin Hughes brothers accident. But to hear Kevin describe it in person for the first time for me I must say it got to me. It meant so much to Kevin that his brother hugged him after the replay win over Kerry. Telling him he played well "I'm proud of you our boy". He just needed that assurance from his brother. You could tell by his voice he was still reliving that precious moment. No one can take it from him. Not really an Irish thing to do is to show emotion, but you could tell it meant so much to Kevin. He will always have that memory to hold onto and maybe a wee lesson there for the rest of us. My God but 1997 must have been a tough year for Kevin Hughes in particular.

Enjoyed listening to Brian McGuigan telling the story how he and Stephen O Neill went through Marion to convince Mickey to stay on another year. Mickey said in his book that he felt he let the team down because he didn't deliver the all Ireland. Probably with Mark being over age in 98 he thought that was it. Like most father son coaches, time to move on with your young boy to the next stage of his development. That decision to stay though was the best ever. And what better assurances can you get than Stephen O Neill and Brian McGuigan and as they say the rest is history.

Mark Harte's story about swapping jerseys with Martin Beckett from Kerry was very moving. How he always wanted to keep his Tyrone jersey but Martin insisted they swap after the semi final. Later on he was glad he did. As Martin died himself in a car accident. A great prospect for Kerry and another young life gone to soon.


What more can you say about Mark Harte, a very tidy corner forward and a fluent Irish speaker a great ambassador for Tyrone.

Listening to the stories about the Omagh bomb and the deaths of 29 people which in reality was 31 people. Michael Monaghan's wife was heavily pregnant with twins. They always wanted six children. He lost his wife who was soon to deliver twins along with his little daughter. Probably one of the worst effected families by the troubles.

The research team of Eamonn and Michael Mallie  along with Stephen O Neills father sharing intimate footage was very powerful. You can tell some amount of work went into putting that all together. I once made a tribute video to Paul and Cormac but found it very hard to get good footage of Paul. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnlL3klciw8
I thought it was classy not to show Paul's collision with the Armagh keeper and it switched over from film footage of the game to radio commentary. Just so well done at all levels.

The footage of a very fresh faced Michela was lovely. I still have a picture of myself,  Michella and Mickey together at home. I wanted to send it to him with a mass card but I could never find out Mickeys address.

That documentary was like a part one it seem to end very abruptly with so much more to tell. I could see a new part to it in the future.

If Tyrone can pull off this All Ireland it would be so fitting.

[SkillfulBill]

"The unbreakable bond" documentary was arguably for me, one of the best I have ever seen. T na g deserves a huge amount of credit for delivering a true master piece. A master piece that wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the people behind such a remarkable journey. Practically now a days myself I don't even watch tv anymore, I give it minimum attention too much nonsense for my liking. However though, it must be said we as Irish people should be very grateful for Tnags'  contribution to Irish society.

Like I said a few posts back, before my love in with Tyrone started, was the day I heard about Paul McGirr's death on the 15th of June 1997. That was over 21 years ago!  hard to believe but time really dose not want to wait. The documentary was so emotional and for me very very raw. It brought back a lot of memories of following that great bunch of lads. After the loss in the minor final in 1997. I felt like Stephen O Neill at the end of that match. It was a surreal feeling because I'm not from there. But for those of us who would hang around to read the next chapter in these boys lives we were in for a huge surprise. That Tyrone story and Mickey Harte  its author would give us some of the best moments life has to offer as a Gael. At the same time it would give us the hardest knocks life could possibly throw at you. You could also argue that someone who like Mickey Harte who has committed a quarter of a century of his life to the Tyrone cause that things might just happen "naturally". But there was so much uniqueness in each tragedy that even the most gifted of story tellers would be challenged to come up with something so dramatic.

I remember my wife doing a semester back in the day in Queens University. At a time when it probably wasn't advisable to be walking around in GAA gear. But i always remember the Tyrone students  with their club names and celtic crosses on their kit bags. It made me feel good to be in with your "own". Our streets that time were full of British soldiers on patrol, a sense of Irish pride amongst the aggravation. Mean while in North Antrim where I'm from you could have been pulled over for carrying a hurling stick.For a time they even made a law that you couldn't carry a hurl without a sliotar. Something silly like that. But i always thought that where i came from in North Antrim the match day programs for our hurling teams under "occupations" would read like this. Very typically.  Bricklayers, joiners, plasters, farmers some would say they were unemployed not to get caught doing the double. Very few were college educated. Rather than using our heads we were simply happy using our backs because this is what we always done. This has hindered us in different ways. Working physically demanding jobs takes its toll mentally as well as physically. The young Antrim hurler in his prime could be found in a building foundation laying blocks to a line in the gutters soaked and muddied to the eyeballs. While his Tyrone counter part could have been in a warm class room studying the projectory of a ball and learning the science of the game. I don't want to over state that fact and it was only visiting my wife at queens university i made these observations. To be fair and honest I was very envious of these Tyrone lads. I realized at that stage we in North Antrim were doing it all wrong. The way games have evolved you would need to make sure the elevator goes all the way to the top floor. The games are better off for it to, and are generally much cleaner truth be told.Its less and less we see the big agriculture career ending tackles.

I read about Kevin Hughes brothers accident. But to hear Kevin describe it in person for the first time for me I must say it got to me. It meant so much to Kevin that his brother hugged him after the replay win over Kerry. Telling him he played well "I'm proud of you our boy". He just needed that assurance from his brother. You could tell by his voice he was still reliving that precious moment. No one can take it from him. Not really an Irish thing to do is to show emotion, but you could tell it meant so much to Kevin. He will always have that memory to hold onto and maybe a wee lesson there for the rest of us. My God but 1997 must have been a tough year for Kevin Hughes in particular.

Enjoyed listening to Brian McGuigan telling the story how he and Stephen O Neill went through Marion to convince Mickey to stay on another year. Mickey said in his book that he felt he let the team down because he didn't deliver the all Ireland. Probably with Mark being over age in 98 he thought that was it. Like most father son coaches, time to move on with your young boy to the next stage of his development. That decision to stay though was the best ever. And what better assurances can you get than Stephen O Neill and Brian McGuigan and as they say the rest is history.

Mark Harte's story about swapping jerseys with Martin Beckett from Kerry was very moving. How he always wanted to keep his Tyrone jersey but Martin insisted they swap after the semi final. Later on he was glad he did. As Martin died himself in a car accident. A great prospect for Kerry and another young life gone to soon.


What more can you say about Mark Harte, a very tidy corner forward and a fluent Irish speaker a great ambassador for Tyrone.

Listening to the stories about the Omagh bomb and the deaths of 29 people which in reality was 31 people. Michael Monaghan's wife was heavily pregnant with twins. They always wanted six children. He lost his wife who was soon to deliver twins along with his little daughter. Probably one of the worst effected families by the troubles.

The research team of Eamonn and Michael Mallie  along with Stephen O Neills father sharing intimate footage was very powerful. You can tell some amount of work went into putting that all together. I once made a tribute video to Paul and Cormac but found it very hard to get good footage of Paul. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnlL3klciw8
I thought it was classy not to show Paul's collision with the Armagh keeper and it switched over from film footage of the game to radio commentary. Just so well done at all levels.

The footage of a very fresh faced Michela was lovely. I still have a picture of myself,  Michella and Mickey together at home. I wanted to send it to him with a mass card but I could never find out Mickeys address.

That documentary was like a part one it seem to end very abruptly with so much more to tell. I could see a new part to it in the future.

If Tyrone can pull off this All Ireland it would be so fitting.

You don't always get what you deserve in life and if we get beat tomorrow it is just another magnificent step in the pleasures of being born and bred among the bushes. Tir Eoghain  Abu.

[Hotrocks]

Off to my bed full of nerves.  Heading off nice and early to try avoid some of traffic. Hope all supporters traveling get there and back safe and sound. Tir Eoghain Abu!

[southtyronegael]

safe travels to all going to the game today. time to march on Dublin like the great hugh o neill marched on Kinsale with sword and shield in hand over 400 years ago, and basically, cut the shite out of them! time to start putting a few celtic crosses in these tyrone players pockets. best of luck to them.

[Jayop]

I watched back some highlights of the great games I the naughties. All the finals, the Dublin games etc. What teams they were and I got particular confidence from the 08 win. That wasn't a team full of outstanding forwards but they stood up big time. Guys you never hear mentioned any more were the backbone of that team.

Tyrone Abu, Tyrone by 5

[southtyronegael]

missed opportunity there. well flagged up on here this week about getting big man on edge of square and plenty of high ball in early. what do we do? wait til the f**king game is near over then start doin it! Dublin were rubbish for first 20 mins and we didn't hurt them enough. same fuckin shite. 16 wides again and all the talk about stevie o neill making a difference. cant fault the players for effort but that's probably the poorest coached tyrone attack ive ever seen.

[square_ball]

Tyrone were excellent in that first 20 minutes I thought and should have been further ahead. I think Tyrone done as well as they could have done. Didn't throw the towel in. Dublin are a different level. Maybe next year. . .

[Thebigdog]

I wish I was sitting here tonight getting slagged off  by those who are allied too Mickey Harte. Nothing but nothing would make me happier to say I was wrong about Harte and that tonight we would be sitting here as All Ireland champions. Maybe not even have won it but at least give ourselves the best possible chance to beat Dublin. I really don't buy into this myth that the Dublin footballers are better than Tyrone's. Sixteen f**king wides is pretty pathetic. The one area I have continually talked about as Dublin s weakness is there full back line under the high ball. It's just so f**king obvious Colm Cavanagh should have started in there. As our point of attack it would have definitely got us an extra 6 or 7 points at least. These players deserve better than this and if you don't see that you don't care about Tyrone. It's just absolute criminal that our manager has been caught sleeping at the wheel yet again!