Tír Eoghain vs Maigh Eo, Healy Park, March 26th @3pm

[Il Bomber Destro]

I don't agree Bomber. I was at it & thought McCarron was Tyrone's best player. He was right with Moran every time & turned him over in the tackle 3 or 4 times.

Anyway, it's the other end of the field that's the problem. Would be nice to say that today's shooting was a one-off but it's happening too often now. Even if we had COC for frees alone we'd have won today. Same old shite on frees today - Morgan, Harte, McCurry all missing from easier positions than COC was scoring from.

So bloody frustrating

Look at the goal, McCarron is about 4 yards off him, this was the case time and time again particularly in the first half.

[omagh_gael]

I am caught between two minds:

1. The regularity of days were we hit 12+ wides doesn't look like being solved at all and we'll never make an impression on the AI stage until that is fixed.

2. We are creating loads and loads of opportunities to score but aren't taking them. Some day we'll click against a top 3 side and blow them away.

Btw, Sludden was sorely missed in the 2nd half, he was the exact type of player we needed to take game by scruff of the neck. Petey Barre was poor (compared to his very high standards) and, worryingly, Matty Donnelly's form is all over the place.

[From the Bunker]

Just back from Omagh! Just nicked it in the end.

Two toothless teams!

I can't understand Tyrone not contesting the kick out? With so many wides it was like handing the ball back to Mayo and saying you have a free pass to the half way line.

Good to see Chris Barrett back our Full back line needs him and he is a no nonsense player.

I was secretly glad to see Lee Keegan Balck carded - he needs a rest (Coen does not).

Referee Conor Lane was all over the place. There were some incidents that he let go and the hits and belts evolved into the dangerous.
Is it becoming an impossible sport to referee? This seems to be a common theme anymore.

A tough day for the players - a lot were out on their feet at the end and discipline must have been really hard to keep.

Don't remember a Mark being made today? No surprise there. 

Aido, Well Aido looked - well, a bit unfit! 

Will talk more later.............

[Il Bomber Destro]

I am caught between two minds:

1. The regularity of days were we hit 12+ wides doesn't look like being solved at all and we'll never make an impression on the AI stage until that is fixed.

2. We are creating loads and loads of opportunities to score but aren't taking them. Some day we'll click against a top 3 side and blow them away.

Btw, Sludden was sorely missed in the 2nd half, he was the exact type of player we needed to take game by scruff of the neck. Petey Barre was poor (compared to his very high standards) and, worryingly, Matty Donnelly's form is all over the place.

Mattie is being shifted from pillar to post which won't help his form, he has won two All Stars in the past 2 years at midfield - let us leave him there. He's been named at midfield, centre half and full forward in the league already this year.

We just need to show a little more drive in those areas, fear was evident today and last year against Mayo in the last 10 minutes, players were afraid to drive at Mayo in the fear they would get turned over and hit on the break.

I agree on the chances part but we need show a little less fear and a bit more composure, better to have these things flaring up at this point of the season than in the summer. 

[never kickt a ball]

I have a funny feeling Mayo might win this one.

Tick 

[never kickt a ball]

Nice to learn the placenames and why they're named the way they are.

Indeed it is, I do the accounts for the Ulster Place Names Project - they used to get public funding but the only money they get these days is when a council wants to name a road or street and the experts give their fee to the project. My fee for doing the accounts was a jar of home made chutney. Very devoted people doing good work.

That's terrible!!!! Call an election immediately!!!!!!!

[tyroneman]

I don't agree Bomber. I was at it & thought McCarron was Tyrone's best player. He was right with Moran every time & turned him over in the tackle 3 or 4 times.

Anyway, it's the other end of the field that's the problem. Would be nice to say that today's shooting was a one-off but it's happening too often now. Even if we had COC for frees alone we'd have won today. Same old shite on frees today - Morgan, Harte, McCurry all missing from easier positions than COC was scoring from.

So bloody frustrating

Look at the goal, McCarron is about 4 yards off him, this was the case time and time again particularly in the first half.

Moran was going nowhere...it was the the untracked run from midfield that cost us the goal.....was it mcCurry who was at fault?

[seanmc123]

I don't agree Bomber. I was at it & thought McCarron was Tyrone's best player. He was right with Moran every time & turned him over in the tackle 3 or 4 times.

Anyway, it's the other end of the field that's the problem. Would be nice to say that today's shooting was a one-off but it's happening too often now. Even if we had COC for frees alone we'd have won today. Same old shite on frees today - Morgan, Harte, McCurry all missing from easier positions than COC was scoring from.

So bloody frustrating

Look at the goal, McCarron is about 4 yards off him, this was the case time and time again particularly in the first half.

Yes I remember that, but Andy Moran is one of the better forwards in the game. Look at the space that was in front of him. I don't recall Andy winning a ball of him the second half? I think at least 4 or 5 went in and McCarron got in front or broke the ball away. All in all Tyrone kicked themselves out of it. Plenty to work on before Ulster

[Ballaghman]

I don't agree Bomber. I was at it & thought McCarron was Tyrone's best player. He was right with Moran every time & turned him over in the tackle 3 or 4 times.

Anyway, it's the other end of the field that's the problem. Would be nice to say that today's shooting was a one-off but it's happening too often now. Even if we had COC for frees alone we'd have won today. Same old shite on frees today - Morgan, Harte, McCurry all missing from easier positions than COC was scoring from.

So bloody frustrating

Look at the goal, McCarron is about 4 yards off him, this was the case time and time again particularly in the first half.

Yes I remember that, but Andy Moran is one of the better forwards in the game. Look at the space that was in front of him. I don't recall Andy winning a ball of him the second half? I think at least 4 or 5 went in and McCarron got in front or broke the ball away. All in all Tyrone kicked themselves out of it. Plenty to work on before Ulster

Have to agree with seanmc here. It was one of Andy's poorer games. He was out in front and was full of running and I'd say he was a nightmare for McCarron to mark. In the first half he got the better of of the battle but his own handling and decision making let him down. In the second half McCarron did much better and definitely won a lot of ball off Andy.
Overall we were much better today than last week but we still weren't amazing. Tyrones shooting let us off the hook big time but it was great to see the fight and effort we have come to expect from this group is still there in spades.

[macdanger2]

Great to get the points but poor enough performance tbh. However, our willingness to use the kickpss today was notable, it's obviously the style Rochford wants to play so hopefully that's starting to come together - Parsons' goal was a great piece of play. It could be particularly effective if mixed with our running game and would allow us to conserve energy at times in big games. Where it falls down though is if you get down the pitch with two kickpasses and then start handpassing backwards again. Kirby and Boland are both good kick passers

Thought the ref was so-so at best, yellow for Drake was no more than a foul. Black for Sludden was the same. Black for keegan looked bad initially but on replay wasn't a black. Same with the possible black by Donnelly - I thought drake should have keep going as there was a goal on. Black for Kirby was harsh. Punch on COC was a red and yer man will be lucky to avoid a suspension, same with donnelly at the end.

I thought paddy Durcan made a huge difference in the half back line, he attacks with serious pace instead of sauntering with the ball. COC was better today but still a bit out of sorts. DOC looks a shadow of himself.

Hard to see on TV but did we play a sweeper today? Tyrone seemed to have an easy kick out so I presume someone was dropping back?

For Tyrone, they'll be wondering how they lost that, brutal in front of the posts although mcgeary took some nice points.

[moysider]

Great to get the points but poor enough performance tbh. However, our willingness to use the kickpss today was notable, it's obviously the style Rochford wants to play so hopefully that's starting to come together - Parsons' goal was a great piece of play. It could be particularly effective if mixed with our running game and would allow us to conserve energy at times in big games. Where it falls down though is if you get down the pitch with two kickpasses and then start handpassing backwards again. Kirby and Boland are both good kick passers

Thought the ref was so-so at best, yellow for Drake was no more than a foul. Black for Sludden was the same. Black for keegan looked bad initially but on replay wasn't a black. Same with the possible black by Donnelly - I thought drake should have keep going as there was a goal on. Black for Kirby was harsh. Punch on COC was a red and yer man will be lucky to avoid a suspension, same with donnelly at the end.

I thought paddy Durcan made a huge difference in the half back line, he attacks with serious pace instead of sauntering with the ball. COC was better today but still a bit out of sorts. DOC looks a shadow of himself.

Hard to see on TV but did we play a sweeper today? Tyrone seemed to have an easy kick out so I presume someone was dropping back?

For Tyrone, they'll be wondering how they lost that, brutal in front of the posts although mcgeary took some nice points.

I would give our defence some credit as regards Tyrone's misses. Pressure results in rash decisions and hurried shots. Overall possession was 50/50ish. They got players behind the ball quicker and transition quicker but we did enough to make them fire off a few rushed efforts. Some ended up as fine scores - some bad wides. We know that story well.
At the other end we are hugely reliant on Andy Moran right now to win and use the ball inside. Is that sustainable? I dunno. Maybe it is the way to go. We have gone from the Horan era of playing 2 corner forwards in an AI final (and no covering defender) to playing no corner forwards at all. Great stuff anyway. That first half today was proper stuff. Both teams got tight and tired in second half. Still only March.

[joemamas]

Can anyone confirm if Tom Parsons made it onto the bus home?

??

You what if that kid was from Tyrone he probably missed.

Just posted this again
Think Jinxy deserves a shout out for this classic
Tough for a Mayo man to complement a Meath man but ........

[Hound]

Nobody else called it on this thread, so maybe I'm wrong, but I would have blown for a free when Parsons shouldered Sean Cavanaugh at the end. Front-on rather than side-on. The ref seemed to take great glee in giving those two late frees against Tyrone for over-carrying!

I wouldnt have given Kirby black. Yellow for me. SeanC's funny dance on the ground afterwards was....funny.

Great winning point by McLoughlin.

That was pretty scary, with what I thought initially was just a glancing blow, did to Cillian.

[bigpackiechestout]

I am caught between two minds:

1. The regularity of days were we hit 12+ wides doesn't look like being solved at all and we'll never make an impression on the AI stage until that is fixed.

2. We are creating loads and loads of opportunities to score but aren't taking them. Some day we'll click against a top 3 side and blow them away.

Btw, Sludden was sorely missed in the 2nd half, he was the exact type of player we needed to take game by scruff of the neck. Petey Barre was poor (compared to his very high standards) and, worryingly, Matty Donnelly's form is all over the place.

Our wides problem isn't being solved at all because the type of 'chances' we create and shots we take are not high percentage shots. If you look at the wides we hit yesterday from play, the only one i can remember where the player wasn't under much pressure and would've been expected to score was Colly Cav's miss towards the end. Alot of the other ones are potshots from wide or out around the 45 (eg. McNamee trying a Stevy O'Neill esque effort out on the left  wing near the endline with his left foot) which you might score 40% of the time but can't be relied upon to win games consistently at this level.

I wrote up here about this problem after the Monaghan game. That night in the first half everything we kicked went over and we looked great but our style of play still wasn't lending itself to creating easy chances, or more importantly goal chances. The only goal we've scored in the league is still McCrory's scrappy effort v Dublin and having watched all our games to date we haven't exactly been missing many glaring goal chances either.

[omagh_gael]

Fair points and that's why I feel we missed Sludden so much in the second half as he's a great man to put on the burners breaking through the 45 screen and setting up higher percentage shooting opportunities. Petey Harte having a quiet game and Mattie Donnelly being off form didn't help in this regard either.