Tír Eoghain vs Maigh Eo AIQF 6/8/2016

[From the Bunker]

What's the story with DOC injury-wise?
Worth risking the next day?

Dead leg we were told after the Kildare game. I could see himself and Parsons rested v Tipp again!

[larryin89]

What's the story with DOC injury-wise?
Worth risking the next day?

Dead leg we were told after the Kildare game. I could see himself and Parsons rested v Tipp again!

Have to risk not playing Diarmuid if hes not 100% id agree with that, some were saying he wsnt going to start the last day and it was more than a whisper but obviously they went with him in the end .

[WT4E]

I was listening to newstalk off the ball this evening - they where really pushing the Tyrone and the dark arts theme again - was it that bad? Thought it was a strange angle on an intriguing game.

[Blowitupref]

Did neutrals think it was a good game or just more boring cat and mouse stuff?

It was a interesting game because it was close and no one knew who would win until the final whistle but the game itself was not a good one and won't live in the memory for many neutrals. The basic skill levels between two was surprising low,too much niggle was going on off the ball and not enough football broke out. The importance of having a good long range place kicker was highlighted in this game. Tyrone will be left with a summer of what ifs with only scoring 12 points from 33 scoring chances. The relief on the Mayo players faces at the end told its own tale.

Since the last Tyrone v Mayo championship meeting in 2013 i think Tyrone have remained the same level while Mayo have fallen back however they should reach another All Ireland final like they did in 2013.

I think Tyrone are a lot better and I think Mayo are better than 2013.  Cillian was playing with one hand in 2013. We did not have Parsons! Andy was in recovery from his Cruciate ligament. We did not have DOC.  With Parsons releasing O' Shea. We are stronger up front than in 2013!

I don't see the improvement in Tyrone from 2013. As for Mayo their form,quality and confidence of their football in 2013 was on a different level to what it is now. Boyle,Higgins,Dillion etc were younger then and you had Cunniffe,Cafferkey. Alan Freeman was having his best season in a Mayo senior jersey only to be oddly dropped for the final.   Mayo always have plenty of midfield options. With Parsons Mayo have not reached any All Ireland final while the two recent finals was reached without him. Stronger up front than in 2013 is that based on games against Kildare,Westmeath?

[From the Bunker]

Did neutrals think it was a good game or just more boring cat and mouse stuff?

It was a interesting game because it was close and no one knew who would win until the final whistle but the game itself was not a good one and won't live in the memory for many neutrals. The basic skill levels between two was surprising low,too much niggle was going on off the ball and not enough football broke out. The importance of having a good long range place kicker was highlighted in this game. Tyrone will be left with a summer of what ifs with only scoring 12 points from 33 scoring chances. The relief on the Mayo players faces at the end told its own tale.

Since the last Tyrone v Mayo championship meeting in 2013 i think Tyrone have remained the same level while Mayo have fallen back however they should reach another All Ireland final like they did in 2013.

I think Tyrone are a lot better and I think Mayo are better than 2013.  Cillian was playing with one hand in 2013. We did not have Parsons! Andy was in recovery from his Cruciate ligament. We did not have DOC.  With Parsons releasing O' Shea. We are stronger up front than in 2013!

I don't see the improvement in Tyrone from 2013. As for Mayo their form,quality and confidence of their football in 2013 was on a different level to what it is now. Boyle,Higgins,Dillion etc were younger then and you had Cunniffe,Cafferkey. Alan Freeman was having his best season in a Mayo senior jersey only to be oddly dropped for the final.   Mayo always have plenty of midfield options. With Parsons Mayo have not reached any All Ireland final while the two recent finals was reached without him. Stronger up front than in 2013 is that based on games against Kildare,Westmeath?

No, our forward line in 2013 was Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore), Keith Higgins (Ballyhaunis), Alan Dillon (Ballintubber); Cillian O'Connor (Ballintubber), Alan Freeman (Aghamore), Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen).  Our present only two starters - Cillian had only one shoulder in that final. Andy was coming back from cruachiate injury.

[muppet]

Despite the usual cliches and sterotypical commentary on us, our issues are at the other end the field.

We have lost Caff and Turbo Tom from the fullback line this year. If you told me that we would also voluntarily play Keith up the field, not select Kevin Keane and start Alan Dillon instead, I would have suggested you leave yourself out of the next round. If then you told me we would play Kevin McLoughlin in front of the now non-existent fullback, I'd have called your wife and asked her to pick you up.

And yet here we are.

[Il Bomber Destro]

What i am saying is years ago mouthing lead to the violence, stricter penalties on striking as seen this reduced but not the lead cause of men leading to strike, in most cases mouthing.

So does pulling jersey off the ball, kicking heels, shouldering into lads after they've given a foul away. How many times was Aidan O'Shea slapping away at a lad on the ground after a free had been given on Saturday? There are many ways to provoke a player, the hierarchy of gamesmanship is a bit weird.

There were lads on here going into hysteria over Neil McGee bending a fella's finger back a few months back when there were far worse acts happening every other week on the field.

I would rather have some lad roaring in my face than giving me sly digs in the ribs, clipping my heels or trodding on my toes off the ball. It is relatively harmless if it's just pretty banal insults and trash talk, if it something more sinister then its out of order.

[Il Bomber Destro]

The reaction of some people on here to 'sledging' shows that all is fair game. There is an element of it in most teams but there are a few teams that seem to use it as an organised tactic. Tyrone, Donegal, Dublin a few years back. It's wrong. I know my own club has been involved in it but I don't agree with it. There has to be clear stance on it by the refs and rule makers. The one thing I think we have prided ourselves on over the years is the 'honesty' and 'manliness' of our games. I believe a lot of that has been eroded. Maybe we children of 80's and 90's football have rose tinted outlooks but there is an ever increasing sleaziness creeping into the game. I frankly don't like it and don't care if people think I'm talking bollix. It's there and it's not nice. I played in a win at all costs team but never relied on gutter sniping to win a game. I often answered someone but it was just on response to a verbal attack.

What was honest or manly about the likes of Colm O'Rourke sucker punching lads in the head?

[Jinxy]

Forget it Bomber, you'll never understand.

[Disillusioned]

I frankly don't like it and don't care if people think I'm talking bollix.

Anyone who would believe that your criticism of sledging is nonsense is either only showing their own lack of class and manilness in the game or defending trampish behaviour by one or more of their own county players.  As I have stated before, this type of behaviour is now endemic in Tyrone football, just watch any of their school or underage teams to see how it is already drilled into players at this stage and accepted by the coaches. 

Referees have suddenly shown that they can deal with time wasting by adding 6 or 8 minutes to the end of a match.  If the same resolve was taken with a few black cards, based on information from linesmen or umpires, for such disgusting behaviour a similar result would be achieved.  A video referee or review of games for this behaviour would be another way to halt it.  Unfortunately, there is no will to tackle it.

[Cunny Funt]

Lookit Mayo are not good as 2013 they are closer to 2011 than 2013 but this time its Tipp instead of Kerry in All Ireland semi final.

Kevin McLoughlin started out as a defender at least his current role in defence shouldn't be foreign to him. Playing without a full back was the right call for Rochford as Tyrone don't play with a traditional full forward and Sean Cavanagh was completely man marked out of the game by Keegan as Connolly was in the semi finals last year.

[Disillusioned]

Forget it Bomber, you'll never understand.

It's not down to understanding, it is a continued defence of trampish behaviour that is both organised and accepted as part of the team tactic, e.g. Justin McMahon on Michael Murphy in Ballybofey was one of the most disgusting examples of a plan organised by members of the team management and a player willing to implement.

[Il Bomber Destro]

Forget it Bomber, you'll never understand.

I guess I won't.

Punching an unsuspecting victim is not manly, it is anything but honest. But loads of people tend to hark back to the days when they could get away with this.

The goalposts have changed, violence was the underhand action to get a player off his game, now with video evidence it has turned to provocation.

The hierarchy of gamesmanship makes me laugh.

One particular incident that showed this up was Brolly's meltdown over Sean Cavanagh in 2013. In the match which followed that game, Michael Shields deliberately handled the ball on the goal line to prevent a Dublin goal, the difference was Shields definitely stopped a goal being scored by deliberately breaking a rule. Dublin got no score out of said incident, in contrast to that of Cavanagh, we don't know for sure McManus would have scored, they got a free, Cavanagh got a yellow and Monaghan got a point. The Shields incident wasn't even really discussed bar from saying it was a penalty. What was worse with what Cavanagh did?

There are certain things which for some bizarre reason are treated with much greater contempt despite the fact that the act being carried out is for the same impact with the same cynical intent.

[BennyHarp]

I frankly don't like it and don't care if people think I'm talking bollix.

Anyone who would believe that your criticism of sledging is nonsense is either only showing their own lack of class and manilness in the game or defending trampish behaviour by one or more of their own county players.  As I have stated before, this type of behaviour is now endemic in Tyrone football, just watch any of their school or underage teams to see how it is already drilled into players at this stage and accepted by the coaches. 

Referees have suddenly shown that they can deal with time wasting by adding 6 or 8 minutes to the end of a match.  If the same resolve was taken with a few black cards, based on information from linesmen or umpires, for such disgusting behaviour a similar result would be achieved.  A video referee or review of games for this behaviour would be another way to halt it.  Unfortunately, there is no will to tackle it.

I've played many schools games during the 1990s from Dalton Cup through to McRory Cup and believe me when I tell you that sledging or mouthing as we called it was alive and well back then. (One of the main perpetrators in my time being a certain manager of a current inter county team who was fond of spitting). This was every team in the competition at nearly all levels, including the many friendly games we played against schools from the south. (A favourite sledge being our Britishness which was a constant across all teams we played) It was also part and parcel of club games. During the 1990s our club played many underage challenge v Crossmaglen, some cut up a bit rough and there was plenty of sledging from both teams if I remember correctly. It's ridiculous to say that sledging is new and wring our hands saying it didn't happen in our day. Are we forgetting what it's like in the heat of the battle......the players don't give a shite about the sledging, I never did and players often laugh about it afterwards. On a few occasions I got a box on the head from behind. I found that much more annoying.

[Il Bomber Destro]

Forget it Bomber, you'll never understand.

It's not down to understanding, it is a continued defence of trampish behaviour that is both organised and accepted as part of the team tactic, e.g. Justin McMahon on Michael Murphy in Ballybofey was one of the most disgusting examples of a plan organised by members of the team management and a player willing to implement.

Sucker punching an opponent is the definition of trampish behaviour.