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SON has shown before over the past few seasons that he is the most intelligent paser of the ball Tyrone have when played at number 11.  Why he hasn't played there more often is bemusing.  Did he not win the CHF All Star in 2001?

Its a fair old while since 2001 and he's had his fair share of injuries, putting him out round the middle into heavy contact zones and asking him to run around like a thoroughbred is sadly behind him, that said, a stint out there during a game might be an option. While he still has all the guile and class to make the impossible look routine I hope his role remains that of impact sub for the year similar to Brian McGuigan in 2008.

I can't see Stevie finishing games strong at the minute given his injuries, lack of game time (at any level, only returned for his club a month ago, played one or two games) and age, but what a sight for opposition defenders who have 60 mins in their legs to see a fresh SON coming on to wreck the joint!

Its bad enough that there is seeding in the Munster Senior Championship but to have a back door in Munster and Leinster Minor Championships but none in Connacht or Ulster is strange to say the least. I understand the competitions are run by the Connacht and Ulster Councils respectively and they could introduce a back-door element if they wish but for consistency re the All-Ireland Minor this should be balanced out as either back-door for none, or back-door for all.

Personally I would like to see the Minor competition run in the exact same way as the Senior therefore allowing the opportunity for counties in the back-door to face those from other provinces. At Minor County it would be great for lads to get a second day out before a big Senior game somewhere, even better in some cases if they are on before different counties than their own. The novelty factor and chance to see Senior stars of another county up close behind the scenes at a top venue would surely be a great memory win, lose or draw.

Could someone post the two teams that started?

[1) if in theory a goalkeeper is waiting to take a kick out and the full forward at the other end of the field is being pulled and hauled can the ref give a free in without the kick out ever being taken? 2)and secondly can a 45 be moved forward? just wondering.]

I watched the second half and the analysis on RTE last night. The foul on big Sean at the end was just unreal.
It clearly shows Sean trying to wriggle free of his man and another Down player at least 3 times with Coldrick about 10 yards away watching it all but doing nothing until he's finally dragged down. Brolly said it was definitely a foul but then goes on a rant about how it was a dive and how if you put a hand on him he flies through the air. In fairness to Toma's OShea he didn't look impressed by Brolly who keeps pointing at Lyster and across O'Se chest. Some might laugh it all of but but there us nobody standing up for Sean or Tyrone's side if the story as Mickey has everyone under pressure not to talk to RTE.
Now the president has spoken out against him (wrongly) in mist peoples eyes yet its still more bad press for us.
Whether we agree or not the National media has us labeled as divers, whingers about the rules and cynical as with last years tactics.
I won't be going today cos I've four young kids and my wife is going out tonight so I had my fun last weekend.
I won't get peace to watch the CL final either as it's bedtime from 7.30 til 9 in our house.
You can understand then that when my time is so precious that when I DO manage to get to a Tyrone game these days that it would be nice to see our best 15 players on the pitch rather than in the stand with a grumpy face.
I

was the referee right to award that free kick at the end. the sideline hadn't been taken therefore the ball was still out of play.

1) if in theory a goalkeeper is waiting to take a kick out and the full forward at the other end of the field is being pulled and hauled can the ref give a free in without the kick out ever being taken?
2)and secondly can a 45 be moved forward? just wondering.

Interesting, could someone also answer this one

3) before throw in referee spots the FB foul the FF on the 21, free in?

Brilliant! 9 year wait to beat Hull  City reserves after extra time 

its not even been 9 weeks since this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27007535

Well done arsenal. Happy for wenger. I admire his stubborn belief in his core principles. Congrats Dinny, O'Neill, muppet and the other long suffering arsenal fans on here.

+1

9 years is a long time and there have been some great teams and near misses in between.

Well done.

As an Arsenal supporter I can say I am embarrassed by how they won the cup today, and the last 9 years. I know some will say its all about  the result and all that, and I'm not an aesthete but Giroud and Sanogo are utter toilet and I resent the fact that they are professional footballers. I would've actually laughed my head off if Hull had scored that riduclous third goal today where Mertesaker took the tumlbe etc.

There is an article in the Irish Post about how Arsenal no longer have any Irish lads in their ranks, in Wengers time he has been too biased to French players and it disgusts me, the man is genius and stubborn pillock in equal measure.

Clubs like Athletico Madrid and Dortmund have gone from bankrupt to CL final in the last 9 years while Wenger can't see the economic sense of giving RVP the bumper contract he earned.

Fingers crossed someone has a word and they get their act together for next year as they have the basis of a Championship and CL winning team there.

Who decides whether a poppy or a Gaa jersey are political?

Common sense suggests that an emblem of an armed organisation is political while that of a sporting organisation is sporting. But some people oppose common sense.

Firstly, the poppy is not an emblem for the British Armed Forces. Secondly the GAA is not a political organisation. But unfortunately there are people who swear by the blood of their forefathers that the opposite is the case.

Thus an innocuous football jersey or a harmless little flower become inflammatory items to the common sensually challenged. So I am afraid I don't buy the common sense argument.

As ever, common sense isn't very common.

Load of tit for tat bullshit on the face of it, but in reality its more than that, lack of tolerance from the student body at QUB is shocking, i thought wans went to Uni to broaden their mind, embarrassing

Mark Lawrenson on BBC.

Liverpool can do no wrong at the moment. They keep blowing teams away in the first half-an-hour at home and, if they do that to Chelsea, I do not see the Blues coming back.
Because of that, I would be bullish about this fixture if I were in the Liverpool camp. I think they will beat Chelsea and I honestly believe they will win the title at Crystal Palace in their next game.

Whoops.

Alan Hanson said words to a similar effect yesterday on football focus too. Have Hanson, Lawrenson and Redknapp soundbites given Jose just enough ammo to build on going into the game today and in effect cost Liverpool the title?

The 3 of them will be feeling like prized lemons now anyway 

All thats left of their season now is to support Suarez in the World Cup

Stevie caught for both goals, was there no one else to play that position?

Surely this disproves Rodgers ridiculous assertion?

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/rodgers-gerrard-worlds-best-holding-midfielder

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpools-steven-gerrard-best-holding-3429092

Brendan was getting a tad carried away saying he is the best in the world at controlling a game given that he's never been on the same level as Scholes, Pirlo or Xavi in that respect. Or even Alonso.

Oh well.

The Oz TV company paid the GAA for the rights
RTE pays the GAA for the rights
TG4 pays the GAA for the rights
BBC pays the GAA for the rights
Sky Sports pays the GAA for the rights
Premier Sports pays the GAA for the rights

And...?

GAA Officialdom are doing their job

[Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.]

FFS.

I give up. You win. There is no emigration from Ireland. Ireland is the only country where GAA clubs and volunteers exist. There is no reason to improve coverage of Gaelic games outside of Ireland.

FFS indeed. What the hell are you on about? Tell me once and for all, how does the sky element of the deal benefit people beyond UK shores? Remember to answer the question and not revert to type.

Listen very carefully because this bears repeating.

Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.
Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.
Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.
Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.
Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.
Fans in Australia will be able to see the games for free.

Clear?

Viewers in North America don't get much out of the deal this time around, hopefully it'll be better for us next time.

The Oz TV company paid the GAA for the rights
RTE pays the GAA for the rights
TG4 pays the GAA for the rights
BBC pays the GAA for the rights
Sky Sports pays the GAA for the rights
Premier Sports pays the GAA for the rights

The biggest disconnect in the GAA, and the one that poses the bigger threat, is between the club game and the county game. If county managers have become so powerful that they can lobby a county board to put an entire club championship on hold, that's going to undermine the pipeline that produces future inter-county players. The GPA has an opportunity to step in here and start working for the benefit of club players, but as long as they focus exclusively on the county players I'll remain suspicious about their true motives.

+1

+2

Jim McGuinness' actions in Donegal this week are a disgrace. I assume with the backlog he's creating he's satisfied to have the club calendar sqeezed into the latter part of the year depending on his teams success i.e. league and championship fixtures being completed at a breakneck pace from Sept-Nov because Jim is stopping games in April.

How does he think these lads bodies will hold up with the demands that is going to cause?

Where's his player welfare concerns and considerations now?

[Chelsea at 9/2 are a massive price.]

Fantastic result today but still with it all to do.

Chelsea at 9/2 are a massive price.

Got them at 6/1 after the Liverpool game today and before Chelsea kicked off, thanks for the heads up from the chaps on here

9/2 is stunning value, I recommend any neutral who wants a reason to watch the final weeks of the season to throw a tenner on it.

As a neutral I won't mind if Liverpool win it, they will deserve it if they do, on the other hand, I'll be up a few bob if they blow it, everyones a winner

[you can't help but having a secret regard for the Queen]

Whatever you think of the monarchy itself ( and I'm opposed  to it per se) you can't help but having a secret regard for the Queen as a person.Thrust into the limelight at 25 years of age,and your every move and word dissected for over 60 years cannot have been easy,and she hasn't put a foot wrong during her visit to Ireland or during Michael D's visit over there.

Incidentally Patrick Murphy had a great column in Irish News yesterday explaining how we all became Brits! He attributes the death of Irish nationalism to the collapse of the other two great pillars of nationalist Ireland, the GAA (talks about the main out workings of the Sky deal as parents having to bring kids into pubs to watch the games) and the collapse of the Catholic Church,saying that now the only organisation with the power to define and forgive sins in Ireland is Sinn Fein Also referred to the "old boys of the White tie and tails" brigade!

I don't have a secret regard for the queen, she wants for nothing and sits at the head of a table responsible countless atrocitites during her watch.

Gawd i'm raging, for only two weeks ago Irish nationalism was alive and well but alas the Sky TV was the grain of rice to tip the scales.

[I was told the story of a farm labourer who voted against his boss at a stormy GAA meeting. The vote was in a rural club and it had to do with the lifting of the GAA ban.The labourer voted for abolition. It was back in the late sixties when the strong farmer still ruled the land. Work was every bit as scarce as it is now and there was very little machinery. Men were 30 and 40 years a slave.The day after the meeting the labourer was sent scouring dykes so wet and mucky you could meet a crocodile lurking behind a clump of rushes, but the farm worker accepted his punishment without a crib.That honest man was king for a day and he voted the way he did so his young lad could play soccer or rugby without fear of reprisal.That night, the boy had to take off his dad's coat. The father was unable to lift his arms above his head. The exhausted man was so cold after his day in the marshy dyke, the big fire couldn't warm him and he shook all over. His story was told to me by the farm worker's son and he was the one who asked me to pose this question.]

Billy's take on the Sky deal


New Sky deal should have been discussed by the rank and file

The contentious GAA/Sky deal was not put up for discussion by the rank and file
BILLY KEANE – PUBLISHED 12 APRIL 2014 02:30 AM


I was told the story of a farm labourer who voted against his boss at a stormy GAA meeting. The vote was in a rural club and it had to do with the lifting of the GAA ban.

The labourer voted for abolition. It was back in the late sixties when the strong farmer still ruled the land. Work was every bit as scarce as it is now and there was very little machinery. Men were 30 and 40 years a slave.

The day after the meeting the labourer was sent scouring dykes so wet and mucky you could meet a crocodile lurking behind a clump of rushes, but the farm worker accepted his punishment without a crib.

That honest man was king for a day and he voted the way he did so his young lad could play soccer or rugby without fear of reprisal.

That night, the boy had to take off his dad's coat. The father was unable to lift his arms above his head. The exhausted man was so cold after his day in the marshy dyke, the big fire couldn't warm him and he shook all over. His story was told to me by the farm worker's son and he was the one who asked me to pose this question.

Mad-dog of the highest order!! Lmao! This is not the greatest piece of GAA journalism ever written, this is just a tribute!!