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Will be interesting to see the attendance next weekend. There's talk of prices putting people of games. If its advertised well could be a decent crowd which there may not otherwise have been.

I see they announced the replay for 4pm in 2 weeks time. Makes no sense to me. Aftrer todays game the replay will create great hype and should be live on tv (will be a full house anyway) for promotion purposes. However Cork Waterford is on live that day at 4 (with Tyrone Donegal at 2). Why not play the Leinster matches on the Saturday night at 6 and 7.30. Would still get a full house and would be sure to get huge viewing figures and would make a bumper weekend of top quality gaa action.

Spillane picked out two ulster matches this morning for being poor (in fact he said gaelic football was finished as a result of them) this morning despite Armagh Donegal producing a real titanic battle last week that I and many others found entertaining. How anyone from Munster can criticise other championships I dont know!

Great game! Shows what a twat Spillane is - he said in his morning column that gaelic football was more or less finished. The referee deserves a lot of credit for the great game even though he got a few calls wrong. If refs would let games flow a bit more and give them a chance we'd get a lot more flowing games. Currently to many refs are intent on taking centre stage in games. Same story with Dublin, they wont win an All Ireland cause they switch of for far to long during matches.

Great day for Antrim, its not often they get through the 1st day of their championship campaign unbeaten. Well done to all involved!

Any word yet on whether this will be pay at the gate? Its not often Donegal supporters outnumber Tyrone but they could well do here. That defeat by Donegal in the league could be a blessing in disguise coming into this match. I remember watching McIvor clap and pat each Donegal player in the back as they left the field at half time to show what it meant, I thought at the time that the little show could come back to haunt him later in the year. Donegal might not have been great against Armagh but in 03' after Tyrone won the league they werent impressive in the 1st round but improved as the year went on - Donegal are likely to improve. Tyrone need to rediscover there workrate and scoring ability of 2 years ago. In a way this is the 1st big championship game since the 05' final that Tyrone have had. Every other game theyve been hot favourites and have struggled to get up for. Lets hope they can produce a winning performance, cause I dont think we'll go anywhere via the back dor.

Tyrones Own, I dont agree with that full forward line at all and believe if we start with that we'll get beat. I thought against Fermanagh are full forward line was the weakest line on the pitch. There's no way you can get away with both Gormley and McCullagh/McCarron. The last day there was no outlet in the full forward line, them forwards require the almost perfect ball. The ball has to be worked to much to get them in scoring positions. If any of them should start it would be Gormley but depite his point taking I dont think he convinced enough to start. He just a bit small and light to win ball in a game against a strong team like Donegal. In my opinion if he'd started yesterday in the Armagh game he wouldnt have found the space to operate. He is a good sub though to throw on for 15-20 mins when the game opens up. He impressed me down in Limerick and against Kerry.

Agree O'neill that McFadden might suit Cormac McGinley. McGinley is generally good under the high ball (but prone to the odd mistake) and McFadden just like McGinley wouldnt be the quickest. If McGinley does start he must pick up McFadden and not be put on Brendan D. McConnell probably was at fault for at least one goal in the Mayo game. He has got into the habit of bursting out of his goal at the wrong time to go for balls he's not getting. Having said that I wouldnt have total confidence in Devine either and dont think there's much between them. Devine tends to kick the ball out over the side line far to often when trying to direct kickouts (Packie just doesnt bother trying to direct them but generally keeps the ball on the field!) Other people have mentioned Curran but I definately dont think he's ready. Looks like a good shot stopper, however in the u21's and v Monaghan in the McKenna cup he had problems under the high ball and looked a bit nervous. If O'Neill isnt fit to start Id throw Colm C back to full forward and maybe bring Mellon back to half forward (needs to get involved a lot more though). If Enda McGinley plays corner forward he provides lots of options. He can play in a 3 man full forawrd line as the ball winner or cover in the middle. If Tyrone are struggling at the back he can sit back in the half back line which allows Gormley to act as sweeper in the full back line and also allows are two good attacking wing backs to burst forward. Cavlan is a great option on the bench and can be a match winner in the last 20 mins. Its going to be a huge game for Tommy McGuigan and although he did well against Fermanagh Im still not totally convinced. He does have a greedy streak (not to the extent of Penrose) in him which has been evident since his minor days and its crucial that he plays the ball on to players in a better position. The potential is there though. Donegal should be a great match and lets hope our fans turn up this time and we arent completly out numbered by the Donegal crew.

Will it be all ticket? - should be a big crowd but dont think it will be quite full so not neccesary.
Id like to see the following team if everyone is fit:
Devine
McMenamin (on Deveney and told not to burst forward)
McCaul (on McFadden)
Carlin
Harte
Gormley
Jordan
Hughes
Cavanangh
C Cavanagh
T McGuigan
Dooher
McGinley
O'Neil
Mulligan
That would still leave Mellon,Cavlan and the McMahons to be sprung from the bench.

Didnt see the 1st few minutes of the game last night but was very disappointed with the way the county players were treated. The Cavanaghs and Jordan were continually targeted and the officials offered no protection. Although Im of the opinion that clubs should come 1st I wouldnt blame Harte for asking for no more club matches with county players until Tyrone are out. Its is becoming dangerous for the better county players to play club football with dirty hits coming in every time they try to run. In relation to the row it looked to me like the number 8 wrestled Cavangh to the ground who tried to protect himself and a number of other Kildress players ran in. A number of Moy players them became involved. A number of punches were thrown including a few decent one's from Mellon. He was singled out and sent of. Think Cavanagh and his man were booked which was a joke as Cavanagh was defending himself. Why would he want to get involved in a wrestling match of the ball with some clown who obviously couldnt keep up with him? If Mellon was picked out then so should the man from Kildress who started the row. I also saw Jordan getting hit of the ball which the linesman saw and Cavanagh stood on whilst he was down. If this sort of stuff can happen in a championship game with a ref 2 linesmen and 2 umpires then  imagine the possibilities in a league game. If Tyrone are serious about winning anything the squad should be given a 2 week break. On a different note Errigal looked impressive and should be championship favourites with a we bald man at 15 looking very sharp!

Im very suprsied that Armagh are struggling to sell their tickets. Is there a genuine possibility that the game wont sell out? Would be sad if it didnt, considering that it has the potential to be a cracker and is pitting the league champions v the ulster champions. Proves again how bad and fickle GAA fans can be. Many Armagh supporters havent been to a Armagh match in near a year and cant make be bothered making a couple of hour journey to see 2 of the best teams battle it out. Ive already voiced my opinions on Tyrone fans before anyone starts. When things arent going totally well people come up with all sorts of reasons for not attending. The price will be one but sure its only £12 into the terrace and most people would spend this in 5 mins on a night out. Standing is another but a lot of Aramgh fans are keen to stand in Clones and people have to stand at most club games. Then there's the old favourite the venue. At the end of the day if your any sort of a supporter a couple of hours in the car is nothing. This has the potentail to be a classic and will define the season for both teams.

Do the BBC actually advertise that they'll be showing the Duddy fights? Thats twice theyve had highlights but I didnt realise theyd be on. Ive only seen a few rounds from Duddy but have yet to see enough that he is genuine world class - but Ill withold judgement for now. Sounds like he'll be fighting in Dublin in the summer. Could be similar to Dunne who is a decent fighter but unlikely to be good enough to have a chance of winning a major world title.

Tommy McGuigan did say on the BBC championship last night that Brian had received some sort of good news regarding the injury on Friday and Id imagine he's a reliable source! Sounded like it was good in comparison to some of the news earlier in the week. Id find it hard to believe that he'd play any part in an ulster final  but maybe he'll be back for the All Ireland semi or final (Im taking the micky for all you anti Tyrone thicko's out there - we've temporarily lost our arrogance!)

Were was Tyrone's great support yesterday? The turnout was terrible and just goes to show how many glory hunters there are in Tyrone. Back in September 2005   everywere you went there were supporters telling stories of how they wouldnt miss a match and how disgraceful it was they couldnt get a ticket. The GAA was constantly being attacked in every newspaper from Tyrone supporters about how the allocation of tickets was to low and the old grab all association was being thrown out(the prices are getting to high though). Yesterday proved just how good the majority of Tyrone supporters are just as the Monaghan game did in 05' Some people Im sure had genuine reasons for not going and others couldnt be bothered which is up to them. Ive no problems with them not going but my problem is that when things go well these people will be the one's doing the most criticsing of the gaa about them not getting tickets. I wonder was the family there yesterday who were in the Star everyday in the run up to the 05' final about there baby not being able to get a ticket. I see a few people have said Clones isnt the same any more based on yesterday. I think the atmosphere will be back to its very best for the next match which should bring a capacity attendance and wonderful atmosphere. Think yesterday was all about winning but some form must be found pretty soon. Although Gormley scored 3 from play I felt our full forward line wasnt up to scratch yesterday but hopefully will be improved for the semi which could make or break Tyrones season. Mickey should consider bringing Colm Cavanagh to half forward in place of Mellon. Cant wait for the semi already but Tyrone will probably be underdogs for the 1st time since the 05' final.

Hobart Ive no problem when the experts come out and say a match was bad if it was bad. My problem is that a lot of GAA journalists only seem to concentrate on the bad games and seem to be constantly saying football is finished etc. McHugh today complained that football is finished because its not physical enough yet only last year he was saying it was finished becasue it was to negative and physical. What I would like to see is a bit more balanced coverage. Last week I thought for the 1st match of the championship and considering that neither were 2 of the top teams that the Longford match provided excellent entertainment. Yet afterwards Spillane spent half the analysis talking about there being two much handpassing in the game. The reason I was comparing it to soccer was only in terms of journalism. These guys are geting a free run. Ive noticed on RTE teletext various times after a GAA championship being described as dour etc in the main headlines. Yet after that crap today the headline simply read Drogba scores winner for Chelsea. At a time when competition from other sports is high it would be a welcome change if our journalists who make a bit of money from the game could provide a bit of positive coverage. All this focus on handpassing by Spillane and lack of skills compared to the past is nonsense. Go and watch the 2005 all ireland final between Tyrone and Kerry and you'll see points of the highest quality from the boot from both teams throughout the match. Then go and watch a match from the 70's/80's and come back and try and argue they could kick the ball better. You get focus now on nearly every team in the championship yet the focus on the 70's and 80's is only on a handful of teams. Them handful of teams couldnt kick the ball particularly well so you could imagine what the teams were like who arent featured. Its an absolute myth that players in the 70's/80's could kill the balll better than the players now. Also four of the best gaelic football matches ever have been played in the last 3 years so the talk about the game being finished is well of the mark. The games Im referring to are Dublin Mayo, Tyrone Kerry, Tyrone Armagh and Tyrone Dublin. Lets hope for a few more this summer.