USFC Final Antrim v Tyrone Clones 19th July

[sam03/05]

the midfield sector is the one area where Tyrone have very little cover in my opinion.
They can afford injuries in any other sector of the pitch in defence you have men like sean o neill, mcgee, mccaul, gourley and Carlin. all quality cover
in attack we managed to get to an all ireland final without stephen o'neill, owen mulligan so we seem to have plenty of cover in that area.

However in my opinion Enda McGinley is irreplaceable. He gives so much to the team and is central to the way Tyrone play. The stats would seem to
back this up. Most games which Tyrone have lost has been when he has been missing. Down in the championship last year is one that springs to mind.
For this reason I feel Antrim have a real chance on Sunday.

[up tyrone]

I`ll go with

devine
pj
justy
ricey
harte
gormley
jordan
hughes
colm cav
penrose
tommy
joe
stevie
sean
mugsy.

Personally i think tyrone will cut loose with are without enda.when you read comments like niall mckeevers in the irish news today "our players are every bit as good
as tyrones"  dangerous things to say mickeys the master in picking up on comments like these and using it to his teams advantage.in my opinion if tyrone preform
they will win by 10+.

[sam03/05]

cant see it
antrim have some very good players
i think it will be very tight game

[imtommygunn]

It's hard to know what to think in this game.

Tyrone are awesome and we're really up against it. Like HS says we need big performances from absolutely everyone. It will be interesting to see how Tyrone deal with McKeever. It's hard to see him having the same influence as the Cavan game.

Cavan's wicklow result puts that match in some perspective too.

However... We have played really well this far - much better than I ever thought I'd see an Antrim team play. We have nothing to lose here. We need to just go out and play like our lives depend on it. If Tyrone beat us, even beat us well, and we make a go for it then that's something. The important thing for me is that we have a go here. No lacking belief or any of that.

The impartial would expect Tyrone by ~10. The hope in me says Antrim by 1.

If we lose then I'd like Down or Wicklow in the draw...

[ONeill]

The McGinley factor, and his importance to the current set-up over the last 12 months, somewhat skews things a little. There's no point in saying otherwise - a full strength I believe Tyrone would run-up an 8-12 point victory. Although a major factor of the current squad is the ability to adapt to absentees (missing Dooher and McGuigan from the starting line up is an example), McGinley's influence will be sorely missed - or maybe we'll find out on Sunday that it won't be.

As HS says, Antrim will need to play over and beyond what they've churned out this year. It is possible they could do a Down '03 and stay in the game by scoring the likes of 4-8. There's also the chance Tyrone could have an off-day. Antrim went through their NFL group unbeaten (I think there are more teams still standing in Div 4 than Div 3 right now), so they have a winning mentality. There's the confidence of St Galls' recent successes. Although my heart wants a titanic game with Antrim going toe-to-toe and pushing Tyrone to the limit, I just think that Tyrone have so many good players fit and healthy (look at the bench too) that the likes of Terry O'Neill's role will be redundant. Against Cavan and Donegal he really only needed to shield one man on each occasion. When you've O'Neill, Cavanagh, McGuigan, Penrose and Mugsy all capable of turning in individual match-winning performances and with Antrim's lack of experience at this level.....

McLean on O'Neill is a big one. If the Antrim FB negates our man, that confidence could spread like wildfire. Can Antrim put Jordan, Harte, Gormley and Ricey on the back foot for large parts of the game? One thing's for sure, they have to.

Antrim's in a great position in that little is expected from them, apart from not letting down the hoardes of Saffrons in the crowd.

[Minder]

Is there anyone pushing Mulligan for his place, he hasn't been up to much from what I have seen of him in the last two games.

[ONeill]

Mugsy's been playing some killer passes in his new role. I certainly wouldn't drop him.

[Minder]

Mugsy's been playing some killer passes in his new role. I certainly wouldn't drop him.

He gave more bad ones than good ones against Derry

[ONeill]

They used to say that about Dooher too. I thought Cavanagh had a poorer game than Mugsy the last day.

Mulligan is seeing much more of the ball at the minute and although he made a few errors of judgement last day, he does an awful lot right too.

[Tony Baloney]

Fella in work is laying even money at Tyrone +10.

[Carmen Stateside]

Mugsy's been playing some killer passes in his new role. I certainly wouldn't drop him.

Have to agree with Big O Neill, Mulligan is having a very decent year so far.  Cant see any reason for him to be dropped for this game.  Can see Sean Cavanagh going to mid field with Mc Cullagh or Brian Mc Guigan coming in to the forward line, thats if Mc Ginley aint fit.   Imo he is irreplaceable, first on my team sheet every time. 

[loughshore lad]

If McGinley is not able to start then Tommy could be another option for the middle of the pitch.  He has been excellent there all year for the club and has the ability to play there.

[Fuzzman]

Mugsy is seeing a lot of ball alright but seems to be shooting a lot of wides and hitting some bad passes.
Still I'd persist with him a while longer but maybe for a team like Antrim McCullagh would be more suited out around the 40.

McGinley was awesome last year and has done OK this year but like big Sean hasn't set the world on fire just yet.
He does a lot of unseen work & reads the game very well but I just feel he's been off colour in the 2 games so far.
I'd also like to see Sean O'Neill get a start this time or at least play a good part of the game.

I'd play Sean at MF with Hub again & I reckon we'll see Stevie & Penfold in the FF line again
Will Antrim play a sweeper in front of Stevie or Penfold?
If they do I'd say we'll see a lot of ball being ran up the wings and shooting from far out

Will be surprised if Dooher starts as I'd say Mickey will want him to end the game as usual.

Hub
Sean
Mellon
Brian McGuigan
Tommy
Penrose
Stevie
Mugsy/McCullagh

[maddog]

Fella in work is laying even money at Tyrone +10.

Take both arms out by the socket

[nrico2006]

Fuzzman, I would agree with you a la Sean being put in the middle if Enda isn't fit.  Whats the latest with mellon?  Is he available?  He could come into consideration.  I think Dooher could start, I don't see why he wouldn't at this stage.  I heard Brian McGuigan is flying at the minute, would be good to get him back for Sunday and see some of the old magic.  It was a big ask last year to come straight back from 2 years out and into Senior County football with very little club time, so hopefully we will see Brian back to near his best this summer.  If Enda is unavailable then I would go for:

Hub
9) Cavanagh
10) Dooher
11) Brian McGuigan
12) Tommy
13) Penrose
14) SON
15) Mugsy