UC 2010: Aontroim vs Tír Eoghain 23rd May, Páirc Mhic Asmaint

[ONeill]

I think the last time I watched Tyrone lose in Casement was 1999. Scorching hot day.

[orangeman]

I think the last time I watched Tyrone lose in Casement was 1999. Sorching hot day.

Down. Brutal warm day.

[Hurler on the Bitch]

I think the last time I watched Tyrone lose in Casement was 1999. Sorching hot day.

Was at that too. Down were dead and buried but then ...

[longrunsthefox]

I think the last time I watched Tyrone lose in Casement was 1999. Sorching hot day.

Was at that too. Down were dead and buried but then ...

I think that might have been Cormac's first game for Tyrone. Am I right?

[flantheman82]

Here what's the craic with getting to Casement in the back road. What's the best way in from Lisburn? Stewartstown Road?

depends what way you're coming out of Lisburn. If you come into Belfast through dunmurry village on the Lisburn road, just go to finaghy crossroads and take a left onto finaghy road north.
Carry onto the end of that road then turn right. That brings you onto the Andersonstown road. Casement is 5 minutes walk from there so park up wherever you can.

[ONeill]

Baker's Antrim have a good record in Casement.

Has he ever lost there in league?

First Championship game there.

[ONeill]

Down 2-14 Tyrone 0-15

TALK of Down's demise has been greatly exaggerated. It was always unlikely the Mourne Men would end this decade without some sort of bang. Unlikely too that they would allow Tyrone crawl all over them in Casement yesterday, as had been widely anticipated.
Instead, it was Tyrone who whimpered out of the championship, ghostly shadows of their true selves for much of the afternoon. Try as they do to conceal it, the team remain utterly dependant on Peter Canavan. This was evident again yesterday, as Finbarr Caulfield comprehensively dealt with the diminutive forward, leaving Tyrone with very few options up front.

A combination of the televisual lure and the hostile weekend that was in it, ensured there were many empty seats in Casement Park. Those that stayed away missed the finest summer football Down have produced in five years. Whether they have enough to curb the Armagh bandwagon remains to be seen, but at times yesterday, the Mourne men were a joy to watch. Nowhere was this better emphasised than in the play that led to the two Ciaran McCabe goals, both conjures memories of the early part of the decade. For the opening 25 minutes though, a different tale was unfolding. One of Tyrone's superiority and the destruction of Down.

Overwhelmed by anxiety and nerves in the first quarter, the Down defence wilted early on against the sheer pace of Tyrone's attack. Full-forward Matt McGleeenan, in particular, was causing numerous problems. Micheal McGill, captaining the side in place of James McCartan, was finding his speed and power almost impossible to deal with. McGleenan was a vital cog as Tyrone built an impressive early lead, with four points in the first seven minutes. Two of these came from the boot of Canavan.

Adrain Cush scored the first of his four frees in this fruitful period. However Cush, for so long Canavan's foil, was to have a poor day, and his only contribution was to come from the placed ball. It took Down nine minutes to eventually register a score. Like so many of their scores, it started deep in defence, with Simian Poland running through the middle. Poland fed Mickey Linden, who found a free Shane Ward to bring Down into the match.

Down's brief spell was not to last, though. Too often when they tried to play the ball out of defence, Down were wasteful, giving the ball away continually to a white shirt when a number of red shirts were free.

These elementary mistakes resulted in a continuos Tyrone attack for much of the first 20 minutes, which Down often had to curtail through fouling, which Adrian Cush was only too pleased to punish. At the same time, Tyrone's indiscretions were going unpunished as Shane Mulholland failed on numerous occasions to convert place kicks.

The Mourne revival co-incided with the decision to allow Ross Carr to take over kicking duty. Until that point, Carr had been having a dreadful game, finding it difficult to re-acquaint himself with the rigours of championship football. His marker, Ciaran Gourley was the main thrust behind the early Tyrone dominance, latching onto all the breaking ball in midfield. It was Gourley's influence, enhanced by the giant presence of Ger Cavlan in midfield that helped Tyrone build a six point lead with ten minutes left in the half. Gourley and Cavlan both carried the ball from midfield, into the forward line, where Canvan and Ciaran Loughran were torturing Down backs.
The last five minutes of the half irrevocably changed the narrative of the game. A long ball from Poland, found Linden unmarked and bearing down on the Tyrone goal. Although, Finbarr McConnell made a fine stop, the chance bred a new confidence into the Down side. Shane Ward brought the deficit back to five seconds later, after burrowing his way through the Tyrone defence. Then, the change in kicker began to yield dividends. Carr pointed two frees in quick succession, before Paul Higgins nailed the best score of the game, started on the Down goal-line by Micheal MaGill the movement used Ward, Poland, Linden before Higgins finally found the space to shoot. Down then trailed by only two points, 0 9 to 0 7, and played with a renewed self-belief, that was to be clearly illustrated in the second half.

Down arrived onto the pitch early for the closing half, exuding belief. It was Tyrone who were to get the first score of the half though, as Brian Dooher finished a short passing move with a thundering kick. It was to prove only to be a glitch, as Down reminded us of why they were so feared a few short years ago.

Seven minutes in and Mickey Linden found himself with the ball out on the wing. A sweet lay-off to a rushing Shane Mulholland and a goal beckoned. McConnell saved superbly from Mulholland, but McCabe made little mistakes with the rebound, levelling the game and increasing the vigour in the Mourne football.

Following the goal, Tyrone managed to stay in touch for a short while, without ever looking like they would halt the Down charge. When Linden put Down ahead for the first time in the match in the 43rd minute, Brian Dooher evened matters again. It was to be Tyrone's last hurrah. Mulholland, making up for a disappointing first half, was at the crux of much of what Down created and added to their snowballing score, with a safely-struck point after 48 minutes. The only worrying aspect of Down's play, mentioned by Pete McGrath afterwards, was the number of frees they kicked, 15 in all. With a hungry Armagh waiting in the wings, it is something in severe need of rectification.

But, there was little doubt there was more purpose to Down's play in the second half, and their forwards were showing some masterful touches that Tyrone's experienced back-line couldn't counter. The second goal, when it came, was almost a carbon-copy of the first. Mulholland was the provider once more and he found a free McCabe who bungled the ball home.
Brian Burns' strength in the middle of the field only embellished a powerful Down display, and the screams of James McCartan, holding one crutch like a forgotten warrior on the sidelines, painted a picture of a united, settled squad.
Now, they must take on their nearest neighbours in the Ulster final, and are only three games away from completing a hat-trick of All-Irelands in the nineties. Few would have thought it.

Scorers: Down : C. McCabe 2-3, R. Carr 0-3, 0 2 frees), M. Linden (0-3), S. Ward, S. Mulholland 0-2 each, P. Higgins(0-1)
Tyrone: A. Cush 0-4 (frees), B. Dooher and P. Canavan (0-3), G. Calvan (0-2), E. Gormley, C. Loughran, R. McGarrity 0-1each.

DOWN : M. McVeigh; F. Caulfield, M. MaGill, K. Byrne, P. Higgins, S. Ward, S. Poland; B. Burns, A. Molloy; G. Deegan, S. Mulholland, R. Carr, M. Linden, C. McCabe, Shane Ward Subs. P. Matthews for Byrne(30 mins).

TYRONE: F. McConnell; F. Devlin, R. McGarrity, P. McGurk, P. Canavan, C. Holmes, C. Gourley; C. McAnallen, G. Cavlan; A. Cush, E. Gormley, B. Dooher, C. Loughran, M. McGleenan, Peter Canavan Subs.S. Lawn for McAnallen(42 mins) P. Delvin for McGurk(48 mins), S. O'Neill for Loughran (64 mins).

Referee: Pat McEneaney (Monaghan).

Houl on here - a McConnell, Dooher, Stevie O'Neill, Gourley knocking about, a rasping hot day, McEnaney reffing....

[sandwiches_in_the_boot]

Took a drive down Andytown way this evening and the place is looking all ready for the off. Flags, chip wrappers, flashing lights, boys in baseball hats with blue bags etc and that general feeling of anticipation on the road. So, up at ten, "service the wife", shower and wash the 'lad' (you never know as there might be a bit of loose on the go from Omagh tomorrow), a quick phone around, a few swals in the Hunting Lodge on the cards from about 1.00 pm and perhaps another few in the PD, two in Biddy Duffy's, a few tins from the off-licence at the Whitefort (perhaps another three pints there also) and a big long public pish up the side wall of Casement before we pay our way onto the terraces at about 3.30 and then half-cut, mouthing and slabbern, maybe then, we can dream.

I was watching the Antrim Tyrone highlights from '87 on the BBC website i.e. the day that we had the '86 finalists on the rack in the rain. Times have changed and from the half-empty green grassy slopes of the ground back then, I hope to see at least 30,000 there tomorrow - weather permitting. Strange but true but I was at that game (I was a mere pup) in Casement in '87 and the Tyrone ones had all their colours from the '86 all Ireland with them, and the Antrim fans could muster was one (yes one) - saffron flag, and that was a Papal flag that had been lying under someone's stairs since the Pope's visit in 1979. None of your replica jerseys from O' Neill's back then.

I have a Down in the lashing rain feeling from 2000 feeling about tomorrow .. as Jackie Charlton would said: 'Put 'em under pressure!!!!'

[ONeill]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/8697326.stm

Baker confident

[bannside]

The time has come. Its now or never, and 34 AI medals or not, our men can do this tomorrow. Casement is ours, and it will take a mighty Tyrone effort to beat us. No fear at all, total faith in Liam, Niall and Paddy, and in particular this group of players, our "golden generation".

Kickin every ball with ye lads!

[omagh_gael]

In that match report O'Neill it mentions the poor crowd and something about the hostile week if was in, what's that all about?

[bannside]

The political situation OG. Wouldnt that have been the week of the Milltown funerals?

Never forget the Down v Tyrone game in Casement a decade earlier. Anyone on here remember the point from Frank Mc Guigan in that match?

Unreal tension. So much at stake tomorrow. Its on national tV, and if we can get the result I expect, things will go through the roof! So much to gain, a fair bit to lose. Its all to play for. The St Galls boys think they own Casement, and hope that spreads to the rest.

[longrunsthefox]

The time has come. Its now or never, and 34 AI medals or not, our men can do this tomorrow. Casement is ours, and it will take a mighty Tyrone effort to beat us. No fear at all, total faith in Liam, Niall and Paddy, and in particular this group of players, our "golden generation".

Kickin every ball with ye lads!

I agree.

C'MON ANTRIM!

God love youse. You haven't a hope  will be like the Ulster final again... a canter.

[Hurler on the Bitch]

In that match report O'Neill it mentions the poor crowd and something about the hostile week if was in, what's that all about?

h

We do recall the shite that Drumcree produced about then.... ?

[longrunsthefox]

Just winding you up tho I can't really see an Antrim win. Tyrone half back line can be explioted tho... Davy, Ricey and Philly... a lot of years on the board there.