Tyrone v Cork - Healy Park, 13/03/10

[orangeman]

Not sure how Tyrone won that game to be honest.

Cork have a long drive of them ahead and will be scratching their heads going down the road.


At 4-2 to Tyrone, Cork completely took over and went 9-4 up only to go in at half time 2-5 to 0-9 down.


On the restart they hit 4/5 points and looked like winners.

Cassidy was outstanding. For all the criticism that Colm has received on this board, he answered the critics well - moment of the match for me was when Colm had the ball, floored Pearse O'Neill, then up stepped Alan O'Connor and Colm put him on his ass as well - not easy done to put these 2 big lads down.


What a morale booster for Tyrone.


Cork I'm sure can hardly take it in.

[Minder]

I know who my money would be on if they met again in the summer.

[ONeill]

Some game. Tyrone were definitely the second best side on the night but when Cork switched off they paid for it. Tyrone had a nervous energy in the opening minutes and were a couple of points up and looking up in general for it. Mugsy, Donnelly, McCusker, Penrose, Mulgrew and McGuigan were all showing well for the ball. Then bang. Cork upped the tempo and Tyrone were chasing shadows. The movement from the Rebels tore Tyrone to shreds. Gormley was being given the runaround by O'Connor, Ricey was erring all over the shop and Donnelly/McCusker were losing possession too easily when Tyrone managed to move the ball anyway over the half way line. Corks 10&11 were making mugs out of the Tyrone defence. Mulgrew's man was tearing forward at any chance and Cavanagh had stopped showing for the ball.

Cork should've been out of sight. At 0-9 to 0-4 I think they missed a glorious goal chance. A 10-point half time deficit wouldn't have been hard on Tyrone. Cork were so dominant. Then on about 32 mins, a Gormley point and two goals completely changed the reflection of the game. Only Colm Cavanagh will know the truth but I thought he was caught in two minds between point and goal and it dropped in. Donnelly finally got free from his marker and set up McGuigan who was lucky the rebound fell into his path.

In the second half it was business as usual as Cork tore the Tyrone defence apart. They created mountains of room with fatigue and sharpness letting Tyrone down. Sean's intro livened things up. Sean O'Neill scored a clinker before Mellon scrambed another major. From then on it was tit for tat. Cork must be wondering how it got away from them. They were totally in control for about 45 minutes.

For Tyrone, Cassidy was tremendous. Direct, athletic, confident and talented. For the second game running he gave himself a serious chance of earning a Championship start. Very, very impressed. Penrose was brought out to the HF line before the two goals in the first half and hoovered the ball up around the MF and HB lines better than anyone else. It was almost the turning of the game - that swap with McGuigan. Colm Cavanagh was good in fits and spurts. Still hard to know where to play him. McCarron made some telling interceptions. Mugsy is in the best shape since 2003. Mulgrew had his moments but was loose on the No5. Defensively Tyrone are dodgy. Curran's performance doesn't need any comment. I felt for the lad. Gormley looked lame from the start, Ricey made a rash of uncharacteristic errors. Swift laboured a bit late on.

A win is a win. Pure robbery though.

[tyrone86]

Entertaining game and a tremendous result from a Tyrone perspective. Certainly a smash and grab win with Colm's Cav's 'lob' and 2 scrappy goals, but considering our luck with  suspensions and the Mayo and Monaghan results we were probably due a break.

Can't disagree with O'Neill's synopsis - he's more or less said it all. I wouldn't be too worried about Cork looking so much fitter and sharper at this time of year. Considering Tyrone have been on the field 1 night a week, there's plenty of time to work on the sharpness and get the defence in order. Traditionally, Tyrone have always conceded big totals at this time of year so no need to panic yet.

Onward to Tuam next Sunday - getting another 2 points on the board is vital before the visit of Kerry.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

This result will suit the Green over the Red, now hopefuly Cork can take some points off the Dubs.

[tyroneman]

Curren was diabolical. That game should be the end of him in a Tyrone jersey.

Penrose was excellent. You could almost see him becoming the nxt Dooher. Hoovered everything up around MF and linked play together.

Cassidey immense. On this form the question for the championship is who will partner him (my money on Hub).

What's up with Enda though?  Poor so far and no show tonight. Is he carrying an injury?

Didn't think mcCusker or  Donnelly did anything that would suggest they will get a sexing glance come championship time.

Lot of very silly ball given away, need to cut that out. Defence creaking badly too.

Not sure how we got the win but it's most welcome. Roll on Galway.   

[Nally Stand]

Cheers for the reply there Dirtydozen

[Club Rossa]

Tyrone showed some heart last night and did well to get the win.Cork were rampant at times and looked like they were going to destroy Tyrone,but the boys kept plugging away and got a wee bit of luck to help them over the line.Considering Cork have one of the best midfield pairing's in the country,i thought Cavanagh and Cassidy performed really well.
Curran was poor and i actually thought he might have been replaced at the break.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Tyrone were definately lucky to win. The half back and half forward lines werent strong enough and apart from Penrose weren't pciking up the breaking ball. Have serious doubts about Harte's place on the team and Ricey is struggling a bit to. Sean O'Neill provided plenty of running when he came on.

Despite the over the top criticism Colm Cavanagh again played well tonight. Good to see our midfielders compete in the air as well as provide mobility. Him and Cassidy should definately get another game or 2 together. Mellon provided a bit of strength in half forward line that was lacking and took the goal well.

Although I was looking him off I do feel a bit sorry for Curran. He obviously struggles with nerves when playing at county level and putting pressure on him to take short kick outs is crazy. If he's playing he should be told to kick the ball out as far as he can because he actually can get good distance on it.

Considering the forward line that was on last night its great to get a win. Joe McMahon should definately be brought into the defence next week.

[Chris agus Snoop]

Cork midfield is weak without Murphy, Galway destroyed them there last week.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

What a rollercoaster of a game, more than meriting the charge of grand larceny perhaps.

Still, a win's a win, and what a win. The positives easily outweigh the negatives, though some of the negatives are significant, which won't be lost on MH.

Rumours of our demise are greatly exaggerated.

[An Fear Rua]

Great entertainment tonight and for all you stokes looking free steaming on the net, go and pay the 5 squid subscription fee to setanta and watch it live on the TV.  Some stokey b**tards on here alright.

It didn't work as soon as the match started. Anyone know why?

Pay £5 quid where? Do Setanta now do a web based subscription for those of us who are no longer in Ireland?

[sandwiches_in_the_boot]

Rumours of our demise are greatly exaggerated.

That will no doubt be the feature of this week's GAA columns. Hopefully now Tyrone's start to the league campaign will be viewed in its true context. Two defeats by a point, without the services of a handful of their best assets. Tyrone sit with 3 other teams in division 1 with 2 points and can be reasonably confident of taking 2 off Galway.

While Tyrone's form may be lacking, they'll be happy to come away with the few positives, including Aiden Cassidy, Martin Penrose and a revigorated Mulligan. And while the likes of Brian McGuigan might continue to struggle in search of form, players like Justy McMahon will hit form come the championship. Drop in SON, Sean Cavanagh, Big Joe, Philly Jordan, Dooher's leadership and Tyrone will do themselves justice.

The majority of players on that team don't owe anybody anything. Expectations were high of new blood, but a dose of reality now and then won't do a bit of harm.

[Cde]

Although Tyrone were fortunate to get the win last night it was encouraging to see that they started to show a bit of hunger in the last 15 mins

[ziggysego]

Was at the game last night and had the pleasure of meeting KIDDO before the match.

Anyway, it's good to see Tyrone back on winning ways, even if I'm not sure how that got back onto winning ways. Cassidy for me was the best man from Tyrone. Colm Cavanagh is showing a lot of improvements this year, although the goal he got was a real fluke, gifted to him.

Donnelly didn't do a lot and made a lot of errors, so I'm wondering why people queried him being taken off. Curran... well he isn't making the grade unfortunately.