Tyrone v Down USFC Semi Final Sat 19th June

[johnneycool]

Thought the P.A. system in Casement was dreadful on the Terrace side. Had no idea from start-to-finish what yer man was saying cause couldn't hear him. Thousands of others also totally in the dark re subs/minutes silence/minutes extra etc

Have to agree with that. At the Armagh v Monaghan game I hadn't a clue what was being said. Loudspeaker technology should be perfectly manageable in this day and age.

Its the Frankie 'waah waah' accent, it doesn't travel well over a speaker system.

[western exile]

Clones is a cnut of a place and see the wankheads who let their field out for car parking, wouldn't mind having a look at their accounts. Clones is packed to the balls with scheming b**tards and the GAA only have matches there to keep scheming b**tards scheming (themselves included).

On the approaches to Casement on Saturday evening, every available space / yard / hole  was being offered as parking to match goers by locals at £10 stg !  (€12 presumably) .   Greedy scheming Frankie bastards!

[saffron sam2]

Anyone else notice the diminutive man in the St. Gall's top in the PD before the game.

He was the one carrying an axe with a label stating "Casement Social Club £9.99".

Strange.

[Fuzzman]

Was loading up our club notes there and just read that DOoher got MOTM on the Saturday game from Tohill who described him as a machine

I'll BE BACK!!!

I heard Stevie's heel mightn't be too bad but nothing confirmed as yet.

[tyssam5]

Was an interesting match and looked a scorcher day on the telly

I must say I was worried watching the 1st 20 mins as I thought we looked overrun and not showing any signs of recovery. When Stevie went off I thought the worst and was a bit edgy with the Donegal & Dublin supporters in the inlaw's house who are definite ABT's at this stage until we meet Kerry of course.

Down obviously decided to put a LOT of energy into not letting us get off to a good start and to attack at us is the best way to be beat us. Their midfield looked completely on top with Hub & Colm struggling for the 1st 20 mins.

Still, we showed composure and as a lot of people say now Tyrone don't do panic
We pegged it back slowly and surely with our best player off the field and Mugsy not seeing much action either. I think that's the main difference between us and other teams is when some players don't perform others can step up and take the lead.

I think Sean looked happier in at FF which is a big turnaround or was that just my opinion.

I for one was glad to see Dooher play well though he did get maybe carried away with shooting from difficult positions too much.
Delighted also with young Carlin. He has become a terrier like defender and doesn't do so much headless chicken runs and passes. Still can't decide on Swift. I don't think he's as good as McCarron or PJ was in 2008.

All in all I was happy with the result and feel we're coming along nicely
Far from good enough to beat Cork at last year's level but its only June
Worried about our slow start to both halves & our lack of killer instinct now in two matches

Wee James said he felt Tyrone were only toying with them near the end but the fact remains that had Packie not made that excellent save we could have had a very nerve wrecking ending.

It's been 7 years since we pushed on and give a team a total no holes barred performance since Fermanagh in 2003 1/4 final. Maybe that's cos we're older, wiser, more experienced & don't want to reveal too much or peak too soon. Whatever the reason I hope it doesn't lead  to us getting caught out in the Ulster final or further down the line.

Was delighted for Snout as well to get a good run out. He proved a lot of us wrong and its just a pity he didn't get that point to help his shooting confidence. I for one would be glad to see him start the next day at 11 with Big Sean in at 14 if Stevie is out?
Any word on that heel injury?
None from my end as yet.

Hope so. But I watched the game again last night and we played well for only 10-15 minutes. As we saw in the league that is not enough to beat Division 1 teams. Down were there to be beat in the 2nd half, we got plenty of possession but made very hard work of converting scores. It OK saying we 'don't do panic' but there's a sense of urgency needed at times, hope we can find it.

[Fuzzman]

I've watched bits and pieces of the game again and maybe I'm getting old and negative but we were far from convincing in the second half.

We really should be pushing on and I know we lost Stevie but Mugsy and Sean didn't do a wile lost in the 2nd half. If Penrose was to repeatly put in the performance Mugsy does nearly every game then he's be dropped for Tommy, McCullagh, Mellon etc.

I actually like having Mugsy on each game, as the Rolls Royce type of player who will stand out once in a while but for the size & skill he has he should be MUCH more influential on the game. I know its a team game and everyone has their role but I'd say its hard for others sitting on the bench wondering how much leeway Mugsy always gets.
I suppose he does always chip in with a few points if he doesn't get a goal
That's 1.02 he has this year so far isn't it
If he can sort out his silly fumbling and be a bit more direct then he would be a stand out player every game. How often do you see him catch a ball and turn and shoot immediately like big Sean or Stevie might do?

[Tyrones own]

And if he could stay on his feet he might be better off... a bit of a Ronan Clarke about him these last couple of years
in going to ground easily for the strength he has

[Fuzzman]

In fairness to him he's got that dummy down to a tee
Everytime he gets the ball, his first instinct is to throw a dummy and get himself some space

I noticed once on Sat Big Sean taking on his man & his man waiting for his shimmy and Sean still did it and got past him.

[ONeill]

I've watched bits and pieces of the game again and maybe I'm getting old and negative but we were far from convincing in the second half.

We really should be pushing on and I know we lost Stevie but Mugsy and Sean didn't do a wile lost in the 2nd half. If Penrose was to repeatly put in the performance Mugsy does nearly every game then he's be dropped for Tommy, McCullagh, Mellon etc.

I actually like having Mugsy on each game, as the Rolls Royce type of player who will stand out once in a while but for the size & skill he has he should be MUCH more influential on the game. I know its a team game and everyone has their role but I'd say its hard for others sitting on the bench wondering how much leeway Mugsy always gets.
I suppose he does always chip in with a few points if he doesn't get a goal
That's 1.02 he has this year so far isn't it
If he can sort out his silly fumbling and be a bit more direct then he would be a stand out player every game. How often do you see him catch a ball and turn and shoot immediately like big Sean or Stevie might do?

Really hard to know what to make of Mugsy. As you say, he's the Rolls Royce now and again and those wee sparks of genius can make the difference. He's definitely not the player who tortured Dublin in the replay of '05 (Jaysus that's 5 years ago now) and can't really see him totting up 0-4/5 from play in a game anymore. I'd also agree if some of the lesser lights played the way Mugsy did at time they'd be looking at the curly finger. He can get turned over something shocking. But, there's just something about having him there. Tyrone scored 0-4 against the wind on Saturday and he got one of them, a classy effort. He killed off Antrim in the first round despite doing little else. He can win ball and can make defence-splitting passes. He's a thoroughbred.