Kerry v Tyrone

[saffron sam2]

Only one point from play from the Tyrone forward line today.

Only one team interested in, or capable of, playing football there today.

[Frank Casey]

I don't think anyone from Kerry expected Curtin to stay on the field after a daft clothes-line of a challenge. Ref got that wrong, no argument.

On the other hand I think Gormley had a couple of opportunities for a second yellow and I still think that grabbing a fellow by the throat at least deserved a hop ball.

As for the sending off, from such an experienced player it was daft.

While the ref's performance might annoy many I think it made minimal difference. Whether this is to Kerry what Armagh meant in 2006 or Dublin in 2009, we'll see, but we'll enjoy tonight all the same.

Kudos to Mickey Harte when interviewed at the end. Considering all the turmoil in that man's life at the moment he was most dignified, as usual.

[Sportacus]

Quit yappin about Curtin not getting a red - wouldn't have made a button of difference.  Mcmenamin had Gooch by the throat straight in front of the ref and Gormley deserved about 5 yellows - leaving knees and elbows in and driving the ball into O'Se's ribs - feckin embarrassed himself.

[borderfox]

I thought it was a dirty game, with both sides as bad as the other.  In the football stakes Kerry destroyed Tyrone, absolutely took them to the cleaners. A well deserved victory. Going forward  Donegal are the only team in Ulster who will be able to stand up to the big three (Cork Dublin Kerry) in my opinion.

[J70]

Ok...........disappointed but......

1. Beaten by better team on the day. Fair play to Kerry.
2. Not too disheartened. Cavanagh, Coney and O'Neill absent & McCurry, Clarke, Colm C, McNamee, Carlin, McCrory, Donnelly x 2 and Harte all enjoying thier first Championship start against Kerry. Will stand to them in the long run
3. This clearly meant a lot more to Kerry than to Tyrone. they celebrated like they won an AI, Galvin in tears etc.......really? for a county that has won so many AI titles, does beating Tyrone in a 3rd round Qualifier mean THAT much? Are we so far under their skin?
4. Mugsy stays on...McCurry off?? A curtain call for Mugsy I would think..no other reason for him to stay on the pitch based on todays performance..


5. As has been pointed out already...Coldrick......possibly the worst intercounty referee out there. How does McGuigan get a straight red for shoving someone in the back (oscar worthy going down TBF) while an assault by Curtin with the forearm on Colm Cavanagh results in a yellow. A scandalous set of decisions on their own merits...never mind in conext..............

Fair play to Kerry though..Tyrone needed the next score after the (lucky) goal...they conceded a green however and that was all she wrote.

Lot of shirt swapping at the end...good respect between the aul hands...end of an era for many I would say.

As my better half said to me during the game...Kerry are the dirtiest team around but get away with it through better PR....

A "shove" on the one hand and an "assault" on the other! No blinkers here!

And yes, Curtin should have went if McGuigan did, but the ref gets only one look at it from whatever line of sight he has, so apart from retrospective punishment or exoneration, what can you do?

[squire_in_navy_slacks]

Felt for Tyrone in this one, hats off to kerry thought they played some great football, however I have a feeling that was there all ireland  today, they celebrated like it was.......................galvin cooper and donaghy showing their lack of class after the game with their over the top celebrations, a pack off classless baboons

[laoislad]

.galvin cooper and donaghy showing their lack of class after the game with their over the top celebrations, a pack off classless baboons

The Dubs would never do that of course 

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Ok...........disappointed but......

1. Beaten by better team on the day. Fair play to Kerry.
2. Not too disheartened. Cavanagh, Coney and O'Neill absent & McCurry, Clarke, Colm C, McNamee, Carlin, McCrory, Donnelly x 2 and Harte all enjoying thier first Championship start against Kerry. Will stand to them in the long run
3. This clearly meant a lot more to Kerry than to Tyrone. they celebrated like they won an AI, Galvin in tears etc.......really? for a county that has won so many AI titles, does beating Tyrone in a 3rd round Qualifier mean THAT much? Are we so far under their skin?
4. Mugsy stays on...McCurry off?? A curtain call for Mugsy I would think..no other reason for him to stay on the pitch based on todays performance..


5. As has been pointed out already...Coldrick......possibly the worst intercounty referee out there. How does McGuigan get a straight red for shoving someone in the back (oscar worthy going down TBF) while an assault by Curtin with the forearm on Colm Cavanagh results in a yellow. A scandalous set of decisions on their own merits...never mind in conext..............

Fair play to Kerry though..Tyrone needed the next score after the (lucky) goal...they conceded a green however and that was all she wrote.

Lot of shirt swapping at the end...good respect between the aul hands...end of an era for many I would say.

As my better half said to me during the game...Kerry are the dirtiest team around but get away with it through better PR....

A "shove" on the one hand and an "assault" on the other! No blinkers here!

And yes, Curtin should have went if McGuigan did, but the ref gets only one look at it from whatever line of sight he has, so apart from retrospective punishment or exoneration, what can you do?

Elbows used in both incidents, Curtin's was more dangerous but giving both the line would be defensible by the rulebook.

[Farrandeelin]

I hate referees.

I'm on their backs a lot too wobbler, didn't deserve to be a sending off IMO. What to do with refs though? Pat McEnaney will only back them to the hilt and nobody can criticise any decision refs get wrong at all.

[HokeyPokey]

Disappointed with today.

Don't think Kerry are as good as they looked nor Tyrone as bad. I think Tyrone thought that Kerry were feeling the pressure coming into the game and thought they could outfox Kerry. The approach and tactics from Tyrone were totally wrong. They played pretty lethargic and no-one was making any good runs forward. Tyrone didn't show the necessary intensity needed and Kerry took hold of the match.


For once unlike the teams of the past there does not seem to be a cohesive unit, it was like a jigsaw that didn't fit. Tactics haven't worked the last few years against the better teams who keep all the men back in their half. It failed in 2009 and last year I'd be reluctant to say it did in 2010 as we did everything but win. Something new needs to be tried. I think trying big Seán at 6 perhaps could be something to try. We definitely are still missing a big presence around the middle of the field as per usual and worryingly someone to pick up the scraps. We do have decent forwards in Coney, R. O'Neill and McCurry but we need a team.

Things need to shook up and perhaps new voices such as Monroe and Canavan should be brought into the backroom team, though not sure if Canavan would settle for second fiddle.

Don't think either side covered themselves in glory and more players should have seen shown the line, Coldrick seemed to respond to the crowd alot. I'm not sure how far Kerry will go, but I'm not convinced that they'll win sam, maybe a semi...

[theticklemister]

Was on the road today all day; of all f**king days!!! But listened to great commentry on RTE 1 of Antrim v Tip game.f**king immense!
Managed to get to bar in Donegal for last 10 mins of Kerry game. Curtin should of got red; but about a minute before that challenge Cavanagh came in and gave him a late tackle just at bottom of tv screen, so Curtain was reacting to that I beileve.still a red card though to Curtain.

[ONeill]

The midfield finally came back to bite us. Hub Hughes, for all his detractors, was missed out there. As was Dooher for being able to read the ball. As was Jordan for making the correct decisions.

Those players believed they were better than their opponent. We don't have the players.

Clarke looks a find. That's it. McCurry scored a nice point off his left foot off O'Se but you'd need to see more. Not convinced with the rest. Peter Harte had an average championship.

[T Fearon]

Gooch's celebration at the end said it all.Victory at last over Tyrone or perhaps he was just ecstatic that he got through another game against Tyrone without losing an eye!

[seanog]

Honestly feel Kerry are not getting near the credit they deserve for todays victory, Tyrone were not getting out of Kilarney with a win no matter what they brought with them today.

Kerry played some mighty stuff which seems to be overshadowed by shite talk on referee decisions that would of had no bearing on the game imo.

Galvin was superb, Cooper was class, Donaghy was effective, Kerry midfield was dominant, Declan played a stormer, hardly any of this gets a mention with a lot of people, o se s were class as per.

[Hoof Hearted]

FoSB - any chance of Brolly's article? I'll buy you a shandy.

Too kind sir! 

Gooch can't choke again

The problem with this Kerry team is that they have always failed when it has really been put up to them.
Pat Spillane is very keen to point out that in the numbers game, they have more All-Irelands than Tyrone. But this disguises the reality that deep down in their bones, Kerry folk have always had doubts about this group.
They are, of course, fine foot- ballers and will retire with trophy cabinets sagging under the weight of gold. But at the very highest level, against serious opposition, they have always wilted.
The first hint that they were not on a par with the Golden Years crop came in 2003 when they collapsed entirely in the face of Tyrone's furi- ous indignation. "Sweet mother of Mikey Sheehy" they wailed in the Kingdom. "They're tackling Darragh O'Se!"
As the game wore on and it be- came plain that this particular Ty- rone team was not going to succumb to stage fright in the face of the green and gold jerseys, it was the Kerry men who gave up. It was a surrender that would have been un- thinkable for O'Dwyer's crew. For the record, Kerry scored a miserable six points and lost by seven.
In 2004, the Team of the Decade beat up a Conor Mortimer-inspired Mayo in the final, spraying cham- pagne midway through the first half after Colm Cooper scored a delight- ful goal having soloed through un- touched by human hand. Funny thing, I haven't seen Colm scoring a delightful goal against Tyrone in Croke Park, or any sort of goal.
Which brings me to another sub- ject that I have been reflecting upon anxiously over the last six months: Is Colm as great as I once- thought he was? The skills are of course peerless. He is magnificent when the Kingdom are beating up on Mayo or the old Cork team. But I am begin- ning to have my doubts.
I watched him closely in this year's club semi-final against Cross- maglen. Crokes went seven points up. He had not contributed. Then, Crossmaglen - against all the odds - began their comeback. Now, I thought to myself, now Cooper will ead them home. I waited, and wait- ed, and waited. In the face of Cross- maglen's furious indignation, the golden boy disappeared.
James Morgan, an aggressive, tight marking and hugely competi- tive corner back with no county ex- perience and aged just 21, utterly dominated him.
An American tourist would never have believed it if you'd told him The Gooch was one of the greats. If howver you'd told him he was a choker, he would have agreed, since that is what Colm did against Cross. As their key man floundered, so did his team mates.
When you think about it, there is a pattern.
When Tyrone put it up to him in 2005 and 2008 he failed. When Dublin put it up to him in last year's final, he failed, leaving it to Donaghy to lead the attack. Think on the other hand of how many times Mikey Sheehy, Bomber Liston or my good friend Pat turned games on their head. No quitters on that team.
In 2003, Tyrone put it up to them and Kerry wilted.
The next year, the Green and Gold were back to beat up Mayo in a one sided cakewalk. Let's be fair about it, they could have thrown their jerseys onto the field and Mayo would have surrendered.
In 2005, Tyrone put it up to them again and again the Kingdom quit after a great start saw them surge clear. It is typical of bullies that when a strong start doesn't deter the opponent, they begin to doubt themselves.
In 2006, hip hip hooray, it was Mayo again. Oh how they laughed in the Kingdom when the news came through on the wireless. Come the day of the final, John Morrison'sprediction that Mayo would be Brazil against Kerry's England prompted a new entry in Private Eye's 'Coleman Balls'. The game was over after fifteen minutes, which is just the way Kerry like it. Star and Gooch ran riot and Pat put another notch in his bed post. A 13 point margin.
In 2007 it was Cork. Again, game over after ten minutes and a cushty 10-point win.
In 2008, Tyrone again. Kerry huffed and puffed for a good while that day. like the Big Bad Wolf they threatened to blow down the Tyrone house.
But like the Big Bad Wolf, they chickened out at the finale. With four minutes to go it was a draw. In the RTE soft seats though, we knew what was coming.
I nudged Patrick with my elbow and said "Hard luck." "F*** off" he said. Tyrone duly reeled off five unanswered points.
In 2009, hip hip hooray, it was Cork again and another one sided canter. By God, the Kerry men were throwing their weight about that day. "Fair play to you Tadgh." they roared in the Kingdom. Why didn't they do that the previous year?
In 2010, Kerry were fazed by the fact that Down were totally unfazed. It was the referee's fault don't you know.
Last year, they were fazed by the fact that Gilroy had discarded the startled earwigs and replaced them with an army of worker ants. Dublin stuck with them for sixty minutes. Again, the bullies yielded.
On Saturday, everything is stacked in the Kingdom's favour. Home venue, everyone fully fit, their destroyer in chief Sean Cavanagh in- jured and a Tyrone team not at the level of its predecessors. Yet Tyrone don't give a damn about their green and gold.
If Kerry can finally stand up and by that I mean all of them, not just Tomas and Marc O'Se, then this could be the path to another All-Ire- land. But far more importantly, it will be the path to self respect.
Something Tyrone have never had to worry about...

i wonder was this hung in Kerrys changing rooms !!