Donegal v Tyrone Ulster Championship

[Student Dissertation]

I think the biggest area of concern for Tyrone after yesterday must be the severe malnutrition of Colm Cavanagh.

[imtommygunn]

I thought exactly that on their analysis of the goal. Why were they picking on McNiece whenever Gormley was a) closer and b) is a defender who was on that wing anyway. They just seemed to want to pick someone out and he seemed to be the first they saw.

I didn't see enough of it as I only caught highlights which are increasingly short to fit in hot air about things like blankets and sligo managers which are not what I want to be listening to

[parttimeexile]

Donegal were the better team, no doubt about that. The tyrone defence was very innocent marking one on one.The days of that working in gaelic football is now gone. Peter Harte slowed the already slow build up when tyrone were trying to attack. He seems to need three or four solos every time. Good player but I just dont think he has it for that level.Plenty of others didnt show up either to be fair. I dont think the level of footballers are in Tyrone at the minute to compete for the major honours at the minute. And before anyone mentions the league I feel that it is so far off championship pace that it should not even be compared!

[EC Unique]

Can't understand putting cavanagh in FF but not one high long ball in to test the full back?

[Fuzzman]

Congrats Donegal. Jimmy sure has ye at a level that few team will get close to.
For a first round match, where they hadn't played competitively for nearly 2 months, they sure reached a high standard of intensity & skill.

Of course the most natural thing to do is to focus on where Tyrone fell down and getting the ball into scoring areas would seem to be one of the main issues. Mickey must be very disappointed at losing 3 in a row and whilst a lot of players didn't play well and must take a lot of the blame, Mickey's tactics certainly didn't bring out the best in our go to players like Sean & Stevie. Donegal's FF line did much much better and seem more up the the battle with their man than Tyrone were.
I for one was expecting Mickey to have something new up his sleeve but to me its the same old plan of running with the ball into trouble and not having any alternative way of finding the FF line.
McBrearty was excellent as I was worried he would be. The biting smokescreen worked a treat.

Its a long season and Donegal will no doubt come up against different obstacles but the sheer determined effort they seem to put up and their single mindness shows they STILL believe in their manager and their system and I for one have changed my mind about them winning two in a row.

[screenexile]

I don't think Tyrone were naive in defence marking one on one as they had their blanker defence set up for large parts of the game. Pat Spillane called it kind of right when he said long balls unlock the blanket defence but he was only half right. Obviously if the blanket defence is set up and you hoof a long ball in then it's not going to work.

The key is turning the ball over and then getting it up the pitch as soon as possible before the opposing team has time to set their defence. Donegals 2 goals came directly because Tyrone didn't have time to organise themselves and Donegal made sure they took full advantage of those opportunities. The thing that impressed me most about Donegal was how economical they were with their chances and they didn't kick any balls short!

[yellowcard]

Mickey Harte must be bamboozled at this stage and sick of the sight of Donegal. He has been a brilliant manager but has been outfoxed by McGuinness now 3 years in a row. Donegal adhere to the game plan religiously and set up their defensive system with such conviction that no-one else can match them at what they do. I think they could be even better this year and I really can't see anyone stopping them if they can maintain the hunger for another 4 months.

There are probably about 10 teams in Ireland who if McGuinness was managing, I would say he would be capable of having them win an AI title, such is his influence. What he has achieved with Donegal considering where they were when he took over is remarkable.   

[Fuzzman]

The thing that impressed me most about Donegal was how economical they were with their chances and they didn't kick any balls short!

I suppose that is indeed a crucial fact of the game. Its scores and often goals that win matches and we kicked 12 wides I believe whilst they kicked 2.
You would nearly wonder did McGuinness tell his men to give away fouls 50/60 yards out to tease Morgan to try them and get his confidence dented early on, or am I just paranoid now about Jimmy's powers.

[screenexile]

The thing that impressed me most about Donegal was how economical they were with their chances and they didn't kick any balls short!

I suppose that is indeed a crucial fact of the game. Its scores and often goals that win matches and we kicked 12 wides I believe whilst they kicked 2.
You would nearly wonder did McGuinness tell his men to give away fouls 50/60 yards out to tease Morgan to try them and get his confidence dented early on, or am I just paranoid now about Jimmy's powers.

It wouldn't surprise me. I felt bad for Morgan as some of those frees he was kicking were nigh on impossible. No other team would have been getting their free taker to hit them so why did Tyrone?!

[Stall the Bailer]

Now is when we will find out a lot about this Tyrone team (management included). Can they learn lessons for yesterday?
We were hoping that they learnt for the last two defeats from Donegal. However this game was set up nicely for Donegal.
There were some signs early in the game that Tyrone had improved but from the second goal on, it was poor.

The long range frees were very predictable from Tyrone. Donegal could have had their 15 players standing 10 yards from the ball and the outcome would have been the same, they only needed three.
With frees 45m out there is space to work it short even with Morgan coming out to hit them.
It was one of the things the ref missed. Why did he always go into the square for these long free kicks, and not catch the infringements around where frees were being taken from.
Ball out of hand they would have been moved closer. Most of Morgan's frees should have been moved closer for infringements.

Donegal were the cuter, more disciplined and better team.

Tyrone played stupid football late on and let Donegal bully them throughout, this also meant Tyrone lost their discipline which all played in Donegal's hands.

There is plenty to be hopefully about from Tyrone's play but still a lot to do.

[yellowcard]

Far too much of an emphasis was put on Morgan's free kicks before the game anyway. The 4 free kicks he missed were probably at best 50/50 and if it had been an outfield player hitting them then there were would have been less of a fuss/circus currounding these missed chances. Tyrone may have had a lot of wides but very few were 'gimmes' that could be put down as bad misses. Donegal's wall becomes more concentrated in the scoring zone and quite often (especially in the closing stages of matches) it is hard enough for the opposition to get a free shot on goal never mind a score from play. 

[ballinaman]

Can somebody explain how Eamonn McGee was shortlisted for MOM on the Sunday game. The man is a one man fouling machine and when he does get pulled for it, mouth's off like there is no tomorrow! He has to be one of the most cynical players to ever play the game at this stage.

[yellowcard]

Can somebody explain how Eamonn McGee was shortlisted for MOM on the Sunday game. The man is a one man fouling machine and when he does get pulled for it, mouth's off like there is no tomorrow! He has to be one of the most cynical players to ever play the game at this stage.

The two Magee's for me are probably prime examples of players that have bought into and fitted perfectly into McGuinness' system. Individually I think they are average enough defenders but they are protected by the way Donegal set up. Prior to McGuinness arrival I can remember them being exposed in several matches but its a perfect example what an organised mass defence can do to make a defender look a much better player.

I do think the two of them executed their jobs in the exact way they were required yesterday though. They nullified the threat of Cavanagh and O'Neill, job done.

[Christmas Lights]

Very disappointing from Tyrone to allow a guy with a hairstyle like Ross Wherity score a big goal against them.

I know his hair was completely shocking and therefore it would be very hard to take a boy like that seriously when he eneterd the fray.  I presumed when he came on, and with hair like that, that he would be no threat so the whoever was supposed to be marking him for the goal probably assumed the same as me and therefore let him carry on.  Major sucker punch to get hit for a goal at that time of the game.  I couldnt believe he scored.  He hasnt good enough hair to score a goal in the Ulster championship. 

[bennydorano]

He scored because his man Gormley went on walkabout.