Tyrone v Kerry The Easter Relegator, how the mighty have fallen..

[tyroneman]

Mystified as to why mcCurry pointed with us needing a goal. Crazy decision making.

Could at least have lobbed it into the square.

We were a point down at that stage, so needed to score 4 to stay up. I am thinking McCurry took the easy point thinking about one last chance for goal afterwards.

Two evenly matched teams today, Kerry were ruthless when presented with a goal chance, we were toothless in front of goal. You'd have hoped for better with the two most experienced men on the park at the end of the move. Ah well, focus on Ballybofey now.

Well done Kerry.

We were a point down and needed 3 to stay up........goal would have done it

[Rodman]

Can anyone tell me what's the story with Mickey O'Neill? Is he injured or what? I was suprised to see Jonny Curran back in nets today. However he had a good game.

Tyrone have the bare bones of a very good side, but definitely a few players short. Very little to come from the bench. We will need to keep all out best players fit.
Good spirited performance today, but the manner of the defeats to Monaghan and Donegal still haunts us. Still lack a killer instinct, and the dropped points v Dublin and Cork is what has relegated us.

His kick outs were brutal. Continually put the full back line under pressure by chipping the ball to the corner back position. Absolute madness.

[redzone]

I take it micky has left the panel. if he has then so be it, pj did well enough though, hes game. yes curran looked rusty but that's to be expected, tara what a diff a week makes. another game we should have won if the shooting boots were on. colly immense as was mcarron, justy, mcnamme, petey, mcnabb, matty, mccurry and sean. thought we should have pushed up on there kickouts but I suppose when u have maher and moran in midfield then ure caught between a rock and a hard place. Tony Donnelly back on the line mighten be a bad thing.

[Main Street]

Mystified as to why mcCurry pointed with us needing a goal. Crazy decision making.

Could at least have lobbed it into the square.

We were a point down at that stage, so needed to score 4 to stay up. I am thinking McCurry took the easy point thinking about one last chance for goal afterwards.

Two evenly matched teams today, Kerry were ruthless when presented with a goal chance, we were toothless in front of goal. You'd have hoped for better with the two most experienced men on the park at the end of the move. Ah well, focus on Ballybofey now.

Well done Kerry.

We were a point down and needed 3 to stay up........goal would have done it

I think there was only one tyrone player in there to aim at.  But judging  by the way McCurry looked at the ref after he kicked the point, he probably  thought there was another play left in the game.
The chance that went a begging was the one for McMahon a bit earlier, that was the one, but I would be a bit shy to call him toothless.

[Up The Middle]

I take it micky has left the panel. if he has then so be it, pj did well enough though, hes game. yes curran looked rusty but that's to be expected, tara what a diff a week makes. another game we should have won if the shooting boots were on. colly immense as was mcarron, justy, mcnamme, petey, mcnabb, matty, mccurry and sean. thought we should have pushed up on there kickouts but I suppose when u have maher and moran in midfield then ure caught between a rock and a hard place. Tony Donnelly back on the line mighten be a bad thing.

As far as I'm aware micky is on holidays and has not left the panel.

[redzone]

picked a bad time to go on holidays. with morgan out injured he would have got his chance. maybe he still will. its not  something ud hear to often a player heading of on holidays 6 weeks before the championship.

[Gaffer]

He s in Las Vegas. That's why young Fox was brought on last week.

He was not available today due to the U21 final on Wednesday night.

[Knock Yer Mucker In]

picked a bad time to go on holidays. with morgan out injured he would have got his chance. maybe he still will. its not  something ud hear to often a player heading of on holidays 6 weeks before the championship.

Get his chance, sitting on the bench for a year and a half waiting, meanwhile Morgan has been poor imo for a while. Free kicks r what have been keeping him there and that has cost us our place in this division, Hartes reluctance to acknowledge Morgans free kicking is not reliable enough for this level has had its consequence. O Neiil is as good a shot stopper as you will get, superb under a high ball and his kickouts are more accurate. Morgan was not missed today, infact his absence  it helped Tyrone.

[redcard]

Mystified as to why mcCurry pointed with us needing a goal. Crazy decision making.

Could at least have lobbed it into the square.

We were a point down at that stage, so needed to score 4 to stay up. I am thinking McCurry took the easy point thinking about one last chance for goal afterwards.

Two evenly matched teams today, Kerry were ruthless when presented with a goal chance, we were toothless in front of goal. You'd have hoped for better with the two most experienced men on the park at the end of the move. Ah well, focus on Ballybofey now.

Well done Kerry.

We were a point down and needed 3 to stay up........goal would have done it

I think there was only one tyrone player in there to aim at.  But judging  by the way McCurry looked at the ref after he kicked the point, he probably  thought there was another play left in the game.
The chance that went a begging was the one for McMahon a bit earlier, that was the one, but I would be a bit shy to call him toothless.

The keeper made a good save from Mcmahon so I wouldn't be too sore on him. In fact it was very like a foot block

[BennyHarp]

Fair play to Kerry, I got the impression they were playing in third gear today while Tyrone actually played reasonably well in patches. With all the recent talk of blanket defences, anyone studying how to break down a defensive system should have a look at how Kerry are going about it. Firstly, they have players hugging the sidelines and get the ball to them as quickly as possible, forcing defenders to push out of position. Secondly, they move the ball quickly from wide, back inside to on running players in the middle to utilise the space vacated by defenders and kick points from 35-40 yards out. Kerry have the players to do this with Maher, Moran, Sheenan and seemingly Murphy able to kick from distance. Thirdly, if the ball back inside isn't on, they play a long diagonal ball into Donaghy, Geaney (and possibly in the near future Walsh) again keeping the ball wide drags the defenders out of position so less are around for the breaking ball. It's simple but effective and shows that scores can be created against a defensive system. Come the summer, I expect this to be perfected. Throw in the returning genius of Gooch and a very intelligent manager who can get the team playing a few different styles and I can't see past them regaining Sam.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Bennyharp, mostly a great post, but for the rest - take a hike for yourself sir! Kerry knew exactly what blatant fouling they could get away with, and routinely blocking the Tyrone runner off the ball went equally unpunished.

3rd gear - get a grip, clutching for dear Division 1 life at the end does most definitely not betoken such!

Hello Division 2

[Ball Hopper]

Mystified as to why mcCurry pointed with us needing a goal. Crazy decision making.

Could at least have lobbed it into the square.

We were a point down at that stage, so needed to score 4 to stay up. I am thinking McCurry took the easy point thinking about one last chance for goal afterwards.

Two evenly matched teams today, Kerry were ruthless when presented with a goal chance, we were toothless in front of goal. You'd have hoped for better with the two most experienced men on the park at the end of the move. Ah well, focus on Ballybofey now.

Well done Kerry.

We were a point down and needed 3 to stay up........goal would have done it

As it was a draw between Donegal and Mayo, a one-point Tyrone win would have relegated Kerry on the head-to-head rule.  Would the benches/management be aware of what was happening in Castlebar? 

[BennyHarp]

Bennyharp, mostly a great post, but for the rest - take a hike for yourself sir! Kerry knew exactly what blatant fouling they could get away with, and routinely blocking the Tyrone runner off the ball went equally unpunished.

3rd gear - get a grip, clutching for dear Division 1 life at the end does most definitely not betoken such!

Hello Division 2

It was getting on a bit last night and a few beers had been consumed so maybe I didn't phrase that correctly, so let me clarify what I meant by Kerry playing in 3rd gear. I just felt that due to the ridiculously lop sided AI championship we have, Tyrone and Kerry are at very different stages of their preparation. Kerry know that regardless of what happens when they eventually play Cork in Munster that they will be in Croke Park on AI quarter final day and are training to peak then, 4 months down the line. Tyrone need to peak in a few weeks time for an away trip to Ballybofey followed by (hopefully) a clash with Armagh etc. As a result I felt that Kerry looked a bit leggy and Tyrone seemed a bit sharper and fitter, especially in the last 15 mins. My comment about 3rd gear related to the relative ease at which they generated scores and kept the ball while Tyrone seemed to work much harder for scores. If Kerry were flat out for this would they have started without O'Sullivan or Geaney? Would they have waited so long to bring on Gooch? Don't fool yourself, this wasn't a Kerry team anywhere near full tilt yesterday, they never are in April. Put it this way, I would be worried if the two sides met in August.

With regards to Kerry's fouling - of course they knew what they were doing, they've been doing that for years. But I was only focusing my post on one element of the game that I thought had been the biggest talking point this past week, as many people felt this ultra defensive system was ruining the game and no attacking tactics could overcome it. Kerry showed (like they did late on, in the AI final against Donegal) how redundant the tactic can be when you fall behind on the scoreboard, by playing the ball around the 45m line, spreading it wide, keeping possession as the blanket looks on waiting for you to attack them. They kept the ball for nearly 3 mins yesterday from the 65th minute as Tyrone were chasing the game. This eventually led to a well worked point as they spread the defence from one side of the pitch to another until an opening was found. I for one enjoyed watching how the tactics unfolded!

As for Tyrone, I think in patches we showed what we are capable of when let of the leash and when 4 down, like the Derry game, we were able to score relatively quickly but once we did we retreated to form. I must say, Tyrones tackling is actually very good and is often over looked. Yesterday we only gave away 10 frees to Kerry's 34. Against Dublin it was something like 5 or 6. If only we could cope with the high ball and work a bit of pace into our attacks! 

Also, for 3 mins towards the end of the first half we pumped a few long balls in on top of Sean Cavanagh and he was winning them all and a few scoring chances resulted. We barely kicked one in during the second half - strange!

[CD]

Bennyharp, mostly a great post, but for the rest - take a hike for yourself sir! Kerry knew exactly what blatant fouling they could get away with, and routinely blocking the Tyrone runner off the ball went equally unpunished.

3rd gear - get a grip, clutching for dear Division 1 life at the end does most definitely not betoken such!

Hello Division 2

It was getting on a bit last night and a few beers had been consumed so maybe I didn't phrase that correctly, so let me clarify what I meant by Kerry playing in 3rd gear. I just felt that due to the ridiculously lop sided AI championship we have, Tyrone and Kerry are at very different stages of their preparation. Kerry know that regardless of what happens when they eventually play Cork in Munster that they will be in Croke Park on AI quarter final day and are training to peak then, 4 months down the line. Tyrone need to peak in a few weeks time for an away trip to Ballybofey followed by (hopefully) a clash with Armagh etc. As a result I felt that Kerry looked a bit leggy and Tyrone seemed a bit sharper and fitter, especially in the last 15 mins. My comment about 3rd gear related to the relative ease at which they generated scores and kept the ball while Tyrone had to work much harder for scores.

With regards to Kerry's fouling - of course they knew what they were doing, they've been doing that for years. But I was only focusing my post on one element of the game that I thought had been the biggest talking point this past week, as many people felt this ultra defensive system was ruining the game and no attacking tactics could overcome it. Kerry showed (like they did in the AI final against Donegal) how redundant the tactic can be when you fall behind, by playing the ball around the 45m line, spreading it wide, keeping possession as the blanket looks on waiting for you to attack them. They kept the ball for nearly 3 mins yesterday from the 65th minute as Tyrone were chasing the game. This eventually led to a well worked point as they spread the defence from one side of the pitch to another until an opening was found. I for one enjoyed watching how the tactics unfolded!

As for Tyrone, I think in patches we showed what we are capable of when let of the leash and when 4 down, like the Derry game, we were able to score relatively quickly but once we did we retreated to form. I must say, Tyrones tackling is actually very good and is often over looked. Yesterday we only gave away 10 frees to Kerry's 34. Against Dublin it was something like 5 or 6. If only we could cope with the high ball and work a bit of pace into our attacks! 

Also, for 3 mins towards the end of the first half we pumped a few long balls in on top of Sean Cavanagh and he was winning them all and a few scoring chances resulted. We barely kicked one in during the second half - strange!

Agree with your comment re. How to overcome the blanket. When Kerry had possession the wing backs and forwards hugged the touch line dragging the Tyrone blanket so wide that there were inevitable holes and Sheehan, Maher and Buckley all scored long range points from space as a result.
In terms of third gear - the talent on their bench probably meant that was as high as they could go! Tyrone played well in patches. McCurry is still too far away from goals on too many occasions in my opinion. Tyrone had success when they mixed their game a little but didn't do it often enough.
A team never gets relegated on the back of one game so no complaints - a poor league campaign literally from the first game and we deserved to go down. Last eight in AI series will be a triumph.

[ONeill]

Beat Mayo, drew with Dubs and Kerry and should have beaten Cork....weird relegation.