Dún na nGall vs Tír Eoghain, Ballybofey, Saturday 18th March @7pm

[J70]

Here's what Keith Duggan (a Donegal man, admittedly, but a very good GAA journalist) had to say on Murphy and McMahon in the Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/donegal-leave-tyrone-chasing-shadows-on-brute-of-a-night-1.3016247

Whatever position Murphy plays nowadays will not be found in Joe Lennon's book on Gaelic football. Yes he played midfield but he hung back and directed play from outside his 50 and decided against engaging McMahon in the kind of MMA engagement which has characterised their summer meetings.

Shortly after time, Justin McMahon grew weary of Murphy's refusal to rumble and wrestled his man to the ground, provoking a general skirmish which resulted in two Tyrone yellows – for Tiernan McCann (second man in) and McMahon himself. Harte called his centre back ashore after that to the vocal delight of the home crowd, for whom the Omagh man has become the pantomime villain of this showpiece.

So the Donegal journalist agrees with O'Neill then?

That Murphy was and is Donegal's playmaker?

[omagh_gael]

[bHere's what Keith Duggan (a Donegal man, admittedly, but a very good GAA journalist) [/b]had to say on Murphy and McMahon in the Times:

😀😅🤔🤥😜🤐😲🤑🤠🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

Was he wrong?

Was a partisan Donegal journalist warranted in his criticism of Justin McMahon in a game v Donegal?  Think about that for a bit.

Duggan is one of the Times main GAA journalists.

If you think he is biased and unprofessionally critical of McMahon, have at it and make your case.

Mickey Harte was obviously concerned.

Justy needs to calm the head big time, he's becoming a liability these past few seasons at times. Never used to play the game that way in his younger days.

Duggan is wrong though, it was McCarron that got booked for Tyrone. How he was identified as the 'third man in' I'll be very know considering almost every player was embroiled in that particular schmozzle. Thought Coldrick was dung in this situation. Hang back chatting to linesmen for good two minutes which allowed multiple restarts of the handbags.  Should have flashed the yellows and got the game going again.

[Itchy]

I heard from a reliable source that the referee was responsible for this hammering (7 points on a night like that is a hammering). When are the GAA going to put an end to referees scoring 7 points for teams that play against Tyrone. For the love of line dancing something must be done.

[Rois]

Never claimed to be impartial Rois. I generally don't bitch about the referees though.

I agree that they have an incredibly tough job but they are not beyond reproach.
"Bitch"ing and pointing out two specific points are not the same thing. They were two points that neither I, nor the referee, needed slow motion replays to pick up on.

You asked about McHugh so I'll be specific. Somewhere in the second half of the second half (that's as specific as my timing can get), as the players were waiting for play to begin again up near the Donegal goal, in the space of less than a minute McHugh had switched with his own players to mark four different Tyrone players. On each one he ran up, had a word in their ear, then made quite a show of moving on to the next. So I don't feel sorry for him if he's on the end of hard (but fair) tackles if he's at that sort of carry on. If he cut out that craic, I'd be happy to have him play for Tyrone 

[Man Marker]

Rois, are you saying Mc Hugh is Donegals version of Myler

[Fuzzman]

I think it's fair to say these two teams have a huge hatred for each other now at this stage and BOTH will use every trick in the book to get one over on the other.
From sledging to kicking balls onto the pitch to slow down kickouts.
They seem to bring out the worst in each other and it leads to a putrid atmosphere. With both knowing they can't afford to get a man sent off through a silly punch you tend to see a lot of other verbal and handbag nonsense.
Fair play to Donegal though on keeping their team at such a competitive level and in with a good chance of making the final now.
Maybe it's the wakeup call Tyrone needed as we've had some handy enough home victories lately. Mayo will be a huge game now.

[J70]

Our last two games are Monaghan and Mayo.

I'll be shocked if we make the final. Get through those two games with no injuries or suspensions, and it will be a job well done for this year. A hammering by the Dubs in Croke Park is of use to no one.

[From the Bunker]

Our last two games are Monaghan and Mayo.

I'll be shocked if we make the final. Get through those two games with no injuries or suspensions, and it will be a job well done for this year. A hammering by the Dubs in Croke Park is of use to no one.

There will be a lot of wonky results as each team tries not to finish in the top two with Dublin! Donegal and Mayo have renegaded on trying to win League semi-finals in recent years!

[BluestackBoy]

Assuming Monaghan win today there would be four teams on 7 points & I think the finalists will come from that group.

Donegal have Monaghan at home & Mayo away.
Tyrone have Mayo at home & Kerry away
Monaghan have Donegal away & Dublin at home
Dublin have Roscommon at home & Monaghan away.

Looking at those pairings I would put my millions on a Dublin V Donegal final.

[J70]

Our last two games are Monaghan and Mayo.

I'll be shocked if we make the final. Get through those two games with no injuries or suspensions, and it will be a job well done for this year. A hammering by the Dubs in Croke Park is of use to no one.

There will be a lot of wonky results as each team tries not to finish in the top two with Dublin! Donegal and Mayo have renegaded on trying to win League semi-finals in recent years!

IF yourselves and Monaghan win today, Ros and Cavan are down, so I'd say you'll be right. Tyrone probably fancy a crack at Dublin. Not sure about yourselves and Kerry. Monaghan still have to play them.

[BluestackBoy]

Our last two games are Monaghan and Mayo.

I'll be shocked if we make the final. Get through those two games with no injuries or suspensions, and it will be a job well done for this year. A hammering by the Dubs in Croke Park is of use to no one.

There will be a lot of wonky results as each team tries not to finish in the top two with Dublin! Donegal and Mayo have renegaded on trying to win League semi-finals in recent years!

I think Donegal would quite fancy a run out in the wide open spaces of Croke Park at the moment. They have momentum & a bunch of young fellas who will run all day.

I don't think they will worry too much about winning it but they wouldn't mind seeing where they are at against Dublin at HQ.

[seafoid]

Futures markets are now pricing a Tyrone all Ireland in 2020

[Main Street]

[bHere's what Keith Duggan (a Donegal man, admittedly, but a very good GAA journalist) [/b]had to say on Murphy and McMahon in the Times:

😀😅🤔🤥😜🤐😲🤑🤠🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

Was he wrong?

Was a partisan Donegal journalist warranted in his criticism of Justin McMahon in a game v Donegal?  Think about that for a bit.

Duggan is one of the Times main GAA journalists.

If you think he is biased and unprofessionally critical of McMahon, have at it and make your case.

Mickey Harte was obviously concerned.

Justy needs to calm the head big time, he's becoming a liability these past few seasons at times. Never used to play the game that way in his younger days.

Duggan is wrong though, it was McCarron that got booked for Tyrone. How he was identified as the 'third man in' I'll be very know considering almost every player was embroiled in that particular schmozzle. Thought Coldrick was dung in this situation. Hang back chatting to linesmen for good two minutes which allowed multiple restarts of the handbags.  Should have flashed the yellows and got the game going again.

Duggan has the gist of it right, however I readily admit to having a teeny weeny bit of bias. I thought McCarron started his own separate confrontation after the 'schnozzle' had settled down for a second time.
He was more aggressive, out of control, with an axe to grind against one Donegal player, possibly after being targeted/wound up.
In general, the only thing that has a calming effect is to get the ball moving as fast as possible with the ref bringing the ball forward if necessary. Once players see the ball moving, their attention shifts.

[omagh_gael]

Exactly MS, if ref had of booked the initial player i.e. Justy and hopped the ball that continuous handbag dance would have ended immediately.

BTW, we can't play the long ball game for shite. That's three games when we've used this tactic with Mattie and Sean up front and I'm struggling to think of more than a few scores we've got out of it. FFS, at one point a long floated ball went into Mark Bradley who was being marked by McGee!! Ridiculous. If that tactic is to be used the right type of ball needs to go in. It looks to me like it's more hit and hope.

In the greater scheme of things this result may be beneficial for us. Focus minds for more important games on the dry sod.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Futures markets are now pricing a Tyrone all Ireland in 2020

Sounds like you have enough on your hands with our dear neighbours right now without you bothering yourself with our future returns!