Tyrone v Monaghan USFC Final

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Paddy Power:

Tyrone: 2-9
Monaghan 11-4

Way too short and longs odds, respectively, I'd say. More realistically it might have been Tyrone @ 2-5 and Monaghan @ 2-1.

[ExiledGael]

Really looking forward to the final back in Clones, sure to be a full house and a good atmosphere, when was the last time Clones was full??
Just hope Monaghan can make a game of it

[Onlooker]

I had great time for the fine Monaghan team of the 1980's and travelled many a mile to see them play in both Clones and Croke Park.  There should be a special atmosphere now that the Ulster Final is back in Clones and with a fairly new pairing.  I was at the 1988 final, but expect Tyrone to win this one.

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

Find it a bit hard to believe that many Tyrone posters are so confident....whoever came out of Sunday's semi final was going to be difficult but Monaghan as a team on the up and with fast, tricky forwards are quite possibly the more dangerous than Derry. Tyrone on the form of the Donegal match would win the game but given that was by a long distance the best showing since September 2005 (amidst a sea of mediocrity) we can hardly bank on the same performance back to back. A repeat of the Fermanagh display for example will win Monaghan the Ulster title. Would be even more wary of Monaghan given the manner of their two victories, against Down trailing for most of the game only to hit back with a big finish then against Derry to be pegged back after leading with a goal against the run of play late on yet to still be on top in the closing stages. Suggests theyre strong mentally.
Again we'll need the big men (Ricey, Gormley, Jordan, S.Cavanagh, Dooher, Mugsy, SON) and a few of the newcomers to be on form to win. Anything less and Tyrone will be in trouble.

[Tatler Jack]

From Todays Irish Times.

An Irishman's Diary
Frank McNally
With reports that GAA fans have taken to snorting cocaine in Croke Park, it seemed like a good time to get out of Dublin and attend an Ulster championship match in West Belfast.
Andersonstown is the perfect antidote to the madness of life in the capital. Depending on the game you're watching, an afternoon in Casement Park can have the same sobering effect as a whole weekend in Lough Derg. Whatever the football lacks in dourness, the stadium itself makes up for.
At its best, the experience is a welcome reminder of those days - before we lost the run of ourselves - when the only way fans could get high at a GAA match was by watching it from the roof of the stand.
As usual, in recent times, the trip north was a chance to admire the M1: now stretching all the way to the Border. The only one thing that spoils the drive now is the road's de facto apartheid system, under which cars registered in the Republic are confined to the slower left-hand lane, while Northern cars get to use the faster one, on the right.
There's nothing to stop you as a Southern driver using the outside lane. It's just that when you do, a jeep with an aggressive Northern reg number - all those Xs and Zs look like expletives warning you to get out of the way - is liable to loom suddenly from behind, moving from nought to 60 per cent of your rear-view mirror in three seconds flat. Maybe it's the sterling differential, but Northern cars all seem to be able to do 20 miles an hour extra in the Republic.
Curiously enough, the system is reversed on the other side of the Border, where Northern drivers slow down and it's the Southerners' turn to ignore the speed cameras. It should all average out on a trip to Belfast. Except of course, that once you hit the Border (and you probably will hit it, unless you brake sharply), the M1 disappears suddenly, like Cinderella's coach, and turns into a mountain pass. You're still 50 miles from Casement Park, and the sobering experience has begun already.
The North's roads may still be catching up, but Sunday provided a dramatic example of the peace dividend in West Belfast, where the police - of all people - were directing match traffic. In the old days, the RUC avoided GAA matches like Free Presbyterians avoid drink. But there was the PSNI on Andersonstown Road, directing Derry and Monaghan supporters like it was the most normal thing in the world.
The mood of change even extended (unlike the PSNI) into the stadium, where, in a dramatic break with tradition, Monaghan played their opponents off the pitch. This sort of thing used to happen a lot back in the 1980s. But in the 19 years since we last reached an Ulster final, Monaghan fans had forgotten what it was like. By the end of Sunday's game, the memories were flooding back: of Nudie Hughes, and choc-ices, and ill-fitting crepe paper hats that the colours leaked out of when it rained.
It struck me for the first time that the logo on the current Monaghan jersey - FKM - looks very like a Northern car registration (in fact it's the name of an engineering company). And that's how it must have appeared in the wing mirrors of the Derry defence, as flying Monaghan forwards overtook them left, right, and sometimes centre, with reckless disregard for their own safety.
Everybody agreed afterwards that the winners were about seven points the better team, although of course only two of these points were on the actual scoreboard. Being a Monaghan supporter means that, no matter how dominant the side are, you never have a chance to relax and shout "olé" repeatedly as they string passes together in the closing stages of a game. Not that you're the sort of person who would, anyway.
Qualifying to meet Tyrone in the final next month was a dubious privilege. Conventional wisdom suggests the main issue about the game will be whether Tyrone win by a wide margin or an even wider one. But the result may be secondary on this occasion to Monaghan's main task: saving Ulster football's soul.
By reaching the final, paradoxically, Monaghan's modest support base has ensured that the province's showpiece will be played back where God intended it to be: Clones. We will leave it to future historians to explain how, for a few years in the early 21st century, the Ulster final was held annually in Dublin. Sufficient for now that this outrage has ended.
In fairness to Armagh and Tyrone, it can be argued that only the M1 and Croke Park could have dealt with the huge support bases (and their rapidly expanding egos) of recent years. But they must realise by now that too much big-city glamour can lead to decadence. Just look at the Dubs. If the Ulster Final continued to be held in Croker, Tyrone fans would soon have been snorting cocaine off their match programmes.
In St Tiernach's Park, Coke is still something that comes in bottles and it only gets up your nose if somebody makes you laugh when you're swallowing it. That issue aside, an Ulster final in Clones will be a welcome chance for Tyrone supporters to experience life in the slow lane again. Alternatively, they can try the other lane, where the traffic isn't moving at all.

[Deal_Me_In]

From Todays Irish Times.
By the end of Sunday's game, the memories were flooding back: of Nudie Hughes, and choc-ices, and ill-fitting crepe paper hats that the colours leaked out of when it rained.

Does anyone else think Frank has been reading our thread on things we don't see at football matches anymore? Soundvery similar to be a coincidence

[tyroneman]

I would actually be suprised if this is all ticket. I don't think many will be left waiting outside the gates come that Sunday afternoon based on attendances so far this championship.

I will however have a wee wry smile on my face as I see the usual suspects from my own county who will invariably decide that the UF is the day to turn out and support the team in person. 

Usually these are among the most vocal educationalists in the ground, informing all the rest of us idiots how the game really should be played (and wondering when Peter is coming on...................) 

Anyhow..competition for places will make MH team selection very interesting.

For what it's worth I think CC will be given thne 3rd MF nod based on his 15min spell at the end of the Donegal game and the fact he could rotate into FF if Stevie is out the field.

Anyhow....................... what I'd like to see  (whcih is seldom what MH picks, but then he's right more than he's wrong)

Devine / McConnell (don't mind - each has good / bad points)
Ricey - invaluable if he keeps his head away from the panto stuff
Joey - must be a cert
Carlin - improving all the time. Starting to make more and more of the right choices with the ball (no shooting please though)
Nephew - mr reliable
Block - the best in Ireland
Model - getting back to his best, will be back among the points again
Sean - great to see us beat Donegal with an average performance from him
Hub - shooting and some headless passing aside, was an immense performance against Donegal, back to doing what he does best.
Dooher - no more needs said
Mulgrew - Finally delivering on big stage. Still feel he has more in him than Tommy.
C Cavanagh - Enda is off form, Mellon is hit and miss, worth a go.
Mugsy - back on form and losing beef
SON - if fit, enough said
McCullogh - worth another go.

That would leave a bench of Cavo, Tommy, Enda and Mellon for genuine forward options (i.e. MH will actually give them a game)

[Mr. Nakata]

Interesting point Tyroneman regarding who Harte will actually use / trust in the white heat of championship battle. Defensively, I'd say he'd throw on McMahon juniour if a half back gets injured, McCaul or McGinley if a full back gets injured and the 4 forwards you've mentioned. At this stage can you see him throwing on McCarron, Treanor or Rouse? Don't think so. Kelvin at midfield? PJ Quinn, Peter Donnelly or Gourley, maybe. I suppose if there were 3 defenders needed to be replaced one of these guys would get a run out. When players cramp and injuries mid game start to strike, it'll be interesting to see MH's substitutions.

[tyroneman]

Please God...........................not Peter Donnelly, not even if we were 15 up with 3 min to go.................not Peter Donnelly

[nrico2006]

Definitely agree with tyroneman.  No harm, but anyone suggesting Donnelly needs their head seen too. 

[Star Spangler]

At this stage can you see him throwing on McCarron, Treanor or Rouse? Don't think so. Kelvin at midfield? PJ Quinn, Peter Donnelly or Gourley, maybe.

Mickey Harte's approach is very much "if it ain't broke don't fix it" so the lads on the fringes will only get a shot if someone else fcuks up (ala Cormac McGinley the last day out).  Once a player has won his place it's up to him to lose it.  It's the right approach imo.

[tyroneman]

Mickey Harte's approach is very much "if it ain't broke don't fix it" so the lads on the fringes will only get a shot if someone else fcuks up (ala Cormac McGinley the last day out).  Once a player has won his place it's up to him to lose it.  It's the right approach imo.

Can you please explain how Cormac McGinley and Peter Donnelly got soooooooooooooooooooooo many chances after feckin up time and time again? 

[ONeill]

Anyhow....................... what I'd like to see  (whcih is seldom what MH picks, but then he's right more than he's wrong)

Devine / McConnell (don't mind - each has good / bad points)
Ricey - invaluable if he keeps his head away from the panto stuff
Joey - must be a cert
Carlin - improving all the time. Starting to make more and more of the right choices with the ball (no shooting please though)
Nephew - mr reliable
Block - the best in Ireland
Model - getting back to his best, will be back among the points again
Sean - great to see us beat Donegal with an average performance from him
Hub - shooting and some headless passing aside, was an immense performance against Donegal, back to doing what he does best.
Dooher - no more needs said
Mulgrew - Finally delivering on big stage. Still feel he has more in him than Tommy.
C Cavanagh - Enda is off form, Mellon is hit and miss, worth a go.
Mugsy - back on form and losing beef
SON - if fit, enough said
McCullogh - worth another go.

That would leave a bench of Cavo, Tommy, Enda and Mellon for genuine forward options (i.e. MH will actually give them a game)

Agree with 1-10. 11 is still up for grabs. Mulgrew played well when Donegal collapsed. McGuigan played well under pressure but faded. The toss of a coin. 12 I'd have McGinley or Mellon as it's the pressure cooker of an Ulster Final at Clones. Both often deliver on the big days. 15 - He'll probably go with McCullagh but I'm not so sure anymore. He continues to underperform though his workrate cannot be doubted.

Sorry, post fixed...

[never kickt a ball]

10 is still up for grabs.

Dooher? You have to be joking or wrong there O'Neill!

[charlie linkbox]

We'll do well to bring more than aboout 12,000 supporters to the game. Monaghan's fan base is usually about 8 or 9 thousand so when you add a lock a thousand bandwagoners on top of that, I'd say 12,000 is the height of it.