Tyrone v Monaghan USFC Final

[GrandMasterFlash]

Defintely MF but Clerkin can't exclusively be blamed... We've seen Eoin Lennon havin quiet days too in his career. Clerkin is like Woods and tends to get in the faces of the opposition which is what you want at this level! He adds a lot physically to the diamond. I was impresessed with mid-field in the Derry game and it wasn't for their size or the amount of clean catches made but the amount of break-ball that was picked up by the smallest men on the team! That's how to win MF. It's 'not for the purists' I agree but don't really mind. Fermanagh done it yday also, crowded the centre so it's purely based on probability i.e. the more men you have local to the break-ball the better the chance of winning it. It's a risky enough strtegy I know as you are potentially leaving large gaps and exposing your FB line but one that can pay off. One good way to compete with Sean Cavanagh/Kevin Hughes it to spoil the ball and not always be trying the majestic clean catches. Another obvious tactic point from Fermanaghs game yesterday was they brought Ryan Keenan (I think) out the field but the Wexford full back stayed his ground. Fermanagh were pumping high ball into Maguire/Lyttle and the Wexford full-back mopped up almost every ball that came in, he made it look extremely easy! I reckon we need to employ Damian Freeman in a sweeper like roll and have Dessie/Vinny man mark Mugsy/SON/whoever.

  I know this is completely stating the obvious but If we can compete at MF, or in the event of not winning MF stop the supply to Tyrone's FF line, then it won't matter if the have god himself in there, never mind the SON of god!

  In saying all this it'll be one hell of a battle and Monaghan are gonna have to play 70mins football at full tilt..

[Mid Mon]

bandit ffs that tri colour looks like shit. orange white and blue

[thebandit]

Nothing to do with me.... Have you got your ticket for the soft seats yet?

[Star Spangler]

Thankfully, there's no word of any further Tyrone injuries from the weekend's games.

[tyroneman]

Interesting match this for Tyrone.

On one hand the display against Donegal would suggest that things have finally started to click in the Championship for the first time since 2005 (bar maybe the first half of the Louth replay last year). Having watched the see-saw nature of Armagh, Derry, Galway, Donegal etc however you just couldn't put money on the game.

One would think that if they have AI aspirations Tyrone should be putting teams like Monaghan away, hgowever Sligo yesterday showed what hunger and a lack of silverware can do for a team. IF Tyrone match the hunger and appetite that Monaghan will show then you would imagine other factors like experience should see them though. Added to which Tyrone do have more quality players in the first 15 and more options on the bench.

Having said that I am dreading complacency (2003 McKenna for example) setting in.

Hopefully the younger players; Mulgrew, Cavanagh Jnr, Tommy, Carlin (if selected) who have yet to establish themselves will be well up for the game. Cavanagh Snr rarely (crossed fingers) has 2 quiet games in a row though the in yer face approach of Monaghan does not suit him.

[nrico2006]

Cavanagh Snr rarely (crossed fingers) has 2 quiet games in a row though the in yer face approach of Monaghan does not suit him.

Agreed, he rarely has one quiet game, its a near impossibility that he will have one this weekend.  Below is the sides and scorers from their last meeting in the McKenna Cup Semi Final - Is big Rouse worth a shot.  Harte has barley give him a minute since this match!

Tyrone – Jonathan Curran, Paul McGurk, Cormac McGinley, Ciaran McCrory, Paul Quinn, Paul Marlow, Martin Penrose, Gerald Cavlan, Kelvin Hughes, Aiden McCarron, Tommy McGuigan, Declan Treanor, Paul Rouse, Stephen O'Neill, Niall Gormley. Subs – Damian McDermott for Niall Gormley, Christopher Colhoun for Declan Treanor, Brian Dooher for Stephen O'Neill, Mickey Murphy for Kelvin Hughes, Philip Jordan for Ciaran McCrory

Monaghan – Padraig McBennett, Donal Morgan, James Coyle, Ciaran Hughes, JP Mone, Jason Hughes, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Paul Finlay, Vincent Corey, Mark Daly, Rory Woods, Eoin Duffy, Paul Meegan, Brendan McKenna, Nicholas Corrigan. Subs – Stephen Gollogly for Mark Daly, Tomas Freeman for  Rory Woods, Dessie Mone for Paul Meegan, Dermot McArdle for Brendan McKenna, Conor McManus for James Coyle

Tyrone scorers – Stephen O'Neill 1-5, Paul Rouse 0-3, Declan Treanor 1-0, Tommy McGuigan 0-2, Brian Dooher 0-2, Christopher Colhoun 0-1, Aiden McCarron 0-1, Damian McDermott 0-1, Gerald Cavlan 0-1

Monaghan scorers – Paul Finlay 0-3, Donal Morgan 0-1, Paul Meegan 0-1, Stephen Gollogly 0-1, Brendan McKenna 0-1, Tomas Freeman 0-1

[uselessfootballer]

Just Read the following report on the BBC site, squad/bench options reduced, Ger Cavlan is aleays a good option to have, pity.




Ger Cavlan has joined Cormac McGinley in becoming a Tyrone injury concern for Sunday's Bank of Ireland Ulster SFC final against Monaghan (1415 BST).

McGinley has not trained for two weeks because of a groin injury while Cavlan has a hamstring strain.

On the plus side, Niall Gormley has resumed training after a jaw injury.

Mickey Harte has said Stephen O'Neill's hamstring and knee injuries are having to be "managed" but the forward should be in contention for a starting role.

"Cormac McGinley didn't train at all last week or over the weekend so he has to be in the very doubtful category," Harte told BBC Sport on Monday.


"Gerard Cavlan was coming along very well in training after missing the Donegal game but unfortunately he has now picked up a bit of a hamstring problem so that is giving us cause for concern.


"Stephen O'Neill is still not 100 per cent. We are still having to manage his injuries but it's moving in the right direction and we are hopeful that he will be in contention for this weekend's game."

Niall Gormley missed the semi-final win over Donegal because of a broken jaw but he has made an excellent recovery and looks likely to join Tommy McGuigan in being available for the provincial decider.

Squad members Justin McMahon and Aidan McCarron may miss out on places on the bench because they are troubled by hamstring injuries at the moment.

Tommy McGuigan was ruled out of the Donegal match because of a broken wrist after starring in the first-round win over Fermanagh.

His brother Brian remains out because of his serious eye injury and appears unlikely to return to action in the near future.

Last month, his father Frank said that he was concerned that the injury could end the centre half-forward's

[ziggysego]

Nope, I was wrong. Never mind.

[GrandMasterFlash]

Did Calvo start against Fermanagh? I know he kicked the winner but can't mind if he started a championship game the year. He's a big miss, class act on his day..

[Mid Mon]

Tickets beginning to look scarce. Further ticket requests are been taken from clubs and if any are left the county board will be having a public sale tonight in monaghan town 9pm.

[Maguire01]

Did Calvo start against Fermanagh? I know he kicked the winner but can't mind if he started a championship game the year. He's a big miss, class act on his day..

Don't think he started, but was pretty effective when he came on - not least for the last point. He would be a loss.

[Star Spangler]

Today's Indo

O'Neill's cold comfort puts Red Hand in the final frame

By Cliona Foley
Tuesday July 10 2007

TYRONE full-back Cormac McGinley, who has not trained for two weeks with a groin injury, remains the Red Hands' biggest injury worry ahead of Sunday's Ulster SFC final but forward star Stephen O'Neill says he is ready for action.

And what he has done to get there demonstrates just how far Gaelic footballers will suffer for their art these days.

Ten times in recent months O'Neill (26) has submitted his body to minus-110 degrees at the cryotherapy chamber in Whites Hotel, Wexford.

Cryotherapy

It is the only facility of its kind on the island and nearly a 450-mile round-trip from his native Strabane.

But O'Neill admits he has gone to every extreme to try to rid himself of the repetitive hamstring and knee tendonitis that have dogged his career since he soared to 'Footballer of the Year' status in 2005.

The longest a body can last in these giant, recovery-boosting human freezers is two to three minutes.

"Aye, it's a scary place and a shock to the system," he admitted, grinning.

"But after 10 sessions, it's the first time in about six months I've no pain, walking, in my knee," O'Neill revealed.

"It's just numbed the pain and set up the recovery for the wee hamstring tear."

Between that, intensive physio and a gruelling individual weights programme, he feels he's nearing full fitness after missing half the season, including Tyrone's championship opening victory over Fermanagh.

But he came off the bench (and scored two points) against Donegal last time out and last weekend was happily in the midst of a Tyrone camp in the Breaffy International Sport Hotel in Mayo, whose new training centre has been designed by former Irish Lion Keith Wood.

Top of the weekend's agenda was undoubtedly Sunday's opponents Monaghan.

O'Neill says Tyrone are well aware of their threat, especially as Monaghan's new fitness trainer (Martin McElkennon) trained him as a Tyrone minor one season.

"The last time we played Monaghan in the league a couple years ago, they really put it up to us," O'Neill recalled.

"They went in six or seven points up at half-time and we came back to just beat them by a point.

Qualifiers

"We played them two years ago in the championship (Qualifiers) in Croke Park and if it wasn't for big Packie McConnell pulling off a great save in the first half, they'd maybe have been eight, nine points up at half-time.

"Monaghan are a really good team, they're fast, fit, they run all day and produced a very high work rate against Derry.

"They had two or three men around the ball tackling, so we know we're not going to get time on the ball and will have to make sure we do things fast and efficiently," he warned.

And he firmly dispelled any notion that Tyrone's two All-Irelands may have made them complacent about provincial honours.

"We were very disappointed two years ago to lose an Ulster final to Armagh."

However, they avenged that by defeating the Orchard county in the All-Ireland final that year.

"We're lucky enough now to get back to another final in two years but we haven't won one in four seasons, so it's a very big game and we're very hungry for it."

- Cliona Foley

[orangeman]

Surely Tyrone have got a good enough reality check over the weekend -
Leitrim drew with Donegal !
Sligo beat Galway !
Derry beat Armagh !

Don't underestimate Monaghan !

[Rois]

Stevie must have been the appointed spokesperson this week - I see a familiar name on the byline of two articles in the IN today, one on O'Neill and the other on Damien Freeman. 

[An Fear Rua]

KM has secured a ticket for next weekend, so am really looking forward to hopefully another shock result in a provincial final.

I think Monaghan will really put it up to Tyrone, but will be interesting to see how they cope with the duvet that smothered Donegal but also how they will handle Tyrone running at them with the ball.  If they can get a foothold around the middle and feed early ball to the likes of Freeman, Woods, Gologly, or Hanratty they could rack up the scores. They will need a plan to curb the likes of Dooher and Sean Cavanagh around midfield. Should be an interesting game and i really cant see much between them.

Am looking forward to seeing what this mystical Ulster final craic is all about.

Where you drinking? Im travelling back from england for the game, is there to be a mini board get together?

BBC are reporting that Cavlan is injured, AGAIN!