Tír Eoghain vs Cill Dara NFL 2008

[Dinny Breen]

Mulligan steps up

[Owenmoresider]

Towers man Mullarkey buries it......

7pts - 1-4

Good man, need more of them too.

[ONeill]

......Mugsy hits crossbar.

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

Sounded like a very poor match and a poor display by Tyrone after a promising start.

[Dinny Breen]

All over Kildare escape with a point from Omagh

Kildare seemingly committed robbery......viva the Orange Revolution......

[ONeill]

69 minutes: Kildare are sensationally on level terms as sub Alan Smith cuts inside from the left wing and puts the ball across goal where Padraig Mullarkey is waiting to palm it to the net (Tyrone 0-7 Kildare 1-4)

65 minutes: Tyrone's second score of the half is finally delivered by Tommy McGuigan who finishes superbly after great work by Damian McCaul and Enda McGinley, the Red Hands moving three points clear with five minutes to go (Tyrone 0-7 Kildare 0-4)

62 minutes: Damian McCaul and Niall Gormley are introduced to the action in place of PJ Quinn and Colm Cavanagh as scores continue to prove hard to come by, both teams now with nine wides apiece

53 minutes: Owen Mulligan makes his entrance to the league in place of Ryan Mellon as the game goes through a barren period in terms of scores

43 minutes: Tyrone's best move of the match results in a classy point from Raymond Mulgrew, who puts the finishing touch to great build-up play by Kevin Hughes, PJ Quinn and Tommy McGuigan, the Cookstown man then dummying his man before scoring with ease from a difficult angle (Tyrone 0-6 Kildare 0-4)

38 minutes: The first score of the second half comes from the Lilywhites as Padraig Mullarkey feeds John Doyle for his third point of the night, leaving just a single point between the sides (Tyrone 0-5 Kildare 0-4)

Half-time: Tyrone 0-5 Kildare 0-3
John Doyle's missed free brings the first half to a close with Tyrone holding a two-point lead, the wides count matching the scoreboard with Tyrone also ahead 5-3 in missed chances. Tyrone dominated for most of the first half but the visitors finished the first half strongly  to halve the deficit from four points to two points. The Tyrone defence has generally been on top so far, limiting Kildare to just one score from play, while Tyrone will be disappointed that their promising approach work hasn't brought them more scores.

32 minutes: Kildare's Ronan Sweeney is handed a golden opportunity to tie the match when he fields a long ball from James Kavanagh to leave himself with only John Devine to beat but his shot rises over the bar (Tyrone 0-5 Kildare 0-3)

30 minutes: Conor Gormley blocks a Ronan Sweeney goal attempt and John Doyle lobs over the ensuing forty-five to narrow the gap to three points (Tyrone 0-5 Kildare 0-2)

26 minutes: Tyrone's impressive spell continues as Raymond Mulgrew passes superbly to Colm McCullagh out on the left wing and the Dromore man skillfully hits the point of the night so far to put four points between the teams (0-5 to 0-1)

24 minutes: Tommy McGuigan cleverly curls a forty-five out to the right wing towards Enda McGinley and the Errigal man turns and drills over Tyrone's fourth point of the proceedings (Tyrone 0-4 Kildare 0-1)

20 minutes: Raymond Mulgrew slips the ball inside to Colm McCullagh and the Dromore man is pulled down, leading to a minor skirmish. McCullagh picks himself up to record his second point of the night (Tyrone 0-3 Kildare 0-1)

14 minutes: Following some eye-catching defensive work by P J Quinn and Marty Swift in the opening stages, Kildare finally break their duck as John Doyle converts a free to leave the minimum between the sides (Tyrone 0-2 Kildare 0-1)

12 minutes: Sustained Tyrone pressure yields a free kick courtesy of Dermot Carlin and Colm McCullagh strokes the ball over from 25 metres to give Tyrone a two-point cushion (Tyrone 0-2 Kildare 0-0)

7 minutes: From the resultant '45' Dermy Carlin eventually sets up Kevin Hughes and the Tyrone midfielder opens the scoring with a neat left-footed point (Tyrone 0-1 Kildare 0-0)

6 minutes: After three Tyrone wides, Raymond Mulgrew sets up Enda McGinley for a great goal chance with a magnificent long ball over the Kildare defence but the shot is saved and goes out for a '45'

tyronegaa.ie

[Tyrones own]

   Physicality evidently is still the way to go against Tyrone.....

[Rossfan]

According to the RTE reporter - 12 scores and 13 bookings.
A disappointing result for Tyrone while Kildare will be happy to get a point on the board.
Teams like Kildare - and us in Div 2- need to get points early before the big guns get warmed up - or are Tyrone now former big guns?

[reddgnhand]

Total rubbish tonight in Omagh. Kildare should have won the game. Same old problems for Tyrone way to many passengers. Hub Hughes worst man on the pitch. Enda McGinley was more or less in the middle on his own and got up and down the pitch all night long. Defence played ok. Forwards well the least said the better. Its not looking good. Big Sean was in the stand and spent most of the time looking to the heavens.       

[Rudi]

Had a great accumulator going for the weekend & Tyrone just f*cked it up.

[never kickt a ball]

Had a great accumulator going for the weekend & Tyrone just f*cked it up.

You mean Kildare  .

Was Fergal McCann at the match tonight?

[tyroneman]

Worst game of football I have seen for many many years, would almost put me off going back to the NFL if that is the sh**e served up. Almost

Both sides chances to win it - Tyrone dominated first half, Kildare took 70% of the second.

The lack of a free taker for Tyrone is extremely worrying, espcecially for right footed kicks. (What did I say before about Mugsy's free taking?) It's something which has failed to be addressed for years now.

Still thought Tyrone would win it up until Nephews ridicuous shot (when 3 men were free waiting for the ball in beter positions) and the subsequent gallop up the field, unimpeded, by the big Kildare lad.

McGeeney certainly has put his own stamp (and I do mean stamp) to this Kildare team. Persistant "in yr face" attitude, fouling, niggling and some blatant thuggery, most of which went unpunished by the ref (awful for both sides - gave everything to Tyrone in 1st and Kildare in 2nd half.). His solution to everything was a hop ball FFS.Still if Kildare fans are happy that's the route to go then fair play to yis, I suppose you win feck all being nice.

Ratings

Devine (6/10): The little he had to to do, he did well.Kcik outs supect but you could put that down to wind and lack of movement in MF.

PJ Quinn (6/10) Solid enough - didn't break forward as much as you would have liked.

Block (8/10) -Excellent as usual, some great blocks and interceptions. Beaten to high ball a few times through and obviously not going to win everything against men 5-6" taller. Needs to be in CHB spot.

Swift (7/10) Did well, out in front of man a good bit, used ball well enough for most part.

Nephew (5/10) REaonsable performance overall. Still to easlily rounded by his man. Ridiculous choice to shoot which led to goal big black mark on performance.

Carlin (7/10) Solid game, good going forward  swept up a lot at back but will get badlly caught out carrying ball into trouble at some point.

Jordan (5/10) spent more time worrying about Doyle than adding to the Tytone attack. Suppose that's primarily what he's there for.

Hub (3/10) Last chance saloon big lad. Less said the better.

Enda (8/10) One man show in MF for Tyrone. Worked his b*lls off.

Colm (3/10) An aul fella behind me was waxing on all night about how everyone knows Sean can take the heat and punishment, get up and get on with it while Colm won't last the game with the same attention. How right he was.Spent more time on his ar*e or with his hands in the air moaning at the ref that doing anything useful. For such hype I have yet to see anything more than an average game out of him (best being Dublin lights last year). Aul fell a also reckoned it would take a serious bad game for him ever to be subbed.He was right - it did - he was.

Mulgrew (7/10) Flashes of brilliance mixed with some poor hand passing. Needed more from the FF line to give him someone to hit. Spent too much time in the Half Back Line.

Mellon (4/10) Sorry - what has happened here? Not one good game since 2005 final. Living on past glory. Time to be dropped.

McCullogh (6/10) Best of forwards on view. Free taking poor by his standards. Always showed for ball at least.

Tommy (5/10) Forgettable.

Snowy (4/10) The big step up looks a step too far on that showing.  Needs more time. Will hopefully improve. Has to learn to hold onto the ball.

PJ / Niall (4/10) Not on long enough to rate.

Mugsy (3/10) Did nothing apart from miss the free at the end. Is he seriously the best we have?

Could be a very difficult NFL this year and just the wrong time to meet a resurgant Down in the Championship. Just can't see where scores will come from.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Terrible performance from Tyrone up against what appeared to be a very limited Kildare team. This and Laois are probably the 2 easiest games in the league and to only get a draw is a bit of a disaster. The only positive from the game was thats its only February and a long time to the start of the championship. None of the young boys really look like stepping up to take over from the more experienced players on the team at this stage. Would disagree that Hub was the worst player on the pitch. Thought midfield did well in the first half and he got a lot of ball. It was his first game of the season which probably showed in the 2nd half. Very difficult conditions in Omagh tonight - I dont think Tyrone ever play that well there and it lacks atmosphere. The county board have pumped a lot of money into it so cant see any games being played elsewhere. For all the money spent on the place its a pity they couldnt fix what always appears a heavy ptich.

On a different note I think the county board and the gaa in general quickly need to rethink there obsession with Saturday night matches. The novelty factor brought out the supporters last year but last night the attendance of 3600 was one of the worst at a league game for Tyrone in many years. The gaa has always tried to attract families to the games and fixing games at night time seems to do the exact opposite to this. People in parts of Tyrone wouldnt have been home until after ten last night never mind any away supporters who would have hoped to travel. Also people wont be as keen to start making journeys in the dark. The attendance in Donegal also appeared to be very low for such a fixture with Kerry. One or 2 games under lights in the league would be more than enough for any county. I know the Tyrone couty board wont want to back track but the Donegal game should definately be moved to a Sunday afternoon. Donegal isnt that far away and Im sure there'd be a decent away support prepared to travel if the game was on a Sunday afternoon who would be put of by the late finish on a Saturday night.

[his holiness nb]

Had a great accumulator going for the weekend & Tyrone just f*cked it up.

I hear you Rudi 

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Tyroneman - dont think last night was a night for Jordan to be bursting up the field like he normally does. Doyle is one of the top forwards about and Kildares danger man. Thought Jordan did a decent enough job on him.