Tir Eoghain -v- Maigh Eo - Sunday 13th April

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Wouldnt be totally suprised if Holmes and McGinley started midfield in championship. 2 very hard workers who could at least compete with most midfields especially if Dooher was there to pick up break ball.  Not convinced though if Homes has the pace to start in the championship - might be better used from the bench. Still think Justy McMahon could be another option there and dont rule out Hub yet. Presuming O'Neill doesnt come back we may have no other choice than to play Sean on the edge of the square - we really need a scoring threat and ball winner there.

[gerry]

at the match today Brian McGuigan had a blinder, he covered alot of the pitch and was the start of alot of tyrone attacks.  great to see a win and with a improved performance, maybe the championship will last longer than i thought a few weeks ago.

[Jinxy]

Delighted to see Brian back where he belongs and I wish him all the best for the coming season.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Few points on the game:

1. Block looks very unfit - behind his man most of the day..................is something up?

That's an undeniable worry, here's hoping the 7 weeks before the Down game will cure that.

7. McCullogh poor today -let a lot of ball slip through his hands

Not for the first time this year, whatever is causing it. Time for new gloves perhaps, or even a sticky, dry ball.

And well done Packie: Mayo Penalty

[orangeman]

What a difference a day makes ....................... !



Brian Mc Guigan was and is a class act - the team responded to his promtings, none moreso than Tommy.

Block at full back was cleaned out - what's up there ? Mc Gee the same  - was pleased with Mc Caul, Jordan  - I thought Ricey was superb - Mc Ginley battled well as did Holmes - up front Mc Guigan was superb as was Sean.

Some very postivie signs !

[gaagaa]

i like (yuk  ) the look of the tyrone team this weekend
i think they could do the business

[blast05]

From a Mayo perspective:

Clarke: Nothing much to do. Palmed one ball over the bar he should have held and still needs work on the short kickouts despite improvement  .... lobbed a high 40 yard kickout on top of Howley with a few minutes to go with 2 Mayo men in close vicinity
Conroy: Cavangh roasted him for the first 20 minutes. He never tried anything different despite this until he was told by the sideline to play 5-10 yards in front of Cavangh. Not as bad after that but surely he didn't need to be told that.
Midfield: OK. Both of them get their hands to so many balls at kickouts but fail to firmly grasp it and it ends up as a break. McGarritty hasn't improved on this 'flaw' since his very first game for Mayo. Parsons has a few things to sort out but looks to me like a guy who can make serious improvement to be a really top class midfielder, but over a 2-3 year period. Both of them need to improve on their tracking back
Dillon: Needs to get the finger out big time or else it nearly forces O'Mahony to ask MacD to come back on his own terms ! Well not quite on his own terms but you know what i mean.
Gill: Felt sorry for him. He seemed to be the Mayo man tracking back on the overlapping man who ended up getting the score time after time ever though it wasn't his man. He tracked back to cover lapses of concentration by all the middle the 7 or 8 players. Didn't do enough at the other end but i hope management can see what he was trying to do.
Mort: Not as good as the last few games. His man had similar "off the mark" pace as him and so he struggled to get on the ball as much in open play
Austie: 3 points from play (i think). Similar level of performance to other earlier games. 14 is his for championship
Andy Moran: Worked his socks off as usual. If Mort worked as hard as him and had a similar level of drive and honesty then he'd be another Gooch. Didn't hit the penalty hard enough.
Howley / Higgins: As the 2 key men in the half back line in the 2nd half, they were unabble to do anything to prevent the Tyrone short game in the 2nd half and neither of them could control McGuigan
Pat Kelly: Played the game at club football pace when brought on early for an injured Cunniffe. Brings honest and guts but his lack of pace stands out at this level

All in all, first 50 minutes of the game lacked any real bite - picked up a lot in the last 20 minutes
Disappointed with our efforts to prevent the Tyrone short game in the second half when they were playing against the wind.
Full back was very worrying. Conroy will handle the FF lacking in real mobility and electric sharpness a la Donaghy but the lighting quick, 'turn on a six pence' FF will always kill him.

[rosnarun]

FF lacking in real mobility and electric sharpness a la Donaghy

be more specific which donaghy are you talking about that one doesn't ring any bells

[Barney]

Spent the weekend in bed with flu so didn't make the game. From second hand reports though it seems to have been a farily pedestrian run-out for both teams.

Somebody said last week that Andy Moran was now our most important player. According to the paper he didn't score. His returns have been quite measly throughout the league and this from a position at the fulcrum of our attack. Is this not alarming?

Positive not to have conceded a goal for once. From the radio it seems that Boyle was marking Tommy McGuigan and he played away. That's two games in a row that Colm Boyle has got the run around.

JOM could live or die by his work with the Mayo back-line. Two years to sort out the problems and all the same questions remain. There hasn't been any cohesiveness to the unit all league.

[rrhf]

better,  much better from Tyrone.  good games from Colm Cavanagh, Enda, Holmsie, and exceptional performances from the Mc Guigan bros.  All Tyronme positive signals were for the first time this year were from a much more dynamic forward line in which Brian performed to a level beyond what we thought he could achieve at this stage.  Tommy was majestic, Com Cavanagh showed a bite and a drive unseen to this point.  Sean at f/f in time would be unbelievable, I think he needs to stay here for a while, he created havoc.  Raymie needs a break and Mc Cullagh is hit and miss.  Mc Caul in the full back line lacked his usual confidence I thought probably his first game in 2 months told a tale,  the lad needs football and is probably a better half back.   Swift let one through his hands at the end nearly could have been a goal, Mc Gee looked off the pace as did Gormley and Jordan I felt.  Plenty of time to work on that.  I felt that when Mickey replaced Mc Cullagh with Marty P and told him to play in the half back line, it brought martys man up the field and Tyrone were under the cosh for the last few minutes, very odd indeed. The leagues over and its time to move on.  Who knows what can happen v Down. 
edit: by the way, the best goalkeeper in that panel is Packie and he must have earned that right now.    

[loughshore lad]

Great to see Brian complete the 70 minutes and produce the display he did. Shows the talent and character he has to perform like he did after so long out and obviously still not fully fit. This will seriously bring him on. Also no coincidence Tommy played extrememly well with Brian in tow.

[To whom it may concern]

Right, where do we start...

first of all, good to win and confirm survival...

wouldn't read too much into result, don't think mayo were at the races at all...truth be told we were more than 2 points better than them, yet they ran us close near the end...bit like the laois game.


As to the team...

Pascal McConnell has surely cemented his position as no.1

agree that gormley looks way off the pace, looks like he carrying an injury perhaps...also his body language didn't look great, he lay on ground after one mayo score...perhaps he fed up of being a jack of all trades and being shunted about to plug holes...

think long term we have to go with him at no.6 and try to solve fullback problem elsewhere...

thought mcgee shoulda been away after 10 mins, it was obvious he was being cleaned, if that was championship fare at croke park, and mortimer was in championship mode, heaven help us...in a way that confirmed my point that we will struggle and be exposed defensively against top drawer inside men...

thought ricey left the centre very open, agree he needs to be in half back line but prob as no.5

again davy looked good in possession and on the eye, but a lot of mayo attacks emanated down his wing...how many warning signs do we need...jordan looked lethargic and loose on his man at times...worrying as this was similar to last year aka meath and geraghty

midfield was ok...both holmes and enda individually, were superb, but collectively mayo at times cleaned us out...we lack a serious fielding option, but that's no problem, as we have always lacked that, just that we miss dooher in his hoover style role...

McGuigan was class, what struck me was how simple he kept the game, his speed of thought and quickness of passing was sublime...it's clear he is still not 100% physically but signs are good...mulgrew was AWOL, how can someone go 70 mins with performance like that and remain on field...think it's obvious that he was brought in much too soon for this level...mccullagh was anon also...think we will struggle from play against better teams and on big occasions...also think there is a cold streak in him...contrast his performance with mortimer...he was streets ahead of him....if mccullagh is persisted with, then possibly a roving role from corner forward?

Sean showed some good glimpses from FF, agree he could be an option there, but feel we miss his running game from centre field...also there is a danger he could become isolated in there like he did yesterday...he is too good and important of a player to have out of the game for long periods....Tommy was good also, took his points well from play, looked at home from play...looks more comfortable all the time...

So to Down for championship...

Finbar
McCaul
Justin McMahon
Carlin
McMenamin
Gormley
Jordan
Holmes
Sean
Dooher
McGuigan
Enda
Tommy
Colm Cavanagh
Mulligan

[BennyHarp]

Does anyone know how far Joe McMahon is from full fitness - or any kind of fitness for that matter - surely he is our best option at full back freeing up Gormley for centre half!

[blast05]

FF lacking in real mobility and electric sharpness a la Donaghy

be more specific which donaghy are you talking about that one doesn't ring any bells

The Donaghy from Kerry who would not come anywhere near Paddy Bradley in a 20 yard burst for the ball, the Donaghy from Kerry who would not turn on a 6 pence like Paddy Bradley - thats the Donaghy that Conroy would have a better chance of hanlding than the likes of Paddy Bradley

[mannix]

This game was played at challenge game pace, neither side were pushed but brian mcguigan was the difference. Would this be a fair assesment of the game?Just listened on radio.
Armagh? Finished?
Not sure what to make of that result, could it be a blip because colm orourke reckons armagh are unbelievably bad, against meath they were anyway.Maybe they just met a dublin team that is a paper tiger, we are in for an intersting year if kerry get knocked by a monaghan or a tyrone when there is no way back in.
Happy with Mayos league, either won or lost narrowly, BUT the goal leaking is a big concern, Mayo scored a lot and if they could fix the defence up a bit they would be a hard team to beat for anyone.
Thats it now for a few months, sligo should be a day out for Mayo, they have fallen badly in a year.Galway Mayo final in connaught and not much to go on for picking the winner, either should have a good run this year.