Tyrone v Kerry All Ireland Final 2008

[orangeman]

Pure class Fuzzman ! Love it !!!!

[saffron sam2]

"In pointing out these qualities, it does not in any way nullify the many arguments last week about the cynical fouling which was obvious in Tyrone's play. Being cynical is not a sin and this sort of play was not invented by Tyrone. However, away from the fouling, there were a few Tyrone players who went down -- and stayed down when there was no need -- getting Kerry players booked in the process. (Owen Mulligan did not cover himself in glory with his dive in the second half).

Overall, though, it was an easy game to referee but the opportunity to show that no messing was going to be allowed was lost when Joe McMahon went about shouting into Tommy Walsh's face early on. He should have been given a yellow card and that would have set the tone.

Some of the Kerry players may have got carded easily, but the challenges involved were high and clumsy if not really very dangerous"

Which part of the above observations do you perceive as being incorrect?

I too would like an answer to the above question.

[Main Street]

I too would like an answer to the above question.

"In pointing out these qualities, it does not in any way nullify the many arguments last week about the cynical fouling which was obvious in Tyrone's play"
In the immediate wake of an all ireland final the main argument was
just how brilliant the Tyrone team was on the day and just how brilliant Mickey Harte was.
That achievement by Tyrone over Kerry was in no way nullifed by another argument altogether,
about cynicism in todays game as played by the  32 counties.

[Fuzzman]

Lads watch a few videos of games from the 70's and 80's and then come back to us about being cycnical

If a player in those days was not able to stand up for himself and was small, nippy and talented then he got TAKEN out and often the perpertrator was only yellow carded.




Some interesting facts in papers over the weekend
Like Tyrone have now beaten AI champs in 2003, 2005 and 2008

[ONeill]

The Monaghan and Tyrone sides of the 80s were much more cynical.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Was it just me or did a very high proportion of Tyrone scores come from play this year? I remember earlier in the year being very worried about our free taking. However certainly in the later cames we seemed to have very few scoreable free's. I'm not sure if it was good defending from other teams or the fact that our style involved freeing up a man in space and hence cutting out the contact.

[ONeill]

Maybe wrong but I noticed this against Dublin and thought it was a ploy not to look for the free this year as we didn't have a recognised free-taker from the 30 onwards.

[tyssam5]

Having posted some stuff critical of journalists I thought I would provide some balance from Kieran Shannon, one of the few to tip Tyrone, in the Sunday Tribune. I thought this bit summing up Dooher was great.
http://www.tribune.ie/sport/gaelic-football/article/2008/sep/28/trials-and-triumphs-make-for-a-hungry-harte/
--------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Dooher certainly wasn't. At times his desire even frightened Harte's. "The country needs to understand what that man has come through. He was on crutches for his wedding because he didn't want to waste two weeks recovery. Then he had to get a pin in that ankle. He wanted to get back to work so quickly, he broke it, had to have another operation to take it out. No sooner had he got that cleaned up when he crashed into Ciarán Gourley, cracking his kneecap. He had to get pins in for that, and then after that, a groin operation. Anyone else who had won as much as him would have given up there and then. Not Dooher. We had an in-house game this spring and he broke his nose, blood pumping everywhere. He storms into the dressing room, gets a few things stuck on him and comes back out. I say to him, 'Brian, this is only an in-house match.' He says, 'I don't give a feck. Sure it was broke manys a time before; what odds' and off he goes again. Against Westmeath his eye needed 10 stitches, it was out to here. I says to him, 'That's the end of your day anyway, Brian.' Sure he was back in once he was tidied up."

It's why, on the steps of the Hogan, Harte told Dooher with a smile "not to do anything". In 2005 he never got the chance to intercept Peter Canavan before his clubmate announced to the nation he was retiring. "If I had gotten to Peter, I would've encouraged him to take another look. He would've been invaluable to us in 2006 and after all he'd done to get back, I think we'd have been good for him in 2006 too. I wasn't going to let Dooher slip away."

[Kerry Mike]

Only sobering up now you'd swear we won with the amount of porter sank in the last week. Jaysus I was at a wedding in Monaghan on Friday , it was a Tyrone fellow and a Armagh bride, feck me that was some craic, I'm a sucker for punishment. And then I was supporting the Monaghan wimin' yesterday in their failed attempt to bate the langers.

As for the final a few rambled thoughts from me beer soaked brain.

The Turning Points:

1st Half
- The team Line outs, 1 Nil To Mickey Harte here, the McMahon brothers did well in the full back line, Ciaran Gourley will feel very hard done by not getting even a run out as I thought he had done well all year, Gormley was chasing Cooper for most of the 1st half but was on top by the end of the game while Penrose and Mellon gave Tyrone good options in Midfield and half forward line.

- The Devine bereavement added an extra bit of motivation for Tyrone, maybe it was the final bit of motivation and focussed their minds on the job in hand, you could feel the atmosphere tingle during the pre-match minutes silence, it was an incredible moment, I could feel the tears welling up as I to said a prayer for those relatives and friends who too have passed on. McConnell's large frame was of major benefit in the final outcome and for the second time his actions have been one of the main causes of the outcome of the final.

- Losing the throw in and Tyrone getting a pointed free on the board straight away settled Tyrone from the off and it was a hectic first half from then on, some great hits from both sides when there was no quarter asked or given.

- Darragh O'Se caught some great balls in the first half and that should have provided the platform for us to be further ahead come the break.

- Kerry missed 1st half goal chances by O'Sullivan and Walsh as well as some other bad wides, one in particular from a Tomas O'Se raiding run forward, hindered us badly.

- Dooher's run down the Cusack sideline with 2 Kerrymen thumping off him and his excellent Point afterwards. Score of the year, I was sitting on the Half way line in the upper Cusack and was awestruck by that score, and I have seen some great things in Croke Park over the years. That and the subsequent arrival of O'Neill really got Tyrone going.

- O'Neill Probably on earlier than Harte would have liked but with McCullagh off injured it was probably the right call at the time. Though O'Neill had a limited effect on the game, he was involved in the scrappy goal but missed a poor 45 when it was needed.

- 3 x stupid Yellow Cards to Donaghy, O'Mahony and Darragh O'Se before the tea break whistle meant the Kerry heads were probably gone at that stage and they had not recovered by the restart.

- Half time lead of only a point to Kerry gave great hope to Tyrone as they were chasing the game in the first half and should have been behind by more.

2nd Half
- Hughes' substitution gave Tyrone more presence in the middle where O'Se had dominated most of the first half aerial duels.

- Losing the 2nd half throw-in resulted directly in the goal by Tommy McGuigan, Reidy probably at fault. Took us a long time to claw back that lead.

- The 2 Throw-Ins at the start of either half proved vital to the final score. Small breaks but critical results.

- Darren O'Sullivan created a bit of fear in the Tyrone backs when he did come on for Brosnan but he was not used enough. Brosnan was poor and I think there was too much loyalty shown by Pat O'Shea to his clubman throughout the year.

- Would have sprung maybe Sean O'Sullivan early as well and let the 3 O'Sullivans run at Tyrone, it was the tactic that may have either drawn fouls or for space to be created inside for Donaghy or Cooper.

- Taking off Scanlon and replacing him with Griffin was a poor call I thought, would have taken off Sheehan who was very poor and contributed little, would have left Griffin in Midfield with O'Se and Scanlon when we were chasing the game. We needed Scanlon as a primary ball winner and his known work rate later in the game. Donaghy as a result spent too much time and energy going backwards and forwards from midfield and the full forward line.

- Dooher's 2nd point while selling a great dummy to Killian Young.

- The kicking of the long ball was not working as Gormley was winning a loads of breaks with the McMahons in the second half. Donaghy's influence was very limited as a result.

- Hughes' 3 wides could have been very costly for Tyrone mid way through the second half, but he soldiered on and kicked a good point at the end.

- Great Point by Sean Cavanagh with about 7 mins to go. Had a great game throughout, was a clear winner of man of the match.

- The Tyrone forward subs of Mulligan, Brian McGuigan were a but subdued but later sub Colm Cavanagh added a winning score.

- Paul Galvin was introduced for Tommy Walsh but to little effect with about 10 mins to go and probably too late in the game as well, again was amazed Sheehan was left on for so long as he had fumbled many chances including Missing frees/45's. And Walsh was always liable to win ball inside and create a goal threat, something that Sheehan has never had.

- Declan O'Sullivan's shot blocked by McConnell was the major turning point of the game, it would have given us a 2 point lead heading for the finishing line if he had bulged the net and may have given us the title but it wasn't to be. Excellent save by McConnell though.

- Allowing the resulting 45 to be kicked by Sheehan after he was already called ashore to be subbed was a huge mistake by the Kerry management, I said it to the fellow next to me at the time, Sheehan should have gone off when his name was announced and the 45 taken by Cooper. That miss was devastating for Kerry. Bringing David Moran on with only 3 mins to go was of little benefit either.

- That was our game gone, the goose fucked, plucked and cooked. The Kerry heads dropped at that point and Tyrone swarmed up the field for 2 match winning points by McGinley and Hughes.  Well 3 points if you count Murphy's almighty blunder, What was he up to with his short kickout?? But it mattered little in the end.

- And so Tyrone win by 4 and are deserved Champions again.

- It was a great final with scores even I think 9 times, both teams had their chances but Tyrone took theirs when it mattered most and closed out the last few minutes in great style.

- Some achievement by Mickey Harte and his team winning 3 senior All Ireland's.

- The question of Tyrone's greatness is for another day, but they will be all out to retain the title in 2009. That's the benchmark for them now.

- Losing is always painful especially being so close to getting to the mythical 3rd title in a row but we gave it our best shot and it wasn't to be, but we will rise again as the Kingdom always does.

- This Kerry team owes nothing to anyone, 4 All Ireland titles this decade is a huge achievement when we consider how far we had sank in the early and mid 1990's, they have given huge service to the GAA. Winning 1 title is hard, winning two together is extremely difficult and winning 3-in-a-row is nigh on impossible in the current competitive climate with qualifiers and quarter finals , god be with the days like 1980 when just 3 games would bring Sam home.

- Darragh O'Se has mixed the great and the bad all year but will be remembered as one of the great Kerry players of his era if he does finally call it a day this year. Go Raibh maith agut agus maith an fear O'Se.

- Whether Pat O'Shea stays on will be debated until the cows come home in Kerry for the next few months, though at the moment I dont see too many other options, but one thing I think we lacked all year was the physical fitness ajnd mental sharpness that Pat O'Flanagan had brought to the team in 2006.

- The U21's winning this year is a huge bonus for Kerry and like the 1998 winning team will be the nucleus for winning Kerry teams for the next 10 years hopefully.

Tyronies....Take care of our Sam.........he's only on loan.

And for Jaysus sake will ye fecking lift Sam by his handles and don't be ripping the arse off him again, it cost us a fortune in 2006 getting the bottom rim attached to him again due to manhandling.

Well done Tyrone and enjoy the celebrations.

[orangeman]

Great post Kerry Mike - we missed you  - but you're a real sport !

[ziggysego]

Good man Kerry Mike and thanks for the nice words on Sunday evening after the match. A true gentleman.

[Kerry Mike]

Being a good winner is easy, but being able to take a loss on the chin takes practise and by Jaysus I am getting sick of it 

[ONeill]

McConnell's large frame was of major benefit in the final outcome and for the second time his actions have been one of the main causes of the outcome of the final.

Swine!

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

- The Tyrone forward subs of Mulligan, Brian McGuigan were a but subdued but later sub Colm Cavanagh added a winning score.

Wouldnt agree with that particular point Mike. Look over those last last few crucial minutes again (if you can) and see who is picking up the breaking ball around the middle of the field, holding possesion then making sure Tyrone attack into space, its Brian McGuigan. I was worried when he wasnt started but it turned out to be another great move by Mickey, as he said himself Brian was able to go when things were frenetic and get on the ball and calm things down. Brian is still working his way back from his injuries really, with a bit of luck there could be much more to come from him again next year. Class act and really deserved his All-Ireland given all he has been through.

[Kerry Mike]

Lamh Dhearg Alba you were quoted in the Examiner paper on the Sat before the final , I was in it myself on the Friday. I never kept your piece unfortunately as all the pre match papers were fecked in the bin on Monday morning and I had forgot about it until I saw your name.

They just lift a quote or two off different web sites, Dont be waiting for the cheque in the post though as the langer in de Paper (yes you if you are reading) don't send out too much money !!!!

You are probably right about McGuigan's performance as I was only going off my memory, no intention of watching it again thanks. Yes he did deserve his medal he had a tough 2 years.