Tyrone v Kerry NFL Round 2

[Mike Sheehy]

Its pretty amazing how the actions of Mcmenamin are being excused on here....that was a very perverted act and, frankly, we dont need his type in the game. I think a 6 month ban is appropriate...there were plenty of Tymoanies calling for 6 months for Paul Galvin last year over a nothing incident...the monobrowed groper  should get at least 6 months if not more.

[INDIANA]

Galvin -nothing incident? Your comments have been rendered redundant by that. Its a tad ironic listening to Kerrymen taking the moral high ground when their team is firmly with Tyrone in the cynical stakes.

[ddc1990]

Billy Keane is talking through his hat.

McMenamin deserves the ban that's coming for him but I'm sick and tired of listening to Kerrymen defending Galvin since the Paddy Russell incident. If he had slapped McMenamin one - and it's not like he doesn't know how - people would have more respect for him than that measly little dive.

Some of you might be old enough to remember Conor Counihan grabbing Jack O'Shea by the nuts in a Munster Final in, I think, 1991. Jacko chased after him with the intent to do him harm. Enda Colleran, God have mercy on him, remarked on the Sunday Game that sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Im sorry... point out one place in that article where he defends Paul for the Paddy Russell incident! ... Plain and simple he doesn't. He lauds Galvin... a notorious hot headed player for not going off the handle at another rediculous decision against him!!!
What Galvin did last year was indefencable! Referee's , no matter how bad the decision must be shown respect. He should have handled it like he did against Tyrone, made his point and gone off.
As for "Slapping McMenamin one" ... as you so thoughtfully put it... Well that would have ended his career, plain and simple. The GAA would have come down hard on him, 12month ban for repeated ildicipline. And Ricey would get off scot free.
Finally "Measly little Dive" ... You are obviously a female. If you had been pinched by the balls, no matter how softly... well then you would know how bloody painfull it really is. FFS it wasn't even a dive, he slipped to his knees, recovered his breath and got back to his feet.

[longrunsthefox]

Its pretty amazing how the actions of Mcmenamin are being excused on here....that was a very perverted act and, frankly, we dont need his type in the game. I think a 6 month ban is appropriate...there were plenty of Tymoanies calling for 6 months for Paul Galvin last year over a nothing incident...the monobrowed groper  should get at least 6 months if not more.

Home comes the Fox from a welcome soujourn in the USA and met with this carry-on. Mike you will find a lot of Tyrone people are appaled by McMenamins behaviour and expect the manager to do something about it or say something. That was not the case with Galvin in Kerry last year and when he came on in the All Ireland final Kerry supporters went crazy...not that he made any difference. Some role model he is too. Him and Ricey are flip sides of the same coin....

[corn02]

Colm ORourke fairly got stuck into him in his column today. Used a few Dunphisms  - "brat".

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Glad to see that O'Rourke's memory is so short in regard to his own team's antics, the full article:

McMenamin's antics do Tyrone no favours
Tyrone and Kerry are still the teams to beat, writes Colm O'Rourke, but we could do with less of the nastiness

Sometimes at this time of year a league match carries much greater significance than just two points. In fact, the points may not matter at all. What is important to players and management is that a marker is laid down for later in the year.

It was very evident last Sunday that Kerry travelled to Omagh with intent. They played for all of the first half, and some of the second, like they were the kings. It was a reminder to Tyrone and the rest of the country that they are going to meet the challenge head on this year.

In winning, too, they sent out a message: Kerry under Jack O'Connor are going to have a harder, more disciplined edge than last year.

If the psychological advantage on a hot summer's day can sometimes be traced back in a player's mind to a lesser match on a lousy day in winter or spring, it is very real nonetheless. The key to victory sometimes lies in confidence as much as anything else.

Yet for all that, Tyrone players or Mickey Harte will hardly be too upset over this loss. The champions played like champions when the gun was put to their head. The bravery, will to win and sheer bloody-minded competitiveness shone through at a time when they looked as if they were going to be humiliated on their home turf.

So I would say Harte went home fairly happy. The only thing you can't put into a team is desire. Tyrone, after each All-Ireland win this decade, seemed to lack the same drive the following year but this time round there seems a different attitude abroad. When Stephen O'Neill and a few others return, they are still the team to beat even if the unfairness of the provincial system gives Kerry a much easier run to the business end of proceedings next August.

What Harte won't be happy about was the behaviour of Ryan McMenamin. In total contrast to Harte's own personal discipline, McMenamin was a disgrace, a brat would be the most charitable word used to describe him. McMenamin has strayed over the line many times in the past but last Sunday we were treated to the whole package of in-your-face snarling, sly digs, and open striking. It would be very interesting to hear from referee Jimmy White of Donegal -- who, in fairness, is one of the better refs -- as to why he left him on to the bitter end.

McMenamin's continuous mouthing into players' faces is despicable. I thought these new rules were supposed to sort out the likes of that and body checking by flashing a yellow card. Well, last week there was a system failure.

Many years ago when I played football there was far less mouthing off at opponents. Of course it did happen but I don't think it was anything like on the same scale. Anyway, players looked after things themselves. A nasty individual got a dig in the mouth and the message went out loud and clear. As for sympathy, there was absolutely none -- least of all from his own team-mates. The accepted view was that if you were mouthing off, you got what you deserved.

Now in a more civilised game, or so we are led to believe, the referee is supposed to sort it out. Well, whether it is old rules or new rules, they would want to start soon as it is a blight on the game. Of course all the old dinosaurs like myself are reminded that we would not last jigtime under these new rules. That misses the point entirely: players of all eras adapt to the conditions of the day. In the past, players took particular offence to spitting, head butting and mouthing, and often imposed summary justice; it did not mean a gang of thugs roaming the pitches but there was a strong moral code.

It appeared last week that the indiscipline which bedevilled Kerry last year and which eventually cost them dearly is being tackled. Paul Galvin has no chance this year no matter what he does, but if he had to retaliate when McMenamin grabbed him by the testicles rather than going to ground, he would have been forgiven.

Marc ó Sé backed off at the end when McMenamin lashed out. Jack O'Connor should not have become involved either but it must have been very hard to watch the carry-on of McMenamin, especially with a blind eye turned to this spitefulness. The easy yellow cards went to low-profile players, probably deserved too, but McMenamin should have seen red very early on.

Aside from this, it was a brilliant game played out like a proper championship contest. It seems that the penny has finally dropped in Kerry and they have accepted that their team is not as good as Tyrone and they have to get four or five new players who won't cave in when the going gets tough.

In most of the big games involving these two sides, Tyrone have choked Kerry in the last quarter because they have had men of iron will. McMenamin, to be fair to him, has been one of them. One who has never shirked a challenge and has often led a fightback. Now, in the cold light of post-game analysis, he will be easy to talk to and Harte will be having his own quiet word with him on his responsibilities.

With Kerry turning to the old bloodlines of Moran, Walsh and O'Shea, there is plenty of hope. The breeding suggests men who will stand up and get better when the challenge is at its most intense. Daniel Bohan has a place too if he wants it badly enough while Darren O'Sullivan will surely figure more often from the start, especially if his kicking improves.

Neutrals will hope that these two teams meet a couple of times more. The two best sides, and they might even be getting better if Sunday is anything to go by, and no matter what the rules they will be going at it hammer and tongs.

And into the mix it would be important to have McMenamin and Galvin, even if they are toned down slightly.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

This is what Dermot Crowe had to say:

IN Omagh we have come to expect the unexpected; so it proved last Sunday when Kerry arrived in town. They set about their business dutifully and by half-time, playing some delightful football, had the match virtually won. Only for some misses by Tommy Walsh they'd have been out of sight when the Tyrone recovery kicked into motion.

But football was only part of the narrative. It wasn't a hugely acrimonious match but how can any self-respecting Tyrone football follower not have left Healy Park last Sunday without wondering if it is time that something strong was whispered in the ear of Ryan McMenamin, as opposed to the other way round.

He has had plenty to say to opposing players over the years and returned to his old tricks again last Sunday, taunting Colm Cooper, trying to provoke players into rows, snarling, sniping, a hideous example to anyone watching. He followed Cooper around the field like some demented Jack Russell, berating him, invading his personal space. And he stayed on the field when others saw the line. He beat the system, for now.

Seeing him badger a player like Cooper, and the bemused look on the Killarney man's face, was to witness the two disparate polar points bleakly converging; the arthouse and the doghouse. For the sake of the game, you know which of those must prevail. Thankfully, Kerry won the day with Cooper helping himself to a decent portion of the scoring. Football triumphed.

What sort of example is McMenamin setting, or is this important at all? Is it too Tommie Gorman? Are we to condone young players in Tyrone, say 10-year-olds, chewing the ears off one another, spewing abuse, or would we prefer them to be defying angles with immaculate points modelled on Seán Cavanagh and Stephen O'Neill? Does any of that matter? Yes it does. It matters a great deal.

The chairman of the committee which produced the current set of experimental disciplinary rules has called on Tyrone manager Mickey Harte to take action against McMenamin. Liam O'Neill said the onus should not always be on a central authority to punish players who step out of line. He also said the Tyrone County Board should act, and recommended that the player be banned for one match. In that he is dead right.

This follows a number of incidents at Omagh, the most notorious being when the Tyrone defender made contact with Paul Galvin's groin while play was stopped. The Kerry player went down, a little too theatrically for the referee, who issued him with a black card. But the referee had not seen the incident that preceded his fall.

Currently the Central Competitions Control Committee is waiting to meet and study the incidents, as their chairman Jimmy Dunne won't be back from holiday until early in the week. McMenamin is facing a possible four-week suspension. Among the other incidents is the verbal sparring with Cooper, a practice he has become renowned for over the years.

Afterwards, Harte backed the new rules although it was ironic that they were unable to pinpoint the misdemeanours of one of his central players. Much still depends on interpretation and McMenamin's escape was a triumph of cynicism. He stayed on the field, picking up one black card, when he could have been sent off twice over. He has cynicism down to a fine art but the video replays look set to catch him out.

O'Neill was appalled by what he saw and said McMenamin's behaviour was sullying the reputation of Gaelic football. "I have great admiration for him as a footballer but if an act occurs that, as I would see it, offends masculinity I think team management has a responsibility to do something. The same goes for the county board. They cannot turn a blind eye."

McMenamin's was a shocking display of contempt for the rules and he left the pitch without a shred of dignity. Marc ó Sé showed the cop-on and example required when he wheeled away from McMenamin with time up. The temptation to give him a box must have been almost overwhelming.



Its getting worse! Maybe a new rule should be introduced so that players aren't allowed to stand within 5 yards of Cooper during games? McMenamin was stupid but the over reaction has been a joke and showed the lengths people are prepared to go to, to get a dig at Tyrone.

[corn02]

I think the berating him comment is the main thing to take there lad.

[magickingdom]

Last Sunday in Omagh Ryan McMenamin tapped Paul Galvin in what was reported as 'the groin area'. Let me tell you what the groin area means in grown-up speak. It is the testicles. Galvin went down in a heap, but, to his credit, he jumped up right away.

If Galvin had reacted by striking McMenamin, his season, and possibly his career, was effectively over, as it would be highly unlikely Kerry would put up with anymore indiscipline on his part.


- Billy Keane

fear, in billys defence thats exactly my take on it. mcmenamin only reason for doing what he did was to get galvin to react so he would then be condemned all over again and his football career would be over. mcmenamin has also been at this mouthing for years and lets call a spade a spade is nothing but a p***k. he will still be a p***k if hes still around next september..

[corn02]

Can't agree that Galvin's career would have been over? I don;t get it, don;t think too many Kerry fans would have blamed him.

[johnpower]

Its pretty amazing how the actions of Mcmenamin are being excused on here....that was a very perverted act and, frankly, we dont need his type in the game. I think a 6 month ban is appropriate...there were plenty of Tymoanies calling for 6 months for Paul Galvin last year over a nothing incident...the monobrowed groper  should get at least 6 months if not more.

Home comes the Fox from a welcome soujourn in the USA and met with this carry-on. Mike you will find a lot of Tyrone people are appaled by McMenamins behaviour and expect the manager to do something about it or say something. That was not the case with Galvin in Kerry last year and when he came on in the All Ireland final Kerry supporters went crazy...not that he made any difference. Some role model he is too. Him and Ricey are flip sides of the same coin....

I hope you are having a good trip .With regards Paul GalvinI did not meet any kerry supporter that suggested that Paul Galvin escape with out any punishment last year .indeed I met some who thought that the 6 month ban was appropriate .A lot of kerry fans were sick of the carry\on of Galvin and other Kerry players last year .


I doubt if 6 month bans will feature here

[corn02]

He doesn;t deserve six months. A month would be sufficient.

[ddc1990]

Thats the thing... im not sure any ban is sufficiant enough. Ban's are there so players can be pucished for their actions, in an effort to make sure that they don't transgress again. Does anyone truly believe that if given a Month's ban, in which McMenamin would miss just one league game, that he would change his ways and give Darran O'Sullivan a big hug and Kiss on his way to collecting Sam this September?
No. I don't think a 6 month ban would even change his ways to be honest with ye!
Then again no one thaought Galvin would change. 12 months on and we've seen a marked improvement in his dicipline.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Thats it then a life ban it is. Maybe the public should be able to vote on which players are allowed to play our games? The likes of Dara O'Se should maybe be banned too, he doesnt seem to learn from his suspensions either. What about Kieran Donaghy, should he be allowed to play ever again after that gesture in Mayo last year?

[imtommygunn]

Galvin's played 3 county games since his ban - one as a sub - so I'm not sure we can comment on his discipline yet. He did act the maggot when Ricey touched him up though.