AISF Aug 23rd Tyrone v Cork

[Zulu]

I'd say alot of people will get tickets on the day, especially those living in or around Dublin so unless the weather is very bad I'd expect a very big crowd. Cork are coming in big numbers by all accounts anyway.

[Ogie84]

I reckon that's the team that will start too Ogie (and welcome aboard by the way) but if I was Counihan I would do something different just to knock Tyrone off balance. Harte will have dissected Cork's game plan and will have come up with something to nullify it, by changing it around Counihan could get the jump on Tyrone. It isn't like he doesn't have the options on the bench or players on the team who haven't disappointed, for example Donnacha O'Connor has been poor enough and Murphy doesn't perform well in physical confrontations so I'd look at both of them. The Cork half back line has been the springboard for many of Cork's attacks and they have thus far run at opposing defences and scored but if Counihan put Cussen in FF and put the ball in long and often Tyrone may be caught out a bit and although McMahon is big and did well last year on Donaghy it doesn't mean he would snuff out Cussen this year. In other words it might be worth a go, if it doesn't work out you can always go back to what you've done up to now and if it does work, even for a while, it might get you the few extra scores needed.

We've plenty options on the bench, and better options than Cussen to put in full forward. I think Counihan and his selectors have come to realise that Cussen just isn't a full forward (although he's the potential answer to our hurling prayers in this position), and he operates better around midfield. You'll certainly see him and Fintan Goold introduced, probably at midfield with ten minutes or so remaining to freshen it up.
It's easy to be critical of our midfield, but they've done well and will run themselves into the ground, O'Connors work ethic especially is crucial.
In fairness to Counihan, he has used his options well this year, form players are playing, those out of form are not, hasn't always been the case with us.

[Mr. Nakata]

I've noticed Dooher demand the ball for sidelines and frees lately. He is the captain and is showing leadership. However, I think Joe McMahon's distribution is much more consistent. Dooher's sideline into O'Neil for the Cavanagh goal in the Ulster final was sublime, but you need to be hitting your men every time. I'd like to see big Joe take these dead balls. I agree with Fuzzman. Only one change, Enda in for Tommy.

[Zulu]

We've plenty options on the bench, and better options than Cussen to put in full forward. I think Counihan and his selectors have come to realise that Cussen just isn't a full forward

I wouldn't entirely agree there Ogie, I think Lynch is a great option for FF but he, Hayes or Masters don't offer a vastly different challenge than O'Neill, O'Connor or Goulding. And while Cussen hasn't done brilliantly at FF outside of the second half of the Munster final last year, it has often been as much to do with poor service and Counihan switching him between FF and midfield as his own failings. The point I'm making is that Tyrone will have Cork figured out and therefore may nullify those strengths by putting certain defenders on certain forwards and stopping the half backs from carrying the ball. Cussen at full forward, O'Connor at wing forward, Kerrigan in center forward and O'Neill at midfield could destroy Tyrones pre-game plans/match ups. In addition Tyrone's defence has struggled with long high ball before so it could yeild success. I suppose the real point I was making wasn't that Cussen is the way to go but that Cork should throw something unexpected in, IMO Cussen at FF is one that could really work but I'd certainly change something because you can't give MH 3 weeks to review your games and expect it to be alright on the day.

[timmykelleher]

"I wouldn't entirely agree there Ogie, I think Lynch is a great option for FF "

Now playing Anthony Lynch at full forward would definitely confuse MH!!
I presume you are going for the defend from the front approach 

[Zulu]

Fiachra Lynch Timmy my boy not Anthony.

[timmykelleher]

Fiachra is injured and not available I believe :-(

[ONeill]

Cmon Tyrone yer on yer own.

This is the first game this year that dominates your thoughts during the week.

Looking forward to the minors too.

[ziggysego]

This is the first game this year that dominates your thoughts during the week.

I know, I'm on a real buzz about it all week.

[joemamas]

Finally got around to watching the Tyrone V Kildare game last night, was at the game but did not watch it since, a couple of thoughts;

Game was played at an incredible pace, work rate of both teams was phenomenal. Although Cork played Kerry twice, I don't believe they have played a team with the same level of intensity as Tyrone. Their speed and the speed at which they move the ball from No.1. thru No. 15 is incredible. It will have to be matched if they are to win.

Tyrone are masters of adjusting, and after a first half where they were cleaned at midfield, (Kevin Hughes is a worry especially in the open field, as numerous Kildare players blew by him and he could not catch them), in the first 20 mins of the second half they did not let Kildare jump for a ball by standing in front of them blocking their runs etc. During this period Sean Cavanagh's fielding was directly responsible for three points.

Cork will most likely win the aerial battle around the middle third, how they use that ball will be key, Kildare were somewhat naive with some of their passing/kicking and turned the ball over numerous times. It may be difficult for Enda McGinley to come into a game of this intensity, if he is not fully fit. As stated earlier Tyrone's back line period is not the strongest under a high ball and most high ball in was either won by Kildare or broken down , even the last play of the game on a different day could have resulted in a goal, i.e. high ball into square.


Tyrone's free taking a concern, missed five very scorable kicks , three different kickers.

One side note, I think Conor Gormley needs to be careful, Referees watch games and some of his mouthing off / intimidating tactics may catch up with him. He has been booked sent off in numerous games this year and I think ref's are not letting him get away with as much as he used to . His cheap shot to Conor Mortimer in the net last year most likely was not missed by all officials. When he was booked for tripping Kildare player 15 mins into second half , he didn't exactly go out of his way to avoid him as he fell.

That aside, I think the respective full back/forward lines will win the game for either team. Anthony Lynch had better be 100%, to even attempt to mark Mulligan/O Neill.  Expect high balls to be reigned in on Tyrone's back line. Result of same may dictate outcome. Big concern for Cork is if Tyrone builds a lead, they may not be mentally able to recover.

Slight fancy for Cork, would feel very comfortable backing them + 2pts.

Game could also be a draw.

It has the potential to be a cracker.

[mick999]

The last Cork - Tyrone Championship meeting ( from Today's Irish News )

Are there any sons from the Cork Team that day playing ??


The day Tyrone were thrown to the Cork lions All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
By Eamonn O'Hara
20/08/09


Rebel assault: Pat King says Tyrone weren't mentally ready for the challenge of Cork in the 1973 All-Ireland semi-final. Picture: Ann McManus

'Tyrone were not so much beaten by Cork but by their own dire efforts and general failure to find, with consistency, the form that had brought them to Croke Park...'

So begins a report The Irish News and Belfast Morning News published on Monday, August 20, 1973.

The close-range misses. Chances for simple looking scores hooked, sliced and blazed wide, chances for goals as well as points. The 34-minute spell without raising a flag. The countless ball kicked harmlessly short to 'keeper Billy Morgan.

With eight minutes left Tyrone had mustered one point in each half, Cork 2-7.

Ray Cummins was on his way to becoming only the 10th player in GAA history to win senior All-Ireland medals in football and hurling from the moment he slipped Tyrone's shackles to plant an early goal.

Already a senior hurling winner from 1970, having starred in the first 80-minute Championship decider against Wexford, and an Allstar on both inaugural hurling and football selection in 1971, the full-forward's strike left Tyrone winded.

They never recovered.

Monday's post-mortem in newsprint made tough reading for a group of players who had not lost for 13 months, not since the Ulster final of 1972 against Donegal.

It was a crushing end to an unbeaten run that stretched 16 games and included Ulster SFC, Division Two and Dr McKenna Cup final wins, all remarkably against the same team, Down.

At centre half-forward for Tyrone was Trillick's Pat King. A future senior manager of Fermanagh, he recalled that one of the most vivid memories of that painful experience was not from the match itself, but the conclusion to the minor semi-final.

"I was sitting in the changing room as the Tyrone minors drew with Cork and I could hear the roar of the crowd down the tunnel. The hair was standing on the back of my neck thinking about what I was about to go out into and I just thought to myself 'come on'," he said.

"I know that, for a moment, I was thinking this is like the Christians being sent to face the lions, but I just tried psyching myself up. Nobody in the dressing room collectively prepared us for going out into that.

"Quite a few of the players didn't perform that day. The system for that was not in place, not in the way it is now, to psychologically prepare teams. Whatever football talk there was, in our minds we weren't prepared for it."

The scorcery of Jimmy Barry-Murphy, star graduate of the Rebels' 1972 All-Ireland minor win, guile of Cummins and substitute Seamus Coughlan collaborated for a late flourish of three goals.

Just as Kerry had five put past them, Tyrone were clinically dispatched. King, who scored a consolation goal after 63 minutes, identified the young Barry-Murphy and wily full-forward Cummins as "the two main problems" for their defence to deal with.

Very poor finishing didn't do much to ease the pressure their over-worked backs were put under.

"One thing I remember was how often Billy Morgan, their goalkeeper, had the ball. He always seemed to have it. He was like an outfield player. We always seemed to end up giving ball away to him and Morgan was the start of Cork counter-attacks all the time." he said.

"I was playing in the forwards that day, centre half-forward, but we seemed to find ourselves kicking for scores from a long way out the field all the time.

"Aidan McMahon, who was probably the man-of-the-match in the Ulster final against Down, got injured that day. I think he went into the game with an injured ankle and it did not hold up and I finished up playing at midfield.

"I had been playing on John Coleman, who incidentally is a brother of Billy Coleman, one of the top rally drivers of that era, and finished up playing against Dinny Long, a Kerryman, at midfield and even when I got the ball Sean McElhatton, our full-forward, was about 50 yards from the goals.

"Sean would not have been renowned for speed. He had scored goals against Dan McCartan in the Ulster final by being on the edge of the square but we could never seem to get him in there.

"We were fairly inexperienced, a bit naive, compared to Cork who played in the first division. They were huge in comparison to us and we were lambs to the slaughter that day."

As the report of Monday, August 20, 1973 summed up:

"Tyrone's challenge collapsed at both ends of the ground. Earlier on it was their attack who could not shoot straight, then in the closing stages their over-worked defence crumbled."

An unfortunate blemish on the game was the sight of star forward Billy Field being stretchered off. Field, scorer of 1-6 in the Munster final rout of Kerry and 1-8 in their provincial semi-final win over Clare, suffered two fractures to a shinbone despite the wearing of shinguards.

A first title, though, since 1945 wasn't to be denied. Despite missing the final, Field finished the top marksman of the 1973 Championship with a tally of 2-14.

Tyrone's only All-Ireland SFC game with Cork was a disappointing experience but, as King recalled, that year they were given a finishing lesson that was just as severe as that handed out to Kerry in the Munster final and Galway for the Sam Maguire.

"In the All-Ireland final, only for a few late scores to take the bad look of it, they were near to annihilating Galway as well, so that was a very good Cork side that year."

That game provides a few family links. The McGuigan brothers Brian and Tommy, the McMahon brothers Joe and Justin and Philip Jordan will seek to settle a particular 'old score' when the sons of some famous fathers take to the field.

Almost 40, years ago Frank McGuigan, Paddy McMahon and Mickey Jordan were on the receiving end of one of the toughest defeats of their county careers.

Sunday is pay-back day. Remains to be seen if the sons can deliver it to continue their quest to retain Sam.

CORK 5-10 TYRONE 2-4

Tyrone: Liam Turbett; Joe McElroy, Peter Mulgrew, Barney McAnespie; Gerry Taggart, Mickey Jordan, Mickey Hughes; Frank McGuigan (0-1) (capt.), Aidan McMahon; Seamus Donaghy (0-1), Pat King (1-0), Patsy Hetherington (0-1); Sean McElhatton, Brendan Donnelly, Kevin Teague (0-1).

Subs used: Paddy McMahon for Teague, John Early (1-0) for McElhatton, Tommy Woods for

A McMahon.

Subs not used: Sean McCann, Ollie Nugent, Jackie Duffy, Eamonn Hetherington, Hugh Crawford, Frank Quinn, Phelim Forbes.

Cork: Billy Morgan (capt.); Frank Cogan, Humphrey Kelleher, Brian Murphy; Kevin Jer O'Sullivan, Johnny Coleman, Con Hartnett; Dinny Long, Denis Coughlan; Billy Field, Declan Barron (1-4), Ned Kirby(0-1); Jimmy Barry-Murphy (2-0), Ray Cummins (1-1), Jimmy Barrett (0-1).

Subs used: Teddy O'Brien for Field, Seamus Coughlan (1-1) for Kirby.

Subs not used: Noel Murphy, Robert Wilmot, Dave McCarthy.

Referee: Dr Mick Loftus (Mayo)

[EC Unique]

Tyrone's cuteness and speed of play will be too much for Cork. They will use short kick-outs and build very fast attacks from the back and win by 4 or 5 points. Really looking foward to this one. 30 men will def not finish the game with one or two going for double yellows.

[Fuzzman]

I fear you could be right about it getting a little rowdy with a few cards being handed out.
Discipline will be the order of the day & I'd say Gormley & Ricey will be well told that by Harte.

From the article about Training I expect this game to be won or lost with turnovers and harsh tackling.
You could see a very dour low scoring game & the most disciplined team winning.

Or you could see the best game of football in 20 years.

I see Mick Loftus, ex president, reffed that game in 1973.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Big Joe disagrees with you Zulu as thinks they're the best MF in the country.

While these things are a matter of opinion and you can make an argument for the quality of the Cork midfield, they are no way near the best in the country and if I didn't know who the author was I'd say he hasn't a clue. The Kerry, Kildare, Limerick, Monaghan, Derry and Tyrone all have better midfields probably one or two more.

The Cork midfield dominated that Kildare midfield in the 1/4 final last year. Murphy is one of the best high fielders in the country with O'Connor being more of a work horse. With Cussen and Gould ready to come off the bench in the second half, Tyrone will have their work cut out at midfield.

Cork have to be alive to Tyrone's quick kickouts. At times against ourselves in the 1/4 final, the short kickout was their only source of possesion. If the Cork forwards don't allow McConnell to utilise the short kickout, their midfield should win the aerial battle under the 50/50 ball.

[Keyser soze]

I think this Cork team has been overhyped, they are still essentially the same players that have folded in major Croke Park occasions over the past few years, i don't think it will be any different this time tbh unless they get a blinding start and put Tyrone on the back foot. Other then that they will have to hope that Tyrone take the foot off the gas at some stage - as they have tended to do on occasion this year.

A comfortable win for Tyrone.