AISF Aug 23rd Tyrone v Cork

[loughshore lad]

I thought Stevie O'Neill was excellent yesterday, his point in the first half after turning Lynch and putting it over with the outside of the boot was class, Tyrone couldnt get the ball to him or isolate him.

Cork were extremely well organised and thoroughly deserved their win.  Their athleticism and physicality was extremely impressive and their tackling was top notch.  They won the game in the first 20 mins with that early blitz and had the confidence in their own ability to close the win out.

Tyrone were flat, one paced and disjointed.  The assured level of performance we have became accustomed to was not there yesterday but thats the way it goes some times.  Talk of retirement, end of an era etc is slightly premature these players and the management team deserve the right to some time away and reflection, they have earned it.

[longrunsthefox]

I heard no complaints from Tyrone supporters yesterday. That is a good Cork team and were never in danger of losing. We have had a great few years tho I think the Sunday Game panel are a bit premature in deciding this is the end of it. Dooher will be  a massive loss alright but can't see minor class of '98 retiring yet.
Looks like Raymond Mulgrew won't be the star we thought a few years ago when he was getting an All Star nomination.  Not sure about PJ Quinn now either but Cassidy has plenty to offer and Kyle Coney, Niall McKenna and Peter Harte will come through. We'll be okay. Cork for Sam.         

[Over the Bar]

The best team won and deservedly so therefore we can have no complaints.  It would have been a much better game if Sean Cavanagh had been fully fit and no harm to Tommy McGuigan but it was almost as if we had started the game with 14 players such was his contribution in the 1st half.  Fair play to Cork they held onto their lead well and only needed to contain us in the last 15 mins to close the game out. 

Mugsy's missed point was the turning point.  Had it gone over we'd have had a frentic finish to the game. 

[Hereiam]

All the shite talk about Tyrone playin in third gear during Ulster etc and that they will step it up. I had a feelin this "3rd" gear was them playin well and it was shown yesterday that Tyrone againist Antrim & Kildare was a good as they could have played this year. I think it will be a while before Tyrone lift Sam again and to be honest my wallet could do with the break.

[nrico2006]

Tyrone are still going to be a good team, but It's hard to see them winning another AI soon. Their leaders were all taken off yesterday, Dooher, McGinley, Gormley and we've probably seen the best of them. I think probably the only possible retirements will be Dooher and McGinley but even at that I think that it will be impossible to replace them in the short term. Ulster will be wide open next year....but Cork could well be the new dynasty in footballing terms.

Cork were brilliant yesterday, Tyrone were terrible.  Beat by 5 points was it?  Hardly a mauling.  I can't understand how people come out and fire names off randomly regarding retirements etc.  Sure Colm Cooper should have retired before the Dublin game too should he have not?  I think Dooher will call it quits and Collie Holmes, but the majority of the rest will stay.  Enda McGinley is a brilliant athlete and footballer, and has only came back from a bad injury and as a result doesn't have his best game - hardly a call for retirement expecially considering his age and previous.  Tyrone would have been a different animal yesterday if McGinley and Sean Cavanagh had been 100%, but they weren;t and Tyrone were beaten by the better team on the day.  I don't see how Cork will start a footballing dynasty either, their key players are getting on a bit and its not like they have dominated underage football.  I hope Mickey Harte stays on but he needs to freshen things up personnel wise.  The only comment anyone would have against Harte is that he appears to be too reluctant to bring new players through instead of relying on players he has had faith in for years.  There is lots of talent within the county and there has been multiple All Ireland Minor, Hogan Cup, Vocational Schools winning sides that have produced top class players.

[Doogie Browser]

That bunch of players owe Tyrone zilch, they have gave us all many great days and I am convinced there are a few more left in a lot of them yet too.  Better team won, but we will re-group and look at what we can improve on for next year, no need for root and branch reviews just yet a la the Dubs.

[BerfArmagh]

Well done to Cork yesterday, deserved winners. Quite an entertaining game for all Bannons attempts to destroy it. As an Armagh man, I actually felt sorry for the likes of Brian Dooher ^ stephen O Neill yesterday. O Neill will be back (Pure class) but i beliueve the injuries have caught up with Brian, who i believe to be the player of this decade.... Tyrone gave it a good lash this year, back to backs are hard to achieve, there just was nothing left in the tank

Special mentions for our minors... brilliant win... roll on the final

[DuffleKing]

Cork are a good team but they're not super, however they were the perfect team to exploit the failings of tyrone at this stage. the energy and pace they have around the middle was too much for the tyrone players - particularly McMahon, dooher, Jordan, harte and McMenamin - to cope with.

This is a defeat that has been coming all year for tyrone. the wear and tear has been showing on ricey, gormley and jordan in particular and harte is bound to have seen it. he remained too loyal too long. kildare game illustrated the point and cork hammered it home.

Tyrone need major surgery for next year but the options are bound to be there with coney et al coming through.

one ironic point - those tyrone men feeling a bit of ire towards bannon this morning, that's exactly how we felt with him after fermangh 2004 and - whisper it quietly - with russell in 2005.

[lynchbhoy]

Well done to Cork yesterday, deserved winners. Quite an entertaining game for all Bannons attempts to destroy it. As an Armagh man, I actually felt sorry for the likes of Brian Dooher ^ stephen O Neill yesterday. O Neill will be back (Pure class) but i beliueve the injuries have caught up with Brian, who i believe to be the player of this decade.... Tyrone gave it a good lash this year, back to backs are hard to achieve, there just was nothing left in the tank

Special mentions for our minors... brilliant win... roll on the final

felt sorry for Kerry with all the other counties supporting Armagh yesterday !

[supersarsfields]

Firstly congrats to Cork on what was a sound performance. Easily deserved the win and won most of the one on one battles all around the pitch.

I have to say I was worried when I heard SC wasn't starting. I think if it had been an injury from maybe a week ago then It wouldn't have made as big an impact as the team would have been focused on playing without him but for it to happen so near to the game prob threw Tyrone's gameplan up in the air not to mention the demoralising effect it would have on the players aswell.

But to be honest it was easy to see in the first 15 mins that our half back line was getting a bad roasting. I felt both Harte and Jordan were giving the HF's far to much space. I had always had worries about Harte's defending abilities as had been highlighted here many times before, but to be honest I'm not sure we had anyone else who could have made a better job of things. And I feel this is a line that will need alot of work on for the future. But in saying that Cork's HF's are as quick and mobile as any in the country.

The gamble on McGinley just didn't work either. It was obvious that he just didn't look match fit, which was a hugh blow to Tyrone especially with SC out.

And the half forwards were poor aswell. Not surprised all three got replaced. I have alot of time for McMahon and believe he'll be about for Tyrone for a long time but he wasn't at the races yesterday, much the same as Dooher. And if that is Dooher's last game it'll be a pity to see such a great Tyrone servant bow out on such a poor note.

The FF line was prob Tyrone's best. Mulligan looked lively and linked up so much play. Stevie put in another steady performance and Penrose got through his usual workload.

So I just think it was a case of too many Tyrone players having of days and the fact that they were up against a Team that were playing some brilliant football, including some fine long range points.

On the major talking points I felt O Connor's Sending of shouldn't have been one. I felt that yes it was a foul on Mugsy, but the fact that Dooher had picked up play the ref should have just let play continue and left it at that. But I honestly think he must have took a second look at it at half time and decided he was wrong and that he'd level things up a bit in the second half. I thought alot of 50 50 calls went against Tyrone. That said I honestly don't think it would have mattered as Cork were that much in the ascendancy anyway.
But I think anyone calling Mugsy a diver is being very harsh. definitely don't think it deserved a yellow, but there was no way mugsy could have stayed on his feet. And I think anyone claiming that is being unfair to Mugsy, and yes that included you Spillane.
On the Miskella incident I thought it was a definite Red card, don't know how it wasn't given. That said and done I'm glad that he'll be avaliable to play for the final as he's a great athlete.

On a final note I notice alot of people saying that this is the end of the road for this Tyrone team. I don't believe so. Looking at it the only retirements I could see would be Dooher and maybe Holmes. I know a fair few of them have alot of miles on the clock but if the spine of the team stays together and maybe a few of the younger ones like Cassidy, Mulgrew, maybe even Coney come in then I'd still hold out alot of hope for this Tyrone team. But it'll take them along time to get back to were they were yesterday morning.

[Hardy]

Brian, who i believe to be the player of this decade

Ah jayses don't start that!

[AZOffaly]

I had to laugh at Spillane yesterday. He couldn't wait to get stuck in about the Team of the Decade. He had all the facts memorised and bang. I don't generally like Brolly, but his response about 'is this the depths we must sink to?' was good.

[INDIANA]

We're all entitled to our differing opinions on this but .... in my view

Peaking is a myth parodied by sports scientists who are involved with a winning team in order to make them appear brighter than everyone else. When in fact having the most highly skilled players in a particular code in a particular season with the collective drive and desire to win has actually won them the competition.

I've listened to Dublin talking about peaking for generations now- even this year they didn't start training till april to "peak". Look where it got us. When you haven't the players -peaking is as big a myth as the Yeti in the Himalayas.

Tyrone never won an all-ireland due to peaking -neither did Kerry. Ha d David kelly scored the spot kick against kerry a few weeks back- what use was peaking to kerry then? Observers use a run through the qualifiers as some master-stroke to "peak" at the right time. When in fact they are just playing crap and its more the inepitude of the teams and plain dumb luck that keeps them in the competition.

Tyrone never played at the level they are capable of this season in any game because they were a tired outfit. They never peaked at all this season- as its called.

[INDIANA]

I had to laugh at Spillane yesterday. He couldn't wait to get stuck in about the Team of the Decade. He had all the facts memorised and bang. I don't generally like Brolly, but his response about 'is this the depths we must sink to?' was good.

Tasteless- I mean if you had 8 all-irelands as a player -would you be that bothered about the team of the decade. I do know a lot of Kerry people are very disappointed that tyrone lost because both teams are likely to be changed a lot in the next couple of years so the debate as they see it will never be put to bed.

Kerry people are very worried if they progress to a final against Cork because on the law of averages Cork are due to beat them in Croke Park. I actually think if Meath found some way to get through -Cork would find it very difficult to play meath mentally. Cork want Kerry in the final.

[Billys Boots]

that's exactly how we felt with him after fermangh 2004

You mean when he didn't send off Stevie McDonnell??

Quite an entertaining game for all Bannons attempts to destroy it.

Now that's just silly.