Tír Eoghain vs Muineachán, Omagh, Saturday 4th March @19:00 (water permitting)

[redzone]

Fintans was for two yellows. Silly and another ref might have let him go for the second yellow. Malones was for punch to the head of burns when tackling him. It was linesman brannigan who called it, and having seen the match again it was correct. Silly thing to do but it was on the heat of the moment. Monaghan live on the edge in terms of tackling, some refs let it go others like Hughes don't. Both teams will learn a lot from it.
Credit must go to Healy park stewards for getting the pitch ready

[vallankumous]

Haven't seen the game so cant really comment much. The won the 2nd half with 2 men down so i suppose they can take some heart from that. What were the sendings off for ?

I was hoping they could make a run at the final but that look like a stretch now. one more win will mean safety and they'll be happy enough with that i'd say given that they have the premilinary round in ulster this year.

I doubt if any good can be taken from losing two men

[omagh_gael]

I thought Kelly's second yellow was completely justified. Bearing in mind that the whistle clearly had been blown for McManus' (I think) tackle and then Kelly came steaming in with a rash tackle around the high chest/neck area.

On a slightly related point, his first yellow was for over zealous remonstrating after the penalty decision. Was that the softest penalty ever given? Think Petey Harte purposefully put it wide as he would have been embarrassed to have scored

[vallankumous]

Embarrassing for that hapless plodding Tyrone team playing at home to have to drag big Sean out of a well deserved rest from the travails of inter county football, in order to save the game for them.
Monaghan kept coming back in that second half with the resilience of Rasputin. Big Sean's crucial points and presence kept Tyrone's head above water with just enough comfort at the end.

You do realisebig Sean is a Tyrone player?

Good decision to keep Sludden out for his own protection.

[straightred]

Fintans was for two yellows. Silly and another ref might have let him go for the second yellow. Malones was for punch to the head of burns when tackling him. It was linesman brannigan who called it, and having seen the match again it was correct. Silly thing to do but it was on the heat of the moment. Monaghan live on the edge in terms of tackling, some refs let it go others like Hughes don't. Both teams will learn a lot from it.
Credit must go to Healy park stewards for getting the pitch ready

Big problem for the likes of monaghan and any small county is that they dont have the quality to bring in for injuries. Look at what the dubs were able to bring in last night compared to how monaghan struggle with D Hughes and Walshe out.

[SouthDublinBro]

Good to see Monaghan finally getting punished for their antics. Well deserved red cards.

[BennyHarp]

Embarrassing for that hapless plodding Tyrone team playing at home to have to drag big Sean out of a well deserved rest from the travails of inter county football, in order to save the game for them.
Monaghan kept coming back in that second half with the resilience of Rasputin. Big Sean's crucial points and presence kept Tyrone's head above water with just enough comfort at the end.

You lads still haven't come to terms with being unable drag big Dick off his well deserved rest to win games for you. How often did he come on for you over the last 2 or 3 years?  If I was a Monaghan fan I would be seriously concerned about how utterly inept they were in the first half. A battling display with 13 men when the game is over against a team in cruise control doesn't paper over the cracks of that first half.

[Il Bomber Destro]

Monaghan's discipline once again lets them down.

Thuggish antics follow Monaghan around like a bad smell.

[trileacman]

The thing to do with 2 men up would have been to go the traditional 4 banks of 3 and pin Monaghan back in there half. The extra men who was probably burns and melter meant they'd no one to mark as such and were relatively unsure as to what there role was.

[tothetop03]

Tyrone stopped working in the second half after superb first half.... Lesser experienced player done the wrong thing 2 often but they will learn...Mattie Donnelly Ronie O'Neill and McShane just looked after themselves in the top end of the field and forgot about the team....Personally every time i see ONeill and McShane my idea of them being County Players gets less and less....

[Il Bomber Destro]

Tyrone stopped working in the second half after superb first half.... Lesser experienced player done the wrong thing 2 often but they will learn...Mattie Donnelly Ronie O'Neill and McShane just looked after themselves in the top end of the field and forgot about the team....Personally every time i see ONeill and McShane my idea of them being County Players gets less and less....

O'Neill, after looking like he was turning the corner early last season, looks to have seriously regressed. He's lucky at the minute that McAliskey is out for the year and Brennan is now with the u21s for the next few league games or longer depending how far they go. I think Bradley and McCurry are the guys to go with from here on it. Wouldn't mind seeing McHugh get a chance if the opportunity arises.

McShane has really struggled at senior level for us, he's too erratic and keeps making the wrong choices and he doesn't seem to have improved whatsoever in this regard when he's entering his 3rd year  as part of the senior setup. He has the ability but I don't think we can afford carrying him when the stakes get higher later on the year, he needs to learn and do it quickly if he wants to play an important role for us this year. Mickey seems to be a big fan of his so I'd expect him to be very much involved but I think we have much better options.

I think Mattie is too important to us to play him in a FF role, he can become a peripheral player if he's used in that role and along with Harte and Sludden, he is one of our three key men from an offensive viewpoint.

Good to see Burns getting a run last night.

[omagh_gael]

Agree regarding McShane, continues to make very poor errors and his shot selection leaves a lot to be desired. He must be showing very well in training as he's been given serious opportunities compared to others.

Bomber, you mention that you'd like to see McHugh given a shot. What about McCullagh? He showed more promise for me during preseason.

[Il Bomber Destro]

Agree regarding McShane, continues to make very poor errors and his shot selection leaves a lot to be desired. He must be showing very well in training as he's been given serious opportunities compared to others.

Bomber, you mention that you'd like to see McHugh given a shot. What about McCullagh? He showed more promise for me during preseason.

Ya McCullagh too but what's his natural position? He's played a fair bit out around the half forward line as well. McHugh would seem to be a natural scorer, whether he's good enough or not is the question.

[Taylor]

Lets call a spade a spade - it was a cakewalk.
The hard work in the first half ensured we would not be beaten.

Monaghan came to play on the edge but the referee made the right calls. Monaghan should finish with 12/13 players most weeks if the men in black done their jobs correctly.

Another tilt at the Dubs in a final would be pretty tasty

[Fuzzman]

Yes it would Taylor but our last 3 matches are probably our toughest so I wouldn't go looking that far ahead.
We always struggle in Ballybofey & Donegal's young lads seem to be building up a head of steam
Mayo always seem to do well against us in Omagh so hopefully we don't need to win in Killarney to qualify.

Monaghan have a much easier run with their last match at home to the Dubs their toughest.