Tír Eoghain vs Áth Cliath '08

[Mike Sheehy]

Didn't know you were a Tyrone man Hardstation. Thought you were an Antrim man.

[D4S]

I suppose the standard question in these situations is "were Tyrone that good or were Dublin that bad".
The standard answer is "a bit of both". I disagree with that totally, it should be "a lot of both".

Same could be said for the Leinster final with Dublin Wexford.  But yet again the media and dublin players/fans get in to the hype and think they have improved on last year because they beat a team who hadnt played in a leinster final for 50 odd years by such a margin.  Wexford collapsed in leinster final...and then Dublin became awesome, Tyrone were brilliant from the first minute yesterday and Dublin collapsed.  Down collapsed in croke park as Wexford got their 2 early goals, so we did same as Dublin did yesterday, played like men suffering from shock.  That's what happens when you believe the favorites tag and all the hype.

[INDIANA]

not going to bother reading through the morass of juvenile jibes above amid some good posts. But i'll sign off for good by congratulating Tyrone on a magnificent display from a very special group of footballers. I was worried going into the game but thought we might pull through.Just goes to show how wrong you can be. We're miles off that level,and can have no complaints. Tyrone are a shining example to some other ulster counties that you don't need a blanket defence to produce displays like yesterday.they were brilliant and i salute them.
Mickey Harte as well deserves to be up there with the best managers of the modern era. If only........
Anyway Adios.

[Mike Sheehy]

I am. Just wondering why Tyrone are getting a hard time from certain people.

There's a bit of Tyrone in me too. And Sligo, so don't go starting on them.

Well, theres a bit of Cork in me too but I still leave them fight their own battles.

The Tyrone lads are well able to dish it out (including targetting Armagh, Antrim, Down etc) which makes me wonder
why you lads feel the need to defend them.

is there such a thing as pride in ones county in Ulster anymore ?  do you lads change shirts as soon as your own team is beaten ?

[INDIANA]

or sean cavanagh's elbow to whelan's head,you forgot that.

[Zapatista]

Tyrone were superb. McCullagh looked like he had a vision of the game on Friday night and knew exactly where to be and who was around him for the 70 mins. Dooher was mighty!

The Dub fans where fantastic. Fair play to the Dubs they made a great day better with their congratulations and best wishes after the match.

There has been some crap talked on this thread for quite a while now and much of it has not improved since the game was played. Much of the predictions for this match were based on history someone made up. Talk about Tyrones style, Dublins Style, superior fitness levels of Dublin, free flowing attacking footaball, the rain, fighting, blah blah blah etc. etc. All bull shit spouted by the papers and pundits. All swallowed sink line and hooker by some posters and then repeated here. There was no bases for any of these predictions and they all seem stupid as completely opposite was the resulting game.

[Zapatista]

I was a bit shocked to read in the Star (don't ask) this morning under the heading 'Best of the bosses' - Paul Caffery - Dublin Footballers - Dublin retained their Leinster Championship for the fourth year in a row which is a considerable achievement in its own right, but yesterday's win over Tyrone is surely Caffrey's greatest landmark yet in the Dublin hot-seat. His patient team-building looks like its really bearing fruit, and for the first time in years, Dublin look like they have a team good enough to win an All-Ireland.

Well done editors!

Are you serious? There must have been two reports prepared and the editor printed the wrong one. Does Spillane write for them too? Red face.

[lynchbhoy]

to answer screenexile- theres no way I'd include Griffin or Cahill on your list of 'not good enough's' !

Dublin had one of those days - the ones that every team gets once a year maybe twice. The team just couldnt get going.

I predicted at least a 5 point win for the dubs, and if the scoreline had been the other way around, I wouldnt have been surprised.

I just didnt see where Tyrone could have got any momentum or synchronicity all of a sudden, as even up until the mayo game, they were not at the races.
Still they got it spot on yesterday, a majestic performance of intelligence over exhuberence.
Mickey harte proving again why many - inc me - think hes the best in the business.

Teams talk about hunger, but hunger and desire can only do so much, its intelligence and application of a gameplan that wins games -imo
Well done tyrone, and given that I have tipped cork to beat Kerry, it could very well end up being a kerry v tyrone final - as I expect a good game from wexford but if tyrone play like that again, it will be hard to see them beaten by the slaney boys.

entertaining footabll.
At least things now make sense, as I could never have thought a dublin team under caffrey would win the all Ireland, though this season so far with Dublin playing out of their skins made me re-consider this.

wonder who Dublins next manager will be. He has the materials to win the AI (many of which were not on the starting XV imo)

[screenexile]

I am. Just wondering why Tyrone are getting a hard time from certain people.

There's a bit of Tyrone in me too. And Sligo, so don't go starting on them.

Well, theres a bit of Cork in me too but I still leave them fight their own battles.

The Tyrone lads are well able to dish it out (including targetting Armagh, Antrim, Down etc) which makes me wonder
why you lads feel the need to defend them.

is there such a thing as pride in ones county in Ulster anymore ?  do you lads change shirts as soon as your own team is beaten ?

Were you not extolling the virtues of the Limerick team a few weeks ago Mikey?

I'm not a Tyrone lover to be honest... hate them actually and if Derry played them in the morning I'd be calling them all the cousin ridin diving puke footballing hoors of the day. However I like to think I can  be objective when other teams are playing and this talk of 'diving' and 'dirty tackles' yesterday is really getting to me.

Can anyone who has ever played football honestly say if they were in Cavanagh's position yesterday they wouldn't have made the same tackle? It was a shoulder to the chest, that's it! It's a yellow card all day long and nothing more. Anything striking off the ball or on the ball deserves a red although I think Keaney and Whelan were close enough to getting the line but it would have been very harsh.

As for the verbals well yeah I do agree that when you're 13 points up it is not very classy to be rubbing it in players faces but I've been watching Dublin for years and any inter county player will tell you that Casey is probably the worst hoor for it in the country and the Dubs the worst team for it... .remember there is a lot of history between these teams so you are going to get a lot of it. And anyway does anyone think Mosy Quinn's going to have sleepless nights because Brian McGuigan said he was a shite free taker and was going to miss that particular kick?

The whole thing has been going on for years anyway and to think it's a new thing introduced by Tyrone or Dublin is nonsense. Talk to any of the Kerry lads from the great teams and no doubt they'll have a few stories of trash talkin. Tony Scullion gets hours of chat out of the things that used to be said to him on the pitch and Diarmuid Marsden loves telling how Kieran McKeever used to call him a yella bastard from start to finish in a match.

Lastly the puke football and the blanket defence. I would say there are now levels of the blanket defence that didn't exist before. Armagh for my money are now the worst exponent of it as they concentrate so much on defence that they don't have the footballers to get the ball up to their deadly forward line. For me the football they play is very poor. Fermanagh on the other hand have better footballers in their defence but are different to Armagh in they have sweet FA up front so they do well defensively, are able to move the ball up the pitch but then can't score which again is bad to watch and is puke football. Tyrone have good footballers throughout their team as well as forwads who can finish. Any of the FF/HF line could end up in defence but the way they break with pace and take some breathtaking scores means the football they play is not bad to watch, the blanket defence without the puke football. Do any teams other than Kerry have a way of matching this Tyrone team when they are at their best? Who knows?

[Muzz]

Does anyone know when this match will be repeated?  Either on RTE or on Setanta.  Want to watch it online but with the Geo Lock cant do it.

Read all the posts on here and some Tyrone supporters do let themselves down by bringing themselves down to others levels.  To be honest would be best ignoring the WUM's.

A lot of Tyrone supporters have mentioned the Dublin supporters from yesterday - again all that spoke to me wished Tyrone luck and shaked hands.  Others were simply saying please don't let Kerry win another easy All-Ireland.  But one thing I was impressed with was the amount that stayed to the end and kept singing away to their players.  Good to see!

Not going to comment on the preformance of either team its all been done and everyone sees it differently.  Still cant really believe it.  Went more in hope than anything yesterday...

[screenexile]

to answer screenexile- theres no way I'd include Griffin or Cahill on your list of 'not good enough's' !

I'm not having that lb... Maybe I'm  being harsh on Griffin but he got taken to the cleaners against us last year and now yeserday too.

I've always argued that there's no real football in Cahill having played against him at Club level a couple of times. He didn't stand out for Brigid's and he doesn't stand out for the Dubs... he wouldn't make many other decent teams in the country is what I'm geting at I suppose. Limited footballer. Having said that if people had never seen Moran at his best they'd be saying the same thing... he was very close to going on my list too as he has done very little for the Dubs in the past few years!

[Muzz]

Monday 18th 10:30am Setanta Sports 2 for any of those interested.

[magpie seanie]

At least things now make sense, as I could never have thought a dublin team under caffrey would win the all Ireland, though this season so far with Dublin playing out of their skins made me re-consider this.

Spot on Lynchboy. LIke yourself I thought the Dubs were possibly going to do it despite their limitations on the line.

On any fair apraisal of the game yeaterday you'd have to say it was a surprise. My read on why it happened is this. Dublins game plan is based on speed. Quick and long delivery to flying forwards into the corners for them to run on. Then they use their pace to take on and beat their men or win frees. The pace they operate at causes savage problems. Trouble yesterday was the weather. Balls skidded out over the line and conditions made it tough to hold onto the ball initially, keep the footing and bring the ball through the tackle. The loss of Alan Brogan compounded this so that's why the Dublin didn't function. And sadly for Dubs fans there was no plan B. Tyrone's all round better footballing ability got them through. In the difficult conditions the ability to execute the basics better than their opponents was telling. I also firmly believe the extra week was crucial to them. Dooher, for example, looked jaded against Mayo after a run of 3 games on consecutive weekends. We all saw how he performed yesterday.

Am genuinely sorry for Dubs supporters, team etc. They are there or thereabouts a long time now and the change of management is perhaps a year or two later than it should have happened though there's still time for this team to do it. They cannot have lads like Casey, Quinn, Bonner on the team though - there must be better out there. And McConnell might be worth a spot but I don't think its at 3.

What now for Tyrone? Despite this great performance I think Wexford will give them a tough time though they will probably make the final. And then - who knows?

[Rois]

I was proud to be in Croker yesterday, the sight of the hill was amazing and I almost wanted to join in with the "Come on you boys in blue" chants. 

Tyrone committed fully yesterday - they put in blocks all over the pitch, from forward to back lines.  Nothing went Dublin's way, the goal attempt that came off the crossbar exemplified this.

Enda McGinley remains my player of the championship so far - consistently amazing.

My work colleagues have told me after every match about how lucky we were this year - I now hope they can see that we, like Wexford, deserve to be there on merit.  Total faith, time for some of that, these lads will do whatever is possible to get us past Wexford.  And I'm looking forward to the tussle immensely!

[Puckoon]

Tyrone's all round better footballing ability got them through. In the difficult conditions the ability to execute the basics better than their opponents was telling. I also firmly believe the extra week was crucial to them. Dooher, for example, looked jaded against Mayo after a run of 3 games on consecutive weekends. We all saw how he performed yesterday.

Spot on, just watching it again here - Jordan, whose pace seemed to have deserted him a few games ago was absolutely flying yesterday.