Tyrone GAA Discussion Thread

A good game yesterday and a great end result. Some big performances and some things to work on. A good stepping stone to where we want to be in August / September. Think this team can get better. Will it be this year, im not so sure.

Morgan - Done all was asked of him. Would still have O'Neill in there, personal preference

McCrory - Thought he was steady, don't get the major criticism of him. Wasnt mentioned much, which i though would have been a good thing bearing in mind he is essentially a corner back. Would probably start McCarron instead of him with brennan at 6.

McNamee - Again steady, Donegal did get through the middle a good few times late in the game ( albeit the game was won ). Pooped up further up the field a lot. Steady game.

Hampsey - Thought he done a great job on Murphy and chipped in with a score ( 2 ), possibly should have had a goal or assisted by passing. Very good game. Cemented his place for the final.

McCann - Thought he was excellent all over the field. Defending well, pace, directness, finishing. Outstanding and possibly was my man of the match. Turning into a major player.

McCarron - Done his job ( defending ) very well. Seemed to be organising things more so than McNamee. Again Donegal got through a few times so something to work on. Man Marker for McManus/McCarron ( i assume MOnaghan will take care of Down ) in the final, along with Hampsey i would think.

Harte - Not majorly influential but a good steady performance and his experience was there to see when in possesion later in the game.

Cavanagh - Outstanding, whatever area of the pitch he was in. First name on the teamsheet these days.

McCann - Not as good as the Derry game. But good experience for him, put in his shift and good work rate.

McGeary - Thought he was excellent and has grown with every game. A typical Harte half forward. Ferocious workrate, and plenty of skill to go with. Definite starter in the final.

Sludden - Brilliant performance, very important to the side. Has everthing and well able to stand up when needed.

Mulgrew - Started of well, and was decent. Good workrate and a couple? of points. Good first championship game. May not be enough to make the final first 15.

Bradley - Had a good game, worked very hard on his own in there, couple of points. Harsh black card from what i could see. How did point stand if he fouled his man? Would love to see him kick off some day and put in a performance like against Coalisland inth first 20 minutes of the replayed County Final. But needs to get more and quicker ball into to him to do that.

Cavanagh - Not his best game, ran into tackles, held on to the ball too long. but still important to have him in there. Missed a good goal chance, could possibly have laid it off.

Donnelly - Had a good second half, seemed to walk throught the middle a few times. Possibly should have passed a few times rather than shooting. Seems to slow things down a lot when not on a counter attack. May be a tactic. Still definite starter. When he plays, he is brilliant.

McCurry - Possibly should have squared it with his goal chance. Not a starter.
O'Neill - Did ok. Not a starter.
McClure - Like the look of him, possibly him or McCann for midfield for the final.
McShane - Not sure what to make of him. Does some great things, and also some very strange decision making. Not necessarily yesterday. good squad option.
Rory Brennan - Would have him starting personally, think he is a fantastic footballer.

Would love to have seen us kick on and finish them of like Dublin or Kerry would have done, rather than start to sit back and invite them on to us which we did. They could have had 3/4 goals in about 20 minutes at the end. but we also missed our fair share of goal chances. So two things to work on stop goal openings and finish our own chances better.

Overall happy to be in another ulster Final, and bring it on.

Jayop wrote: »

Sit back? I don't know what you're on about some times. The reason they got through at the end for those goal chances wasn't because we were sitting back. If anything when we went 12 we lost the run of ourselves and had everyone attacking.

We sat back, more than we had been, in the second half when closing out the game. All teams do it when winning, we still played on the counter and knocked over some fine points. Donegal were always gonna come back into the game a little bit ( never gonna win it ) and even when we played more defensively than we had been all game they were still able to break our lines. Its just something to work on..

We went 13 points ahead after McGeary's two points, and finished winning by 10... how did we kick on and finish them off.

Jayop wrote: »

In what world is that not finishing them off?

I don't understand. You seem to think I am putting them down. Its only my opinion.

We were up by 13 points, and finished winning by ten. I'm sorry but that is not finishing them off.

But chill out bud, its always good to have a few things to work on.

It would be nice for Dublin, Mayo and Kerry ( as these are the three teams we now need to eclipse ) to be waking up this morning and seeing Tyrone really go at Donegal and have the country really talking about them.

Finishing them off would have been winning by 16 + from a start of being 13 up, not winning by ten.

Anyway, delighted with the progress, and can't wait to see where this team can go..