Replying To yew_tree:  "Your correct. Traveling expenses are HUGE....sending teams to Dublin multiple times in the height of summer is astronomical money and a huge saving for Dublin GAA (not their fault) but it's a fact of life for everyone else outside of Dublin and surrounding counties."

Replying To monaghanmad:  "Maybe yous should go down to division 3 and win the tailteann cup and then have a massive homecoming in tailteann park. Wouldn't that be lovely for yous."

Replying To hashtag2017:  "Yes understandable that Comer and Steede looked off the pace, so why were they brought on? I would agree with others that young Darcy should have been left out there..he was doing nothing wrong. The Steede substitution was wrong and very very wrong but not his fault. We all agree that 3 of the substitutions didn't work so now the management team need to hold their hands up rather than put players under the bus again. We badly need a football coach to work with these players, college football is light years away from Senior football, it is tactical and I dont believe we have that competency in this management team. We worked our socks off defensively today and made Mayo revert to missed long range shots in the first half and compared to the league game certainly manned up today. A few calls didn't go our way either today, I thought Hurson had a poor game."

Replying To royaldunne:  "There's optimism and then there is delusion. I've seen galway this year. And trust me dubs would wipe the floor with them , and I say that as someone who has always had a soft spot for galway football."

Replying To icehonesty:  "Cork losing two of their best u20 players as they got game time for their seniors. Madness.

Could the GAA please put the age grades back to u18 and u21 and get rid of the eligibility nonsense we've had the last few years please."

Replying To TheUsername:  "Well now, just about thawed out and hope everyone got back safe to the home in the five in a row. Seen Healy Park in all angles now in the height of the Summer, during an alleged pandemic and Jorge shaped mild hurricane.

A lot of phone refreshing on route North to make sure the game was going ahead right up to 20 mins before the game, with the ref inspecting the pitch by throwing the ball high and making sure the ball could bounce. In all honesty despite a lot of surface water around the ground, the surface looked fine to me. Weather was horrible though and a real labor of love for a decent enough crowd when you consider you would worry about a dog out in that weather.

The Dubs continued to use the breath of the panel, with Eoin O Brein of Castleknock and Collie Basquel coming in for a start. Cillian O Shea keeping his place at 7.

Tyrone looked close to Championship 15 despite the obvious marquee lads missing through injury.

The game started as if it was being played in Mars in different planetary conditions as a swirling wind, gave no team an advantage and generally straight forward kicks were ending up in the opposite place of where they were intended.

The Dubs drew first blood, managing to break lines and out smart the Tyrone blanket, with an exquisite hand pass from Brain Howard into the dead eye Collie Basquel who absolutey buried it past Niall Morgan for a recently uncharacteristic early goal for the Dubs. It was to be a rare breaking of the line by Dublin as the evening panned out.

Both teams made early mistakes trying to get a handle on conditions and the game became a bit cat and mouse. Dublin with long spells of possession, trying to intricately pick holes through the Tyrone blanket as is the norm, but finding it almost impossible given a combination of conditions, tigerish Tyrone defending and with long range kicking taken of the table given the weather and unpredictability.

Inevitability Dublin labored with no gaps appearing, where turned over and Tyrone countered and opened up Dublin up on the counter. Peter Harte was sublime making a mockery of the conditions to lead the charge and being brave enough to take shots on. He raised the confidence of the team and other players like Colm Kavanagh and Frank Burns grew into the game backed by the always cheeky Nial Morgan who continued his long running banter est with the Dubs behind the goal. Tyrone maybe should have had a couple of goals first half as the Dubs added just one score before heading in at half time, in all honesty the Dubs looked on the ropes and devoid of a plan b as they struggled in transition up and down the pitch. Defense looked woefully open up to half time. Not much in it mind.

Dublin came out with their tails up in the second half and tired to catch Tyrone cold a few costly individual errors undermined this and again Tyrone won turnover and tried to punish as best they could. Padraig Hampsey was sin binned immediately before half time but the Dubs made hard work on captilising on it. The Dubs were marginally the more clinical in the Third quarter and went two point up heading into or just about in the last quarter the sublime Niall Morgan kicking in those conditions, kept the fragility of the result in question. As both sides began to empty the benches. Tyrone fought away and drew level.

The Dubs seemed content to stick to patient build up and manage the game out playing in front on the blanket and picking Tyrone off. Tyrone had other ideas though and a sloppy Paul Mannion phase of forward play was turned over and the improving Ryan Brennen, hit a thunderbolt past a likely early advancing Even Comerford, to put Tyrone n the ascendancy with very little left on the clock. The Dubs huffed and puffed but the final penetrating phase never came which was the story of the night really and Tyrone ran out well deserved winners.

In analysis, Tyrone well worth their victory, i said last night i hope the conditions arent used as an excuse, they were the better team on the nigh t end of. I was surprised by the obituaries written after Galway last week. Im on record as saying Tyrone have been the second best team in the country in the last three years and i havent changed that iopinion (Havent seen Galway under Joyce live yet mind). They were robbed in the semi final last year by an unfair ref and should have been in the final, im glad they werent as i think they would have seriously challenged us. By "team" i mean they play as a team, clear functions throughout the lines, no one player is bigger then any other, they play for each other, have a coherent game plan and they back and support each other. Other counties may have bigger named Marquee players, but dont play as a team. Write Tyrone off at your peril in my opinion, they've proven it again this spring.

I thought both teams were fairly cynical last night, we were as bad as ive seen us in a while. But both team well able for it and it was down to who rode their luck better with it. Some stuff was called, some wasn't. If you play the game you take your chances. Ref had a tough job, but thought he was knitt picky for both teams.

I wasnt close to the handbags stuff in the tunnel at half time, ive heard all types of things since and seen all the videos knocking around. I dont know what happened and i dont really care to be honest. Im not one that thinks players should be role models, i want them to play football and not run a creche, what happens on the filed is different though, no time for melees or thuggery on the pitch and that the ref domain, I will say this both Tyrone and Dublin are real hardy footballers both can give it and both can take their lumps without winging. Both have immense respect for each other. This was seen in the honor and acknowledgement given to Sean Kavanagh by the Dubs in his last county game. Hopefully if any fans were involved they will reflect and regret today. Im sure it wont impact either set of players and they will move on quickly. Im completely devoid of a moral crisis around it.

As for the Dubs im delighted with that game last night, thats what you want in the national league, tough as teak, blood and guts, digging deep andtrying to pull out a result. You can spend however many million you want on your county team but it will come down to hunger in a game like that last night and that is experience and lessons you cant buy for your younger players, will bring the young Dubs on no end.

Overall we are not as fluent as we have been and our performances haven't been great. We are struggling in transition and support play up front our forwards have been very hit and miss. There is general sloppiness and lazyness about us both in skills, decision making (looking at you Niall Scully) that has been undermining and this result has been in the post for a few weeks. The defense looks very open to me and when you are not scoring Dublin will be under pressure as e will cough up chances and so it was.

I wouldn't panic mind, on a direr day i think we are in with a fair shot winning that game last night. We are up to 30 players now who have played across the five games. Some of that experience for the emerging players has been incredible. I think we have padded out the panel hugely and if we leave the league mid table, with Byrne, Basquel, Bugler, Byrne and the impressive O Shea as championship panel options (I think this will be the case) and no injuries it will have been a very successful league. I think teams are playing fairly close to their championship 15s against us and as we are such a scalp are maybe giving it the extra 10-15% against us, its one of the biggest games for other teams. We have to deal with that, but that he price of immense success lads want to measure and prove themselves off you.

All in all, happy enough with last night, excellent experience for the young e player, never any harm to taste defeat, still missing a lot of key players, some good performances and young lads blooded, all good,

Next up a tasty encounter Vs our good friends from Meath, let the skin and hair fly,

As Always Up the Dubs."

Replying To johnocarroll17:  "RTE didn't even mention it on the 6pm news ...."