Croke Park the venue, scene of probably our greatest victory in the qualifier series funnily enough against Tyrone in 2002. For all the critics out there, I don't think Tyrone will do what Mayo did to us yesterday. Carew took a chance in going man for man like against Roscommon but was caught out badly yesterday. I'd expect a sweeper as we are just not good enough to go man for man. If we get ball into our full forward line I'd expect them to do damage. 2-11 against supposed AI contenders is not to be sniffed at. Hughes is turning into a quality 14 as proved against Cuniffe yesterday. Kelly and Marren will do damage if they are supplied. I just hope we tighten up at the back. If they go with the same tactics as yesterday expect Sean Cavanagh to do an Aidan O'Shea, but you'd like to think a plan would be hatched.
If this game was this weekend, I'd expect Tyrone to win at a canter, the 7 day turnaround was never kind to Sligo, but seeing as they have the 2 weeks I'd expect them to recover and give it a good rattle!! We were massive underdogs in 2002 against a team with Canavan, Cavanagh, Gormley, McMenamin etc who would win the AI in 2003. Hopefully it will be tighter than expected, and who knows what could happen in the last 15,10 minutes!

john.no1 (Sligo) - Posts: 465 - 20/07/2015 17:40:49    1756572

I've been saying all year that Tyrone are not that far away. 3 league draws tell a story. The qualifiers have been kind to them. Luck of the draw. Monaghan are the only provincial champion in the last 4 years that failed to make the semi-finals. It was Tyrone who stopped them in 2013 and Tyrone repeating that trick cannot be ruled out. Tyrone's trick of ending Kerry's bid to retain an All-Ireland title cannot be ruled out either. Tyrone are very much the dark horse outside of the top 6.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7888 - 20/07/2015 18:02:04    1756592

Tyrone having been playing ultra defensively all year. They will have to totally change their style to expose Sligo.
Tyrone will still win but not by more than 5 or 6 points

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1137 - 20/07/2015 18:06:08    1756598

Croke Park the venue, scene of probably our greatest victory in the qualifier series funnily enough against Tyrone in 2002. For all the critics out there, I don't think Tyrone will do what Mayo did to us yesterday. Carew took a chance in going man for man like against Roscommon but was caught out badly yesterday. I'd expect a sweeper as we are just not good enough to go man for man. If we get ball into our full forward line I'd expect them to do damage. 2-11 against supposed AI contenders is not to be sniffed at. Hughes is turning into a quality 14 as proved against Cuniffe yesterday. Kelly and Marren will do damage if they are supplied. I just hope we tighten up at the back. If they go with the same tactics as yesterday expect Sean Cavanagh to do an Aidan O'Shea, but you'd like to think a plan would be hatched.
If this game was this weekend, I'd expect Tyrone to win at a canter, the 7 day turnaround was never kind to Sligo, but seeing as they have the 2 weeks I'd expect them to recover and give it a good rattle!! We were massive underdogs in 2002 against a team with Canavan, Cavanagh, Gormley, McMenamin etc who would win the AI in 2003. Hopefully it will be tighter than expected, and who knows what could happen in the last 15,10 minutes!

john.no1 (Sligo) - Posts: 465 - 20/07/2015 18:35:20    1756619

Hopefully Sligo can put in a decent performance against Tyrone. However I can't see them winning. Tyrone were impressive against Tipperary.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 2991 - 20/07/2015 19:33:26    1756646

No Tyrone fan with memories of 2002 will take anything for granted but it is a good draw. While the crowd maybe small I think Croke Park will suit this Tyrone team better and it is encouraging that players like Harte, Donnelly, McCurry are stepping forward to help the old campaigners like Cavanagh and McMahon. Once again treating the back door seriously has served Tyrone well and while the big four maybe beyond reach at the moment it is always good to arrive in the last eight when the serious football starts.

Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1780 - 21/07/2015 13:15:27    1756918

Ha..."Sligo havent become a bad team in one game" says Mickey Harte.Very true. They have always been a bad team!!!!. More accurate if he said they didnt become a good team in one game!!!

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1907 - 21/07/2015 13:33:43    1756938

Tyrone's full forward line was exceptional against Tipp in the second half, I don't think there'd even need to put Cavanagh in at 14 from the start, Tyrone can win this game by simply bullying them physically, Sligo have some lovely forwards in Kelly and Marron and Hughes looks decent but they won't get near the room they got against Mayo, Tyrone to win by 7 or 8 at a canter

Victorious87 (Wicklow) - Posts: 597 - 21/07/2015 13:59:14    1756959

In relation to the comment from the Roscommon supporter - Sligo out played the Roscommon team on the day, and fully deserved to go forwarded to the final. In relation to the Mayo game the tactics were completely outrageous, to line up man to man from the off was a rookie error!! and after Mayo got the 2 quick goals, the Sligo management still didn't double mark O'Shea crazy!! we played in to there hands and left ourselves open for the hiding we got. To play 2 lads at midfield who are forwards naturally was a huge error, especially after loosing 85% of the kick outs in the semi. To compound matters further Stephen Gilmartin was left on the bench far to long and indeed should have started the game in order to at least compete for the ball in the middle. They should have considered bringing Hughes out the middle also (even thou he done well in full forward), as a result of this Parsons had a field day in the middle and was made to look like a superstar. We still managed to bag 2-11 which by any standard will win a lot of games, if the Sligo team is set up properly they absolutely will not be beaten by 15 points, as the Roscommon commenter suggests, I don't think we will have enough to beat Tyrone unfortunately, but I believe if the Sligo management re-think there game plan we can at least be competitive and come away from the game with some pride restored in the jersey. As a final word its high time David Kelly was moved out the field were he can win breaks and be the link man to the full forward line, its so predictable that he is going to be double marked, he should be given a go at centre forward and it would give the other team something to think about his pace and directness would be a great asset in that area of the park.

overandunder1 (Sligo) - Posts: 1 - 23/07/2015 14:27:31    1758035