There seems to be a growing feeling that Tyrone wont be able to cope with such a powerful side as Cork. It has been pointed out that Tyrone's weakness (weakness being a relative term in this case) is in coping with teams who run at their defence. Cork will do this all day and Tyrone-or any other team for that matter- Have rarely had to handle such a physically huge strong team.

Inactive x5 (Cavan) - Posts: 1452 - 04/08/2009 17:14:28    377378

im weary myself, but i believe micky will have a plan and i think we can nullify cork and as they say attack is the best form of defence...

HokeyPokey (Tyrone) - Posts: 1744 - 04/08/2009 18:14:37    377495

Hope so but cork look the team the year .

Dellboypolecat (Tyrone) - Posts: 15069 - 04/08/2009 19:58:14    377606

If they can overcome the sheer size of Cork, Cavanagh the Mc Mahons off the top of my head are the only ones well above 6ft on Tyrone.

Niamh (Derry) - Posts: 2397 - 04/08/2009 20:02:35    377608

should be a cracker of a game. wat a chamionship this is turning out to be. the big guns tyrone and kerry are hitting form. cork the unknown quantity in croker not far behind, and the underdogs(more than likely mayo) still capable of causing an upset!

what will be interesting about the cork tyrone tie is the differing nature of their respective quarters. tyrone were stretched to the limits and answer the questions where as cork just blew donegal away. who will benefit? i would say tyrone but its really up in the air.

really enjoying this summers football! who needs rule changes when we are having a quality champo like this one!

jaffacake (Meath) - Posts: 720 - 04/08/2009 20:11:19    377621

Big, strong, fast, they have everything to beat Tyrone. Have they the belief? Possibly, only Kerry have beaten Cork in the All Ireland's recently, so they have no history with this Tyrone team.

The last time they met in a semi Cork won by 5-10 to 2-4. I expect it to be a bit closer this time.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 04/08/2009 20:12:23    377623

I'd have to make Cork the favourites for this game. Of all teams Tyrone has always had greatest difficulty overcoming Cork in the League so to find Cork a difficult prospect will be nothing new. Tyrone are going to have to live of scraps in midfield and focus on winning our own kickouts. If our scoring ratio is higher than Corks then we can win this game. A week ago the All-Ireland seemed to be in the bag - now I believe we are 3rd favourites behind Kerry and Cork no matter what the bookies think.

John Boss (Tyrone) - Posts: 865 - 04/08/2009 20:13:52    377624

can cork run all day??? .....

from what i seen on sunday .... was a donegal team who gave up the ghost after 10 minutes, a gentle trot for cork, more like it!!!

did they run all day against limerick ..... yeah maybe ...into cul-de-sac's ....no idea, no plan.

tyrone will run all day if required, ....slow it when required, stick to a gameplan and won'nt panic.

doo_her (Tyrone) - Posts: 60 - 04/08/2009 20:58:04    377706

Tyrone can handle Cork, they will have developed a game plan that will slow Cork down, close game to call but I think Tyrone by 2 pts

cmx (Monaghan) - Posts: 446 - 04/08/2009 21:17:58    377752

Mickey has a plan ,he handled the Twin Towers of Kerry last year am sure he will have a plan to handle Corks Red woods

fortyfive (Tyrone) - Posts: 5929 - 04/08/2009 21:21:43    377759

hmm... if it was a wet day...

HokeyPokey (Tyrone) - Posts: 1744 - 04/08/2009 21:37:51    377809

Don't forget Limerick should have beaten Cork so they can be as vulnerable as any other team. I would put Sean Cavanagh in midfield with Kevin Hughes and let Cork worry about them two instead of the other way around. Tyrone also have the forwards to beat any side but they have to counteract Cork's aerial power, their ability to win midfield and stop them running at their half back line. At the kick outs I expect to see Tyrone crowd the midfield and put someone in front of their own half back line to stagger and break up Cork attacks. Cork will also not get the same time or space to knock the ball about, they will be hassled and put under pressure. No one gave Tyrone a prayer last year against Kerry or Dublin but Mickey delivered and Tyrone love being the underdog which they will be for this game.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9825 - 04/08/2009 21:53:55    377859

Why not turn this question around - can Cork handle Tyrone? At the risk of being called arrogant, there is not much in Cork's recent history that provides much evidence that they can. We know they can handle Kerry in Munster, but since 2005 have succumbed to them later in the championship. This year they've beaten Waterford, an off-form Kerry, Limerick, a very poor Donegal and Monaghan in the Div 2 play-off. Certainly they have a big strong team and seem good going forward. It'll be interesting to see what they are like if Tyrone start to push them backwards. Whilst it has all the halmarks of a classic, I wouldn't bet on it. I predict a slogging session ala Tyrone - Armagh 2003 & 2005 - which will mean it won't be for some of the feint-hearted folk that tend to frequent this forum.

On_the_ditch (Tyrone) - Posts: 98 - 04/08/2009 23:16:06    378117

On_the_ditch County: Tyrone Posts: 43 Why not turn this question around - can Cork handle Tyrone? At the risk of being called arrogant, there is not much in Cork's recent history that provides much evidence that they can. We know they can handle Kerry in Munster, but since 2005 have succumbed to them later in the championship. This year they've beaten Waterford, an off-form Kerry, Limerick, a very poor Donegal and Monaghan in the Div 2 play-off. Certainly they have a big strong team and seem good going forward. It'll be interesting to see what they are like if Tyrone start to push them backwards. Whilst it has all the halmarks of a classic, I wouldn't bet on it. I predict a slogging session ala Tyrone - Armagh 2003 & 2005 - which will mean it won't be for some of the feint-hearted folk that tend to frequent this forum. I agree with you On_the_ditch, I was thinking the same before the Dublin -Kerry match - how will Kerry cope with the free scoring Dubs.

sam2008 (Tyrone) - Posts: 799 - 05/08/2009 08:31:44    378367

on the ditch

I agree 99% with you. The question should be can Cork handle Tyrone. I agree also that there is little evidence that we can. A lot of cork people are getting slightly carried away. You would think that we might have learnt our lesson after all the semi-final trashings that we got gainst Kerry. Our half backs are very good going forward and Graham Canty aside, they need to be tested on the backfoot. This has not happened to date and that is a major worry. People are also talking about how Michael Murphy destroyed Michael Shields the last day. Personally I am not worried about the ability of Michael Shields though he will be on the best full forward in the country the next day. It is a pity Counihan did not bring on Eoin Cadogan the last day. He is a major addition to the Cork panel and was the best footballer in the county last year but went off and played with the hurlers.

Where we disagree is that I think it will be a good game. I do not see it being like Armagh/Tyrone 03/05 as they have a history against each other and it was alkways going to add the tensity between them. Cork and Tyrone do not have that and while it is a semi final, I believe it will be open. Oddly enough if I thought that Cork would beat Tyrone and then lose to Kerry in the final, I would rather be beaten by Tyrone. It is a pity that it is not on after Kerry/Mayo match.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 05/08/2009 09:43:03    378411

On_the_ditch, Armagh Tyrone in 2005 was one of the best games I have ever witnessed in my life. Largely heralded as a classic after the game by all the RTE pundits as well! I wouldnt call it a slogging session.

There seems to be a general consensus amongst Tyrone folk that Mickey Harte will devise a master plan to negate Cork. One poster on here has already stated that Tyrone generally have had a lot of bother with Cork historically in the league and I think this will carry through to this game as well. Nicholas Murphy usually has a field against Tyrone and we dont have anyone to compete with him. Hub Hughes has been playing very well but everyone can see that Dermot Early dominated both himself and Cavanagh on Sunday. For me the main threat comes from Miskella and Canty bombing up the field. For this reason I can certainly see Joe Mc Mahon tracking Miskella and can see Brian Mc Guigan starting at centre half forward so that when Cork's attack breaks up, Tyrone will feed Mc Guigan straight away and he will subsequently punish Canty for being out of position. There are few better than Brian Mc Guigan in terms of creativity.

Depsite this, I still feel Cork will come out on top.

Rio Bingo (Tyrone) - Posts: 788 - 05/08/2009 10:22:58    378476

While I'm a fan of how Cork play football, there is always the potential that Tyrone can do to Cork what Kerry did to Dublin.

It's a very hard game to call. Tyrone are mentally very strong, but then there's the danger they could slip like the did V Mayo in 2004 or V Laois in 2006. Tyrone's best moments have come V Kerry in 03, 05 & 08 or V Armagh in 03 & 05. When Tyrone face Kerry & Armagh they seem to play their best football. It's so hard to call this game, but one thing is for sure, both sides are very talented and it should be a cracking game.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6488 - 05/08/2009 10:40:15    378514

Very intriguing semi - final line up and some interesting points made on this thread by various posters. Most people seem to think its a battle of Cork's height and running game against Tyrone's know-how and gameplan.

Paddy Heaney writing in the Irish News made a good point that Cork have not played and won a game in Croke Park recently when they were under serious pressure where as Tyrone have done so on numerous occasions. This could be the difference. For me Cork are still an unknown quantity with masses of potential.

If I had to predict I would go with a 2 point Tyrone victory. One point I would make is that I believe the team to beat Tyrone this year will have to score at least 2 goals against them as Tyrone will nearly always win a 'points' shoot out given the sheer quality of their finishers.

Goodfella, Tir (None) - Posts: 1652 - 05/08/2009 11:03:43    378566

The question is, can cork handle tyrone...

Brolly (Monaghan) - Posts: 4472 - 05/08/2009 11:11:02    378586

only one outcome tyrone! after seeing cork although they looked good tyrone would never let them score without being challenged like we did. even though cork are big they dont like any hits and they will get them all day. the main reason why tyrone will win because corks defense in quite poor (mark my words). graham canty will be taken to the cleaners and the other halfbacks especially o leary will foul (lack of dicipline) and shields will find oneil a handful, throw in marty penrose and it over.

smacc (Donegal) - Posts: 62 - 05/08/2009 11:17:10    378598