TheMaster
County: Mayo
Posts: 7119

1392140
Muckross, that is fair enough, but to be honest with you, the most thing I learned is that tyrone are not as good as they were being billed.

This is championship Master, not league, as we have been going blue in the face trying to tell ye all. The level of intensity yesterday was off the scale compared to the league game in Omagh with the battle between McGee & O'Neill particularly tough. I would also say that young organ went home a quiet young fella as well having learned the difference between the two. Don't get me wrong, he is a good young keeper & has a big future but too much was made of the league final & Donegal's tactic of putting 3 big men in front of him worked so well that I now expect to see it being used by everyone for long frees. Compare his performance under pressure with that of McBrearty, who won man of the match, and you had the winning & losing of the game right there.

Best news of all from my point of view was that JMcG is going nowhere next year as this quote from a post match interview shows.


After relegation to Division One last month, there had been suggestions they mightn't be mentally tuned in after last year's triumph.

"We had the exact same approach as we had last year. There was a lot of talk about putting all the eggs into one basket, but it was the same last year and the same the year before. That's what we do - it's Championship football.

"It will be no different next year. It was a media spin that got the whole debate going. Next year we will put all our eggs in that basket again."

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5030 - 27/05/2013 10:05:16    1392163

Well done Donegal, intriguing game. At 9-9 Tyrone had the chance to put on some pressure but Morgan's frees were just out of range, especially on a wet surface. Tyrone absolutely cleaned Donegal out in midfield as I predicted but quality of ball to forwards mixed with poor long range efforts and tight Donegal defence meant the inevitable was going to happen. And when Donegal smell blood they go for the jugular, they never seem to fill with self doubt. Mentally they are very strong. Personally I fear for the worst for Derry or down. Again, congrats Donegal a three in a row ulster is on and it's fairly unprecedented especially in modern day football.

johnjoseph (Derry) - Posts: 158 - 27/05/2013 10:09:17    1392169

I think the Donegal fans are a little harsh on Morgan in regard to his "antics" in Omagh. To be fair Murphy was trying to put him off at every free kick that day and it was probably a reaction to tis than any gloating over the penalty save. I think Morgan and the team will learn from yesterday. A couple of avoidable goals yesterday at crucial times were the difference.

MB1 (Tyrone) - Posts: 360 - 27/05/2013 10:19:25    1392183

johnjoseph
County: Derry
Posts: 111

1392169
Well done Donegal, intriguing game. At 9-9 Tyrone had the chance to put on some pressure but Morgan's frees were just out of range, especially on a wet surface. Tyrone absolutely cleaned Donegal out in midfield as I predicted but quality of ball to forwards mixed with poor long range efforts and tight Donegal defence meant the inevitable was going to happen. And when Donegal smell blood they go for the jugular, they never seem to fill with self doubt. Mentally they are very strong. Personally I fear for the worst for Derry or down. Again, congrats Donegal a three in a row ulster is on and it's fairly unprecedented especially in modern day football.

That is a fair summary but I wud say that Ulster is far from won. Derry and Down will relish a game against Donegal in Clones next month, and there is an emerging Monaghan and Cavan team lurking on the other side of the Draw. It is quite amazing that the once kingpins of Ulster football are out of the race, Armagh in the prem round and Tyrone yesterday. A day will come when todays status quo will change, and new teams will show up.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3858 - 27/05/2013 10:22:53    1392189

Tyrone just doesn't have the forwards anymore and they don't have the quality scoring half backs they once had...

Now they'll still put together a decent run in the back door because they are better than most

But they are nowhere near winning the championship...

Did very well in the middle but they don't have the quality up front to hurt Donegal

Donegal will find better teams along the way…. but they may not be good enough to stop them

To beat Donegal you need natural two sided kickers up front who can all score openly from play

Basically you'll need at least 4 scoring forwards. You need multiple options.

4 of the top 5 teams have now hit the ground running...

Mayo
Kerry
Cork
Donegal

All of the above are capable of beating one another…

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 27/05/2013 10:29:53    1392201

MB1
County: Tyrone
Posts: 254

1392183
I think the Donegal fans are a little harsh on Morgan in regard to his "antics" in Omagh. To be fair Murphy was trying to put him off at every free kick that day and it was probably a reaction to tis than any gloating over the penalty save. I think Morgan and the team will learn from yesterday. A couple of avoidable goals yesterday at crucial times were the difference.

I'm not sure that "harsh" is the right way of putting it. I think Morgan is a fine young keeper with a big future but he fell into the trap of believeing his own publicity & playing up a bit. Any crowd worth its salt will respond, but truth be told we enjoy him & he brings some colour to the game.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5030 - 27/05/2013 10:32:40    1392208

27/05/2013 09:38:55
Tir Conaill Abu
County: Donegal
Posts: 611

1392126
Well done to our lads yesterday and fair play to the Tyrone posters for being gracious in defeat. I know yous are hurting as I know we felt the same getting beat by Armagh year in and year out in the 00's.
On the game yesterday, like the other two encounters it was all about the result but don't think Mc Guinness will be too happy overall. We started very well but then allowed Tyrone to completely dominate possession and this could hurt you against a better forward line. Another problem was that we gave away too many frees, Morgan missed them but would cluxton? We were also very clinical up front which is a positive but we created much less chances than Tyrone and lost ball in the contact too often, Thompson was very guilty of this.
On the positive front, Lacey and Mc Hugh came on and although weren't at full pelt did well enough and the game time will help them, the other subs that came on all did well, especially Wherrity and Mc Elhinney.
I think Tyrone got too involved in the physical stakes with Donegal and that played into our hands as the Donegal lads are as physical as any team I have ever seen. Hard to feel sorry for Morgan after his antics of roaring into Murphys face when he missed the peno in Omagh but he'll learn from the experience and it still a good keeper today, just had a sore lesson in humility yesterday. I think Conor Clarke is a very good player but didn't see too many others playing well for Tyrone yesterday. O' Neill was bottled up, Cavanagh tried hard but would have been better deployed running from deep than further up the field. I honestly think this defeat will have a very negative effect on Tyrone and will need a favourable run of opponents to make the quarters.
Hope all got home safe, for all the Donegal fans, we'll enjoy these wins now when we're getting them as I know they won't last forever but heres hoping we can win the next few games and get the three in a row, Derry/Down won't be easy though!!

I agree with all you had to say above there. Conor Clarke did have a great game yesterday, he's a class player. But,I actually thought Tyrone's man of the match was Conor Gormley. Rolled back the years, won some amount of ball in the midfield area and most of the good things Tyrone did came through him. As for Donegal, you could've picked anyone from the 15 on the field for man of the match, great team performance and very hard to see anyone stopping your 3-in-a-row now.

MourneArmy (Down) - Posts: 1787 - 27/05/2013 10:57:08    1392235

I dont know i must of been warching a different game to the lot of you!!!

People saying it was a no contest???

Tyrone dominated for long periods and looked the better side for alot of it. Only for all them terrible wides and the fact that Morgan missed FIVE free kicks it could well have been a different story. Throw in the fact they played the last 10mins with 14 men.

Dont get me wrong Im not trying to take away from Donegals win...i just dont agree that they were great today.

Im not being bias but if that had of been dublin today with all that possesion we would of been out of sight.

I really hope we draw them later on in championship.

They have yet to beat us under McGuiness!

ConnollyDub (Dublin) - Posts: 2007 - 27/05/2013 12:04:25    1392316

Stephen O'Neill bouncing off one of the McGees!

FairShoulder (Armagh) - Posts: 333 - 27/05/2013 12:26:24    1392357

connollydub, it was a contest till 9-9 then they eyeballed and Tyrone stood down. Agreed, tyrone dominated midfield and half back but could make the pressure count. The same would happen to Dublin who have an inferior midfield to Tyrone. Donegal know how to suck the life out of teams and Dublin would be no different.

johnjoseph (Derry) - Posts: 158 - 27/05/2013 12:26:59    1392360

Conolly Dub this would be a dream come true. Dublin in Croke park is what it is all about. Might not happen though as either ourselves or yourselves could be put out along the road.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3858 - 27/05/2013 12:32:56    1392366

Hola mi amigos!

The first day back at work today following my Caribbean sojourn! I should be depressed but I'm anything but.
Firstly, while we were away the wee woman agreed to marry me! She may have been suffering from some form of sunstroke at the time but it still counts!

Secondly we've cleared the first hurdle in our Ulster and All Ireland defence. It wasn't a great game for the purist but it was tactical and intriguing up until the last ten minutes or so. As I'd hoped, Tyrone were well in the game but didn't have enough firepower to seriously trouble Donegal's defence. Stephen O'Neill looked dangerous at times & kicked a fine point. Mattie Donnelly looks a really good player aswell but Tyrone couldn't get him involved as much as they'd have liked.

For Donegal we had a number of good performers. The McGees were solid (Neil's big hit on SON was a beaut!), McBrearty looked very sharp and McFadden did ok aswell. Hopefully now over the next few weeks we can get McHugh, Lacey and McGlynn up to speed and injury free. We'd need to sharpen up a bit around the middle as Tyrone won practically everything there yesterday aswell as the breaks. The most pleasing thing overall was that we got over a tough fixture without playing all that well. Tougher assignments lie ahead but I have every faith in the Donegal management team that we'll be well prepared for them.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10364 - 27/05/2013 13:35:19    1392458

Lockjaw

Commiserations man.

Another soldier down ;)

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13846 - 27/05/2013 13:47:31    1392477

My take on yesterdays game. Overall i felt it was a good hard game of football. Some people saying that Tyrone were outclassed is utter rubbish. There was very little between the sides 10 minutes into the 2nd half, Tyrone were just getting a foothold in the game at this stage and looked the likelier winners at this stage but goals change matches and Donegals 2nd goal seemed to inergize them and seemed to deflate Tyrone.Donegal were deserving winners in the end. Donegal are a mighty powerful unit when in front and its almost impossible to claw back a lead against them. Tyrone will ease through the qualifers with ease but regards winning SAM i dont know. It will take a monumental effort from a team to stop Donegal winning 2 in a row. Also the rubbish been spouted about Donegals style of play, supporters etc is utter garbage. Its called been the top dogs and others will look for cheap shots at there expense. Id take it as a compliment to Donegal that people are looking for easy targets to make snide remarks. Donegal are top dogs at the minute so enjoy lads.

kerry74 (Kerry) - Posts: 1354 - 27/05/2013 14:05:32    1392509

I didn't consider Tyrone serious all Ireland contendors before yesterday, And so obviously nothing has changed, But they played well yesterday. For people who are saying they where poor or that Donegal where the better team must have been watching a different game, I really didn't think so at all. I thought Tyrone dominated that game, They cleared Donegal out in that first half at midfield and only for wastefulness would have won that game. O'Rourke got it bang on when he said that when Tyrone dominated for so long and still didn't find themselves ahead they lost a bit of confidence I reckon. Donegal done enough yesterday, They where far more economical and took their chances when they came their way.

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 27/05/2013 14:16:26    1392519

Donegal are very strong this year. I think they're more efficient up front now then they were in the previous championships. They're a very seasoned outfit at this stage and a well settled team who all know their own individual game plan very well. As well as this, maybe it has only occured to me now but they are physically very strong. Neil McGee, for me anyway, is the best full back in the country at the moment. The man is an absolute tank, very tough and a great man to snuff out any good forward. Reminds me a lot of Darren Fay.

Tyrone, as previous posters have said, were not efficient in their own possession and probably weren't as potent up front as Donegal. Once Stephen O'Neill was smothered out of the game they had very few options up front. Donegal will take some beating this year though.

RoyalClass (Meath) - Posts: 790 - 27/05/2013 14:27:03    1392536

I had no doubt Donegal would have the hunger and intensity for their beloved rivals, and expected them to shade it, they did more than that! I'd love to have a crack at them in the AI final, you'd have to fancy the men from the north west. Both Dublin and Donegal now joint 3/1 favs.

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8821 - 27/05/2013 14:31:57    1392542

connollydud
what planet are you on ???
tyrone should of beat us in the league final and donegal didnt even get out of 2nd gear yesterday ..... dont want to meet them till final cause it would be a short summer for us ...
serious machine

thebigF (Dublin) - Posts: 3 - 27/05/2013 14:47:36    1392575

Donegal yesterday were slightly understrength, and maybe not as sharp yet as a Tyrone outfit who ran at full tilt during the league.
But despite this, and despite Tyrone's mighty 1st half midfield dominance, Donegal showed resolve.
Donegal emptied their bench in the 2nd half, and in the process showed they have players who can come on and change a game.
Of all the top teams to have won championship games so far in 2013, only Donegal have faced and beaten a top quality side so early on.

Tyrone 1st half midfield dominance was down to clever tactical planning by Mickey Harte, He had Rory Kavanagh and Neil Gallagher well marked, and had 2 other players sweeping at all times. This only changed when McGuinness added McElhinney to the fray, Which created a more balanced midfield.

Donegal will get much stronger than this, especially when the likes of Karl Lacey, Mark McHugh and Frank McGlynn are fully fit. It's still too early to look at the All Ireland in my opinion, but clearly Donegal will take some stopping in Ulster.
Out of Derry and Down, I reckon Derry's style would give Donegal a stiffer challenge.

This Donegal team don't lose focus or have bad days, which makes it very hard for an underdog to beat them. Can anybody in Ulster beat them? Anything is possible I suppose, but I don't think it's likely they will underestimate anyone and slip up.

Maybe next Sunday in Celtic park will give us something new to consider.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3057 - 27/05/2013 14:54:43    1392590

Tír Eoghain were in charge in the first half, but had nothing to show for it. Could they have been more patient and tried to find men closer to goal or take us on a little more rather than shooting from all angles? Tír Eoghain had a rake of wides, but none of them were easy shots. I reckon they'll be grand through the qualifiers. There's no team as tough and gritty as us. They'll need to sort out the heads if they want to compete in the quarters though. Gave in too easy today.


We played half the game without Lacey, McHugh and McGlynn. Our bench is solid.
We got cleaned out in midfield, although Murphy helped. With McBrearty on such form we could afford to have Murphy drop back too.
That was by far and away McBrearty's best intercounty performance.

AnRaibh (Donegal) - Posts: 134 - 27/05/2013 16:00:14    1392702