2007 All-Ireland winner

[lochy]

setanta said:

Yeah Right!

We better win or my summer is RUINED!

You're better off supporting Meath now seeing as Tyrone are going down! ;D

Tyrone are going down??? At least Dublin have experience of that this year ;D ;D

Good game today. Dodgy Dublin goal, and geraghty should have walked so all in all probably a fair result.

[lochy]

setanta said:

What a weekend. Two great games, Dublin V Kerry in the Semis, Derry and Monaghan put up a great fight and they'll be the new powers in Ulster in a couple of years as Tyrone and Armagh fade.

Believe that if you will. Few facts

Thats the second team you have beaten from outside Leinster in 12 years. - Interesting
One All-Ireland in 23 Years....proud?
Ulster have provided 5 DIFFERENT winners in the last 15 years. No other province has that sort of strength and Depth, so it is no surprise to see teams like Monaghan come through.
Write off Tyrone and Armagh at your peril. Seriously, anyone who writes them off doesn't know football. I mean that.

Good luck in the semi. I have always said that the best team always wins it, so if you do you deserve it. I think you'll beat Kerry, but lose to Meath in the final.

[An Fear Dubh]

I think your assessment of Tyrone is off. Yes, they did swarm, and were strong. But they were very mobile and relentless and I think other teams were physically stronger but could not use that against the mobility of Tyrone. If you have ever viewed their youth system you would be in awe, it is very good. And the sheer volume coming through is more than enough to satisfy two or three senior teams.
Micky Harte might be predictable at times but he still has shown recently he has a few tricks left. He is in the situation where some 'old' players are on the slide but now again show the sparkle. He has to select them wisely, and blood the new relentless terriers.
Armagh is a bit different as Big Joe built the team arround Crossmaglen Rangers, I think they need a new manager. He was effected by key players being injured. Even Man U suffer because of this.

[lochy]

setanta said:

So where did Tyrone go wrong against a developing Meath team?

- 8 wides from Mulligan didn't help.
- 6 kickable wides in the last 10 minutes, when we held Meath scoreless. Very poor score taking in total.
- We didn't react to their tactics. they targetted Cavanagh and were brutal with him a times. Three different players got booked for fouls on him. Normally it doesn't matter coz someone like dooher comes through and carries the burden, but he was injured and shouldn't have started....which brings me too
- Dooher should not have started. From the moment he went off we started competing in Midfield and actually outscored meath. the damage was done though when he was on. Great Player, but no-one should start such a big match when fitness is a doubt.
- Apart from Dooher, missing Mcguigan has been too much for us this year. He is acknowledged as the best playmaker in the game today.
- not to mention an unfit Stephen O'Neill. He came on, but his lack of match practice was a problem.

Overall though, it would have been unfair on Meath if we had won. Fay had an amazing game, and their forwards were top notch. They are the best team we have played this year(and I include Dublin and Monaghan in that). On the bright side a strong Meath team can only help to improve Dublin as at least you will have some competition in Leinster.

I think your analysis of Ulster football is wrong. Tyrone have played some of the most attractive football over the last few years. In 2005, we beat Dublin and Kerry, not by suffocating then but by outplaying them. The 2003 final was won by hard tactics. that was because it was our first.

On the 2005 team and how we are not as good as then, we have lost Canavan. Every single other player is there this year. I honestly think injuries cost us. We played badly against Meath, but we could have snatched it. Only Dooher and Cavlan are over 30. We blooded some new players this year. Mulgrew(a potential great), McCaul, Colm Cavanagh, McNulty, McGuigan to name a few. They came through well and will be experienced next year. Our youth team structure is awesome. We have some great talent. I watched an U-16 game between Omagh and Killyclogher a few weeks ago and the level of skill was unbelieveable. I have a Grade 1 county medal at U-16, but I was the tallest in our team at 5ft 11. These 15 year olds are 6ft+ and will only get stronger.

Anyway I digress. As you know all three games involving Ulster Teams could have gone the other eay and then we would be talking about Ulster domination. Small margins decide these games

- Tyrone injuries
- Vaughans free-kicking(without him you would have lost)
- Monaghans pure bad luck coupled with Kerry experience.

Any premature gloating at Ulsters demise shows a lack of knowledge in my opinion

[lochy]

setanta said:

It was inconsistant frees that cost us games for the last decade! If we'd had a free taker like Vaughan in 2002 no one would be remembering Armagh.

We'll never know, but it is small things that decide matches between the top teams. Conor Gormleys block oin the 2003 final won us the game. Small thing...big consequences. Thus my point about the "demise" of Ulster football. But for small situations, there could have been three in the semi's.

You only highlighted my points about Tyrone when you mentioned their injury list. They had no one to replace them that were any where in the same league.

Fair enough, but no county has players in the same league as McGuigan and O'Neill. Mulgrew has the potential to be as good as McGuigan, but this is his first season. We'll find out more next year.

Piller has blooded a lot of players in the league but he hasn't really needed them in the Championship so far. I'd like to see Brennan in the backs as he played every league game and is stronger than McConnoll and wont lose ariel battles like McConnell does. Shocko is flying for his club and in training and so is Goggins and both should be used against Kerry. The McGees can cover our midfeild and Mossies speed can still cause problems and he can still come in a win frees.
The only thing that worries me is that Pillar is slow to switch to Plan B, but at least he has the players on the bench to go to plan B.

I have always though Dublin play well in spite off Pillar. Tactically he is poor, and if you had harte over the last few years or Kernan, you would have won a few titles in the last few years.

[lochy]

So, since 2000 the roll of honour on a provincial basis since 2000 is as follows

Winners

Munster - 4
Ulster - 3
Connaught - 1
Leinster - 0

Finalists

Munster - 7
Ulster - 4
Connaught - 4
Leinster - 1