IT’S BEEN A hectic day tallying the sporting events that have fallen victim to Storm Ciara – arguably the second-largest surge of the day – but the big games in Division One have survived the weather and will go ahead.
Tyrone v Kerry is going ahead, although it has been switched from Omagh to Edendork.
The other games slated for Division One are going ahead, with Meath hosting Mayo in the need of points, while Donegal host Galway.
All games throw-in at 2pm, and we’ll be keeping you up to date here on The42.
Get in touch with us – email gavincooney@the42.ie or drop a comment below the line.
Not all of the games further down the leagues have survived the weather.
Laois v Cavan (Division Two), Louth v Offaly (Division 3), and Wicklow v Sligo (Division Four) are all off.
Impressive from everyone at Edendork to have their house in order to host today’s clash with Kerry.
Last time I stood in @EdendorkGAC grounds a bunch of yrs ago, their clubhouse was in ruins after an arson attack. Now Kerry are up for a league game against Tyrone. Fantastic day for them. https://t.co/aUVJKFpUJE
— Michael Foley (@MickFoley76) February 9, 2020
A reminder of how things stand in Division One ahead of today’s action.
A significant addition to the Tyrone bench this afternoon: Cathal McShane wears 24.
Cathal McShane wears 24 for @TyroneGAALive #GAA #AllianzLeagues pic.twitter.com/madqlATF78
— Michael Devlin (@MichaelDevlin11) February 9, 2020
Team News
Tyrone v Kerry
Here's our Starting XV for tomorrow's National Football League clash against @Kerry_Official
— Tyrone GAA (@TyroneGAALive) February 8, 2020
⬇️
Throw in at 2.00pm in Omagh. We'll see you there ⚪️🔴 pic.twitter.com/uRvA47Hyks
Team Announcement: Kerry vs. Tyrone - Allianz Football League, Round 3 pic.twitter.com/iIy6gczFZe
— Kerry GAA (@Kerry_Official) February 7, 2020
Meath v Mayo
The Meath Senior Football Team that faces @MayoGAA in the #AllianzLeagues this Sunday at 2 p.m.#YourEdge #MeathGAA#MeathFootball pic.twitter.com/p5GUPQApwF
— Meath GAA (@MeathGAA) February 8, 2020
Make sure you keep an eye on our social media accounts tomorrow morning for any developments in relation to the game not going ahead. #mayogaa #AllianzLeagues pic.twitter.com/jvvHSFcCDo
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) February 8, 2020
Donegal v Galway
So it’s, eh, pretty wet in Navan ahead of Meath/Mayo…
It’s kinda wet in Navan right now. #mayogaa #AllianzLeagues pic.twitter.com/WwvL1syDLN
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) February 9, 2020
Mickey Harte confirms to TG4 we’ll likely see Cathal McShane at some point this afternoon.
Only a couple of minutes to go to throw in now…
Meath 0-00 Mayo 0-01
Tommy Conroy points from play to give Mayo the lead in Navan. They are playing with a very strong wind at their backs.
Tyrone’s defence is as populous as ever, and they force David Clifford to kick in a space tighter than a phonebox. His effort drops short.
Tyrone 0-01 Kerry 0-02
Clifford doesn’t err again, and lands a booming effort with his left, the game’s first score from play.
Tyrone 0-01 Kerry 0-04
Clifford points a free for the Kingdom, which is swiftly followed by an O’Shea point from play as Tyrone make a hames of the kick-out.
Tyrone 0-01 Kerry 0-05
Long-distance point from play by Micheál Burns pushes Kerry further in front.
Meath 0-00 Mayo 0-03
Galway 0-02 Donegal 0-01
James Carr lands a huge point for Mayo; Rob Finnerty edges Galway in front.
Meath 0-00 Mayo 0-04
Mayo’s dominant start continues, as Paddy Durcan points from play.
Niall Morgan makes a big save to deny Paul Geaney! A Tyrone counter breaks down and Clifford finds Geaney in space, but as he closes in on goal, his shot is blocked by Morgan’s legs!
Drama too in Letterkenny – Donegal have a penalty and Galway goalkeeper Conor Gleeson has been black-carded!
Meath 0-00 Mayo 0-05
In the mean-time, Fergal Boland ticks the scoreboard further in Mayo’s favour.
It’s fair to say the sin-binning of their goalkeeper has caused a bit of havoc within the Galway ranks.
Galway concede penalty.
— Rory James O'Neill (@RoryONeill1990) February 9, 2020
Galway goalie sin binned.
Substitution made to bring in goalie to face penalty.
At the end of 10 mins another sub will be required to get Conor Gleeson back on the field.
Seeing as you dont need two goalkeepers or do you..
Confusion on the Galway bench..
Meath 0-01 Mayo 0-05
It’s taken 24 minutes but Meath are off the mark. They are, in fairness, playing into a fairly brutal gale.
Tyrone 0-03 Kerry 0-07
‘Keeper Niall Morgan points another free for Tyrone, and he’s their top scorer thus far. Like Meath in Navan, they are playing into a strong wind. Keeping in touch is the name of the game in the first half.
Meath 0-01 Mayo 0-06
Donegal 1-02 Galway 0-03
Ryan O’Donoghue points for Mayo; Jamie Brennan for Donegal.
Tyrone 0-03 Kerry 0-08
Tyrone are pinged for touching the ball on (a very sodden) ground, and O’Shea points the free.
Glorious, sweeping Kerry attack ends with O’Shea kicking an oddly tame effort into Morgan’s hands.
Half-time: Tyrone 0-04 Kerry 0-08
Tyrone have yet to score from play, but a quartet of frees have kept them in touch amid filthy conditions. They’ll have the wind at their backs in the second half, so won’t be too discouraged by that scoreline.
At the other end, it’s been a David Clifford exhibition.
Half-time: Meath 0-01 Mayo 0-07
A similar story in Navan, as Mayo had the benefit of a ludicrous first-half wind. It remains to be seen if they have built a large enough lead ahead of the second half.
Half-time: Donegal 1-03 Galway 0-04
A Murphy point rounds out the first half in Letterkenny.
Elsewhere at half-time:
Division Two
Westmeath 0-07 Fermanagh 0-01
Roscommon 0-06 Clare 0-01
Division Three
Cork 0-8 Down 0-02
Longford 1-07 Leitrim 1-05
Division Four
London 0-01 Antrim 0-09
Limerick 0-04 Carlow 0-04
It’s pretty relevant to point out that all three Division One sides trailing at half-time will play with their wind at their backs in the second half.
Tyrone 0-05 Kerry 0-08
And as if to prove the point: Rory Brennan kicks Tyrone’s first point from play a minute into the second half.
And Darren McCurry kicks a fairly sloppy side from the same spot as Brennan converted from.
Tyrone 0-06 Kerry 0-08
Conor Meyler curls a free over the bar off his left, and it’s a two-point game!
Big cheers around Edendork – Cathal McShane comes on for Tyrone!
Big test coming for Kerry…
Tyrone 0-07 Kerry 0-08
McCurry kicks another from play! Tyrone have started this second half superbly, and now trail by one.
Eeek, Strength of Wind Dept – Clifford drops a free-kick short, and into Morgan’s arms.
Donegal 1-05 Galway 0-04
Points from Michael Murphy and Jamie Brennan have ensured a fast start for Donegal.
Goal! Donegal 2-05 Galway 0-04
Ciaran Thompson goals for Donegal! A stunning start to the second half for them.
Goal! Donegal 2-05 Galway 1-04
And Galway reply immediately, through Johnny Heaney!
Tyrone 0-09 Kerry 0-09
Kerry’s indiscipline in defence is become a real issue for them, and Jason Foley is the latest to concede a soft free. It’s converted by…Cathal McShane!
Goal! Meath 1-01 Kerry 0-07
We finally have a second-half score in Navan, and it’s a James McEntee goal for Meath!
Tyrone 0-10 Kerry 0-09
Tyrone lead for the first time today - Niall Morgan converts another free!
Donegal 2-05 Galway 1-05
A Shane Walsh point narrows the gap to three points in Letterkenny.
Tyrone 0-10 Kerry 0-10
The main man converts a free to level for Kerry – David Clifford is their only second-half scorer thus far.
Meath 1-02 Mayo 0-07
Meath continue to eat into that Mayo lead, through Matthew Costello.
Goal! Meath 2-02 Mayo 0-07
And now they’ve wiped that lead out, with a Ronan Jones goal!
Goal! Donegal 2-05 Galway 2-06
It’s another dramatic turnaround, this time in Galway’s favour! Sean Kelly scores a goal, and now Galway lead by a point!
Back to Tyrone for a moment – Harte received a second yellow card for an incident in which Paul Murphy was also booked. Referee Fergal Kelly took a while and consulted with his linesman before making the call.
Tyrone have been so dominant in the second half, but only lead by a point and have now been dealt this substantial blow.
Tyrone 0-12 Kerry 0-10
Tiernan McCan wins another free for Tyrone, and McCurry nails the free.
Donegal 2-06 Galway 2-08
Michael Daly and Shane Walsh swing the game back Galway’s way.
Red card! It’s all kicking off here. David Clifford is off for a second yellow having been dragged to the ground by Ben McDonnell. Clifford grappled with him a bit but it seems pretty harsh, and Clifford is furious. McDonnell is booked too.
And in a separate incident, Ronan McNamee has been black-carded for Tyrone and Jack Barry for Kerry, which means it’s going to finish 13 on 13.
Meath 2-03 Mayo 0-08
A Kevin McLaughlin free finally handed Mayo a first score of the second half, but Meath have hit back pretty quickly and lead once again.
Tyrone 0-12 Kerry 0-11
And Kerry make it a one-point game as we head to seven minutes of added time!
Meath 2-03 Mayo 0-09
Mayo are level again, and again it is through Kevin McLoughlin!
Tyrone 0-13 Kerry 0-11
Darren McCurry has been imperious today, and he’s kicked a sideline to re-establish Tyrone’s two-point lead!
Goal! Meath 2-03 Mayo 1-09
And it’s Kevin McLoughlin again! 1-2 for him in a few minutes and it’s a massive score for Mayo as the clock goes red!
Tyrone 0-13 Kerry 0-12
Kerry aren’t dead yet – Sean O’Shea kicks a free and it’s a one-point game.
Tyrone 0-14 0-13
Tommy Walsh calls a mark, and O’Shea points a free. It’s a tit-for-tat shootout that doesn’t suit Kerry…
FT: Meath 2-05 Mayo 1-09
Mayo are, not for the first time, rescued by Kevin McLoughlin. His 1-2 in the second half ekes out a narrow Mayo win!
FT: Tyrone 0-14 Kerry 0-13
Tyrone hang on for the win! It was ill-tempered but extremely tense, but the Tyrone defence swallowed up the last couple of Kerry attacks, and they hang on.
We are still playing in Letterkenny, by the way, where Galway are a point up but a man down against Donegal.
CORRECTION: Donegal 2-07 Galway 2-08
Eek, we made an error – apologies! That Thompson free kick actually went wide, and at full-time, Galway hang on for a priceless win having trailed by seven points warly in the second half!
Full-time scores
Division One
Tyrone 0-14 Kerry 0-13
Meath 2-05 Mayo 1-09
Donegal 2-07 Galway 2-08
Division Two
Roscommon 1-08 Clare 0-04
Westmeath 0-10 Fermanagh 0-08
Division Three
Derry 0-10 Tipperary 0-05
Cork 0-16 Down 1-08
Longford 2-14 Leitrim 1-09
Division Four
Carlow 0-09 Limerick 1-07
London 0-10 Antrim 0-14
The photo with the coaches is so cringe. I’d say the managers and captains dread these days. Best has to walk around in an Ireland jersey and white runners all afternoon answering the same questions over and over again. O’Shea gets to hold a ball smiling as the other lads just stand around. Fake pleasantries and trying not to give anything away to rile up the opposition. It would be a lot more fun if they went in after 10 pints.
@grandslamkbo: In fairness oshea is far more cheerful than the others. He probably brought the ball himself hoping theyd have a game of tag.
@Rudiger McMonihan: IRFU do not have a ball to look good with. Cutbacks.
There’s no way that Joe doesn’t have a Grand Slam as a personal target . But he is wise enough to understate an objective like this . As for the love/hate relationship I imagine it’s a question of him loving winning but hating to lose . It’s looking like a very open 6 Nations this year where almost any team could win on any day. That’s the best year to do the GS .
@Limón Madrugada: with Schmidt, I don’t actually know. Obvious a Grand Slam would be a perfect reward for all of the work he does, but the core of his coaching philosophy is to be performance focused rather than goal orientated, i.e., to always improve on the last performance, not to win some end goal. Even if they won the grand slam, nothing would change. They’d celebrate, but it would be right back into “how can we improve on that performance for the summer”.
@Conor Paddington: Conor the be all and end all for him is the next world cup, the last quarter final loss still hurts more than anything else, what is achieved along the way is important and at present it is performance focused, However his real legacy is to obtain a semi final or better at the next world cup.
@Conor Paddington: I agree. A Schmidt quote that keeps coming our through the players is ‘play the moment in front of your face’ or something to that effect. I’ve heard POC, Best and Conan all say it.
@Conor Paddington: oh I know that’s what he says , and it’s essential for maintaining focus , each short term goal divides up the process .. but deep down JS is driven by achievement just as much as the rest of successful coaches . He’s better at disguising this and bringing everyone on board into a common objective ..
@ktsiwot: I hope by 2019 it’s our full intention to go and win that World Cup. There’s certainly no reason why we can’t
@Limón Madrugada: a good excuse for losing – almost any team can win on the day. Cmon.
@Aaron Buckley: yes there are four. NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA and ENGLAND. Add FRANCE, ARGENTINA and SCOTLAND as outsiders.
@Paul Coughlan: You mean the south Africa team we absolutely smashed a few months back and NZ, Aus, England, France, Argentina and Scotland all who we’ve beaten in the last 2 years?
@COYBIG: All of whom have beaten us too, except Aus and we only played them once.