LAST NIGHT, TYRONE came about as close as any team has done to breaking Dublin’s two-year long unbeaten streak.
It’s a mark of the champions though that they kept plugging away, brushing off the psychological blow of Dean Rock’s missed second-half penalty to level the game deep into stoppage-time.
”It’s never over until it’s over,” Tyrone boss Mickey Harte said afterwards.
“No matter how many points you are up against Dublin you always know that you are under threat. They’re a quality side, they’re capable of turning things their way in an instant.”
Mark Bradley was dismissed for an off-the-ball altercation with Jonny Cooper inside the last ten minutes as Dublin whittled down a four-point deficit on the home straight.
“The sending off obviously didn’t help us, it’s hard enough to play them with 15 men, with 14 it’s just that bit harder.
“It certainly didn’t help our cause and it left us a bit vulnerable on their counter attack where we didn’t have the luxury of being able to play a sweeper.
“I don’t think Mark Bradley would be the kind of guy who would start incidents like that either. He got the wrong end of the stick, I feel, because there was a bit of a schemozzle, or whatever you want to call it, and I don’t think what he did was a sending off offence.
“I don’t think he would be starting anything because it wouldn’t be in his interest to do that but it happened and somebody in their wisdom decided what to do with it and we have to live with it now.”
The Ulster champions also lost star man Tiernan McCann to a black card inside the first half, and that decision frustrated Harte.
“I don’t make much of the black card ever,” he said. “It is so inconsistently administered that it is frustrating.
“To think that Tiernan McCann got one tonight and I saw other events on that pitch which were, in my eyes, worse than what he did.
“So it is the consistency or inconsistency of the application of it that frustrates me and frustrates the players. We have to live with it.”
Although they’ll leave the capital with a tinge of regret at their failure to get one over on the back-to-back All-Ireland champions, there was plenty to leave Harte optimistic that his team are on the right track.
“(Declan McClure) is a real bonus for us, we knew he was a good player, we though it would take a bit longer for him to mature into a regular. But the way he’s playing at the minute I think he’s putting his hand up very well to be considered in every game that we’ve played so far.
“I thought Niall Sludden’s score taking tonight was immense in what was very, very difficult conditions against a very good side regardless of their level of fitness at this stage of the year.
“A lot of our new, younger players can take confidence from it. The fact that they are after being toe to toe with maybe not the whole full Dublin team but a good number of them across the night and they can say that they stood up well to that challenge.
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Money thing shouldn’t really matter too much.. at the end of the day it’s 15 v 15! Tyrone unlucky but as Harte says that’s why they’re champions.. tough team to beat but a step in the right direction for Tyrone..
Tyrone certainly coped better with the conditions for the first 50 minutes. They were running at pace and off the shoulder through the dublin defence. Jim had to spring kevin Mac early to getvany penetration. Tyrones tackling was manic. They were unlucky not to win. You could be watching a replay come September.
Unlikely they’ll meet in September as ulster and Leinster champions are due to play in the semi finals
They didn’t do too bad considering Dublin get €1.4 million in funding and Tyrone get €130k
Zzzzzzzzzz
Do facts bore you
No but you do Alan.
Take a break Alan. It’s time to open the cellar door and view the big bad world. You might like it.
meanwhile in an other story alan b is slagging a fella for having a dig at a team beacuse his team cannot compete seriously you couldn’t make this shit up and telling a fella to stay classy mother of christ alan your some tool.
Money aside ..why was that a red card and how was there 6 minutes injury time ..A farce
Best off not replying to it really. It’s getting the reaction it’s looking for. Sad really. Ignore and it’ll go away eventually.
@Steve: Red card was for hands to the face. Injury time was for repeated stoppages. A lot of Tyrone lads seemed to suffer with cramp towards the end.
@stevo2 because a strike or attempted strike when committed in front of a linesman is a red card and there are 20 seconds added for each sub so 12 subs equals 4 minutes plus the standard 2 minutes = 6 minutes… Not a farce good reffing
So Alan. With all the funding we get how come our Hurlers aren’t beating everyone around them? Since you keep harping on about money being the reason the footballers do so well, how come it doesn’t help the Hurlers.
So why didn copper get a yellow and Bradley get red? Same offence seconds apart? Plus there was not even close to 6 minutes of stoppages….Tyrone looked tired at the end but fat no point was there anyone cramped and even if there was, play stop for a playet with a cramp.
Good reffing, Brendan? How did Copper only get a yellow for doing what Bradley did seconds later? And why did he award a Dublin penalty for what was a textbook dive woth absolutely zero contact made (as admitted by even the Dublin fans sitting around us at the game after seeing the replay on the big screen)?
Ah Aideen my little ray of sunshine
No answer to my question Alan?
The money isn’t being put into hurling
Cooper did not strike anyone in front of the linesman so no red card. There was contact in the refs opinion and a hard one to call. Stop blaming the ref and look at the poor wides for your failure to win. The six minutes added is already explained above. The ref from my neutral view had a decent game.
the bottom line is Tyrone with all the talk about them couldn’t hang on to a lead in the last 1/4 when a dublin team without a lot of regular starters upped a gear and Tyrone where blowing out their arsed in the business end of the game the ref got the redcard spot on also the awward of the penalty but got it badly wrong when cavanagh should have got a blackcard
Source for that statement Alan? Full us on on what % goes where then since you’re so knowledgeable on Dublin gaa and where they spend their funding.
@Brendan, Cooper pushed in the same manner as Bradley. Knocking Bradley to the ground. Only at that point did the linesman call the ref. Same offence, one player got yellow the other red. As for the penalty there simply was no contact made. And the referee was woefully far from the action to have even seen if there was or not. He simply gave the benifit of the doubt to Dublin. And i’m not blaming the ref. While the sending off was harsh and didn’t help, as I’e already stated, we should have had the game won by then only for poor finishing.
Can’t be bothered pet
How did Cavanagh not get a black card ? He was already on a yellow and blatantly pulled Dublin player clean through ! Joe bottled it as he knew if he applied the rules correctly then Cavanagh was off !
Can’t be bothered or just can’t back up a false statement? The latter for definite. Petal.
That’s not what the card was for. The linesman was on the pitch trying to seperate the players when Bradley ran at and clearly struck Cooper. You must have missed it. Linesman could not have been closer. Bradley should learn to control his aggression. Glad to hear your not blaming the ref. Tyrone finishing and poor decision in front of the posts cost them a win.
I assure you I didn’t miss it. I watched the incident from the initial pushing and shoving until the cards. He most definitely did not strike. He ran at Cooper and pushed him in the face with two open hands. If thats a red then coopers much more forceful retaliation simply had to have been worthy of a red too. The entire incident began woth Cooper pulling and dragging at Bradley. As for your “Bradley needs to control his aggression” line, I suspect this must be the first time you have seen him play. It was his first ever red card. Aside from that, why would he have attempted to instigate a physical confrontation with copper, who would probably be a good 12-14 inches bigger ffs!lol
I didn’t see the incident myself and whatever the linesman interpreted is what got Bradley sent off ! How Cavanagh stayed on is a Joke as he was already on a yellow
“He ran at Cooper and struck him in the face with two open hands” right in front of the official who had previously told him to calm down. You say push. Neutral linesman did not see it that way. Striking offence. Red card. Read the rules. You will have to ask him that question as to why he struck someone bigger than himself and at this level if he does not learn from this incident to control his aggression to stay inside the rules it will not be his last Red card.
Brendan pushing and striking are two different actions. There are countless innocuous pushes in every match. And, once, again, why did Bradleys push get red when Coopers more forceful one only got a yellow? And again, spoiting aboit a player with one red card in his career needing to do something about his aggression says everything about your level of understanding.
Ah Aideen you’ve an awful opinion of me
To answer your question. It’s obviously because the linesman the ref and the other officials at the game, and probably everyone else in Ireland have an anti tyrone bias. They wrongly send off players for innocuous unagressive strikes to the head give false penalties and maliciously add on time at the end of games to ensure tyrone cannot win. The black card was introduced as another mechanism to cheat against tyrone. That or you are a paranoid whinger.
Not sure what the reasoning was for that waffling straw-man rant/gibberish, because at absolutely no point have I even once suggested that it was down to any sort of anti-Tyrone bias. My complaint is simply reffereeing incompetence.
The red car was effective for exactly 15 minutes. Tyrone were up by 5 at that point. Dublin pulled back 2 points and then McCarthy left the field injured. So the final 11 minutes were 14 on 14 and Dublin pulled back 3 to level the game. That’s were Tyrone lost it, the last 11 minutes when numbers were level. But hey, usual Mickey, why let facts get in the way of a good whinge!