Down 1-16 1-10 Kerry
What a performance from Down! They really were excellent throughout and Kerry had no answer to them. They had 8 different scorers compared to 3 for Kerry, the last being David Moran from the penalty spot (a sympathy penalty if ever there was one!) They started quickly but then Kerry started to come back into it and you wondered if it would be a repeat of the Tyrone game earlier in the year. But, to their credit, they kicked on again towards the end of the 1st half. They never really looked like they were going to relinquish that lead and any hopes of a Kerry comeback were ended with the Walsh sending off.
Colm Cooper was excellent for Kerry but he was more or less on his own, although Donaghy tried in vain but couldn't find a way past Michael McVeigh who pulled off a couple of super saves. For Down, its harsh to pick out names because it was a wonderful team effort but there were a few stand-out performances. Mark Poland brought the fight to Kerry with the early goal and a couple of excellent points. Benny Coulter tormented the Kerry defence all afternoon and hit some wonderful scores from all angles. He is definately up there with players who are deserving of an All-Ireland medal. Marty Clarke displayed all the attributes of a top-class playmaker; composure, decision-making, vision and accurate passing. He was always available for the pass and he has great appreciation of space. He really was outstanding. Down cleaned up in midfield and the forwards all worked hard when they didn't have the ball, leading to a few crucial turnovers which ended up as scores.
I hope they keep playing with such freedom because they are contenders for the title.
Dublin 1-15 0-13 Tyrone
This was a very strange game but an excellent one to analyse. Dublin brought what we all knew they would; hard-work, an honesty of effort and a few excellent players led by the best player in Ireland at the minute, Bernard Brogan. They tackled hard and in numbers and they always pressurised the man in possession. In a way they out-Tyroned Tyrone because they played one of the most defensive formations I have ever seen. For a lot of the game they played with 2 sweepers in front of the full-back line and gobbled up a lot of ball around the half-back area.
But this is where it gets strange. Tyrone were very poor. As poor as I have seen them in a long, long time. So many usually reliable players had bad games. Dooher and Cavanagh had days to forget, McGuigan was not as influential as usual and in general, the team looked lethargic. The support play was non-existant! Usually, in this Tyrone team there are players running on the shoulders of others but it never happened. I was amazed at how wrong they got it tactically. I'm always quick to give Mickey Harte praise but I feel he got it very wrong and he was too slow to make changes. There are many points I need to make here:
1. Many are saying that they should have abandoned the short kickouts because they allowed the Dublin players to funnel back. I don't agree with this. Tyrone have many good footballers at the back and what is the point of hitting into a midfield where there is every chance of losing it when there are men free at the back? HOWEVER, given this ploy I just can't see why Kevin Hughes was playing. Tyrone needed runners from deep to break Dublin down. Hughes is there to win ball in midfield but he was wasted with the short kickouts. Too many times Tyrone tried to kick-pass their way through the Dublin midfield but there were too many bodies in the way. I don't understand why a player like Sean Cavanagh wasn't used instead of Hughes in midfield, a player who can run at defences and break tackles. His brother Colm worked hard and was honest but he is a bit of a headless chicken at times. His passing and timing of the pass is often poor. Tyrone needed ball-players in midfield who were capable of running at Dublin and they didn't have that.
2. Some of the changes made by Harte were puzzling. He brought on O'Neill for Davy Harte at half-time when Tyrone were doing well. As I mentioned earlier, Tyrone needed runners from deep because there was no space in the forward line. I don't know if Harte was injured or not but surely Sean O'Neill was exactly the type of player who was needed. After this switch it was crazy how long Harte waited before making more changes. It was the 62nd minute before more changes were made when Peter Harte came on for Penrose. Penrose, while he worked hard, was poor enough in possession and gave the ball away too much. I felt Dooher should have been subbed maybe even at half-time because he just wasn't up to the pace. He is usually taken off early these days so why was he left on when he was having such a poor game? Enda McGinley was brought on in the 66th minute! Far too late to make an impression.
3. Colly McCullagh. I mentioned in my preview of this game how McCullagh controlled the game 2 years ago against Dublin and I felt this game was crying out for him. With so many players having off games, it was sad to see him being overlooked on the bench. He is a very intelligent and accurate footballer with a great appreciation for space. Its such a pity because I fear we will not see him again. He quit after last year because he felt he wasn't getting a fair chance and had to be coaxed back but surely this will be the end now. Just watch that game 2 years ago to see what he brought to that game, he was magnificent.
Even with all the flaws, Tyrone could still have won that game but kicked so many wides. A lot of these wides were down to a lack of composure and poor decisions, which is very rare to see from Tyrone. They normally don't shoot until they work the ball into good positions but some of the decisions were strange. Credit to Dublin for putting them under pressure but it is not what you expect from Tyrone. Owen Mulligan had a very good game but there weren't many other great performances on the Tyrone team. For Dublin, Bernard Brogan was tremendous, while Bryan Cullen and Rory O'Carroll were others who I thought had very good games.
Cork 1-16 0-10 Roscommon
The scoreline flattered Cork in the end because it wasn't a great performance but you always felt they had too much for Roscommon. In the end, their fitness told and the strength of their bench was too much for a brave Roscommon who played some decent football at the end of the first half but never really threatened the upset. It was by no means convincing from Cork though but they are through and that is the main thing. Maybe now, with both Kerry and Tyrone out, they will feel this is their big chance and will start to produce the football we know they are capable of. Roscommon will be happy with their year's work content with the fact they are the reigning provincial champions.
Kildare 2-17 1-12 Meath
Kildare continue to impress me and I would have to install them as favourites for the title this year. Again, they started very slow but were back in the game by half time and they produced a near perfect second half performance to simply blow Meath away. I never really thought Meath would be good enough and it proved to be the case when Kildare really turned it on. Their movement and running off the ball is incredible and really shows how fit they are. Defenders of the other team find it hard to tackle the man because they are usually trying to block or intercept a pass to another player, but Kildare have so many options on the ball that defenders often find themselves in no man's land! They made the game look easy and Meath just couldn't cope with their intensity and mental strength. Like I said before, they just keep coming wave after wave and there is no let-up.
Jonny Doyle and Eoin O'Flaherty were both brilliant and James Kavanagh set up a lot of scores and showed great skill and composure to score his goal. I thought losing Dermot Early barely two minutes in would be a massive blow but they regrouped and actually dominated the midfield area in his absence. I still feel it would be a big blow were he to miss the semi-final as you could see at the final whistle how much of an inspiration he is in the dressing-room. McGeeney has built a team that threatened to do last year what they are doing this year and its no fluke that they are here and credit to him for that.
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