Marc Ó Sé: I haven’t given up on this Tyrone team
Published:
Marc Ó Sé casts his eye over four matches in the All-Ireland Senior Championship this weekend.
Cork v Louth (Sat, 14.00)
This is such a hard game to call but you have to give Cork a great chance here in Pairc Uí Caoimh.
Cork put in a very spirited performance in their Munster semi-final loss to the Kingdom where they frustrated the life out of them for 55 minutes. Louth, on the other hand, were very disappointing in their loss to Kildare.
Now we see where Kildare are in the pecking order after their Leinster Final annihilation to Dublin. That said the one thing Mickey Harte is good at is rising his troops for the back door with 31 wins, a draw and four defeats.
He has also won All-Irelands going the back-door route with Tyrone. He isn’t going to win an All-Ireland with Louth and I feel this year is very much a work in progress. It’s hard to know also did Cork just show up for 50 minutes because it was the old enemy Kerry.
I think this game will go down to the wire. Cork are dangerous when they get quick ball into Steven Sherlock and Cathail O’Mahony but equally for Louth Sam Mulroy has been in sensational form this season.
I’m going to go with Cork for this one as I see them rebuilding with a youthful team full of energy. My bet here is Cork to cover the three-point handicap at even money.
Mayo v Monaghan (Sat, 16.00)
Both of these teams crashed out of their provincial championships this year with Galway just pipping Mayo and Derry stunning Monaghan. Whoever wins this match on Saturday, it will no doubt give them a huge boost. The other team will be eliminated from the Championship before it even gets going properly.
Both teams are known to pull off big upsets. Monaghan relegated Dublin to Division 2 this year on the final day of the league. Bar Dublin, Mayo have reached more All-Irelands than anyone else in the last decade.
Both sides have problems as far as I can see it. Mayo are reportedly riddled with injuries and Monaghan were brought back down to earth against an energetic defensive Derry side where once again the over-reliance on Conor McManus was exposed. Jack McCarron, Gary Mohan, and Conor McCarthy were all excellent during the league but fell below their own high standards against Derry.
That said, even though this game is in Castlebar, I still expect a right kick in these Monaghan boys. Nobody knows Mayo more than Donie Buckley himself who spent years coaching them and is now coaching Monaghan.
I slightly fancy Monaghan here at 5/2 if the likes of McCarron, Mohan and McCarthy can step up.
Clare v Meath (Sat, 17.00)
Clare lost their opening Munster Championship tie to Limerick on penalties. Meath, on the other hand, beat Wicklow convincingly by 10 points but went on to get a hammering from the Dubs by 13 points.
There is very little separating the sides really with Meath finishing fourth in Division 2 this year and Clare finishing fifth and when these two sides played each other in March, Meath just pipped Clare by a point with the score 10 points to 9.
However, with the likes of Jordan Morris, Jack O’Connor and Bryan Menton playing really good football and add into that that they have beaten Clare in Ennis already this year, I think Meath will really fancy their chances here. Meath to win by a score margin of 4-6 points at 4/1.
Armagh v Tyrone (Sun, 13.30)
This is another mouth-watering tie to look forward to. Both teams will be very disappointed with their Ulster Championship campaigns, with both expecting to win the Ulster Championship.
When these sides last met in the league, Armagh had a comfortable victory winning 2-14 to 14 points and when you have players like Rian O’Neill in your team, you have a real focal point up front.
I haven’t given up on this Tyrone team though despite the mass exodus of players who have left their panel this year. Cast your minds back to the League semi-final last year in Killarney, where Kerry gave Tyrone an absolute whipping. Look how Tyrone recovered from that, going on to beat Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final and then winning the All-Ireland.
All you have to do is look at the quality of their side. This Tyrone team will bounce back in my opinion. I think they will cover the -2 handicap at 11/10.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
