I watched the Tyrone and Mayo game live, and I was seething. I watched the replay, and felt sick.
Kerry and Mayo have now catapulted their seasons on the back of victories over Tyrone. Teams have been training since November and they look as if they haven’t trained at all.
Kerry and Mayo have made wee boys out of us, it was hard to watch. They made key mistakes against The Kingdom and proceeded to do the exact same thing against Mayo.
Tyrone getting beaten by nine points at home doesn’t happen and it was embarrassing.
That being said, Tyrone had enough chances to be in it. In the first 25 minutes it was nip-and-tuck. Darren McCurry missed a few handy free-kicks and they could have changed the game.
Tyrone suffering All-Ireland hangover
Mayo laid down a marker from the off. There was no blanket defence from them, they were direct and just went all out attack on Tyrone.
Mayo were put out of the Championship early last year and have had a massive break until the start of the National League.
It’s done them the world of good, whereas it looks like Tyrone are suffering from a massive All-Ireland hangover.
I know they’ve been away on holidays, but Kerry and Mayo were so far ahead of them when it comes to getting off the mark and breaking ball.
We’ve seen in the past how Mayo have struggled after they’ve been beaten in an All-Ireland final and Mickey Harte’s men look to be suffering from it now. Tyrone went through the motions and you can’t do that in Division One or you will be found out.
On the flip side, Tyrone supporters left with 15 minutes to go and there’s no excuse for that. You either follow the team or you don’t. That was bad behaviour to abandon them early.
Team need Morgan’s confidence
If the Tyrone team had half the confidence of Niall Morgan, they’d be in a far better place.
Alright, he sends shivers up every Tyrone supporters spine when he comes out sweeping, but look at the direct running he does. He penetrates the midfield right into the opponent’s half-back line and if they didn’t have him at the weekend, it would have been far worse.
If they are relying on a goalkeeper to come up and score a point though, then Tyrone are in a bad state of affairs.
If our forwards had the confidence he has, they’d be on the pig’s back.
No Rossies worries
I’m not one bit worried about a relegation battle though. They made bits out of Roscommon at Croke Park last year.
It’s early in the season, but this is the perfect game for Tyrone to get back on track.
When you look at Kerry and Mayo, they are up there with the favourites to win an All-Ireland. So, they’ve played two of the best teams they can play in the League, with Dublin left to come.
I still believe Tyrone can do a job on Roscommon this weekend. I just hope Mickey Harte picks the right team.
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