This entire trend is nothing but another sorry excuse for the bregrudgers to have a cut off the Kingdom.Comparing a bit of pulling and dragging in a league match on the 1 March in a torrent of hailstones to the cynicism which have pervaded the football of certain counties over the past decade. Grow up!

Well said, that pretty much sums it up.
I mean FFS, I have no reason to be defending Kerry, and if you listen to some on here I am physically incapable of saying something positive about Dublin. Surely it isn't in my interests to be defending them? People refer to the 6 counties etc, but those things have no place in football and people shouldn't allow them to cloud their judgement of what is a game. An example I will give is Armagh of late. Put simply, they are looking to rough up opponents - north/south they don't care, they are trying to win games. But this closing of ranks that goes on is actually excusing what is, plain and simple, nasty tactics. Nothing to do with ulster, or 6 counites or any of that. It is a tactic in a game of football. That is where this 'look out for our own' thing falls down. If people put their head above the parapet a bit more it would serve them far better.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 03/03/2015 12:31:43    1698665

When it comes to cynicism or dirty play show me a team that is innocent. Some Ulster people are irked by the 'southern' media, why? It is the opinion of the individual who writes the article, who cares what one person thinks? These people have their take on a match printed in rags like our national newspapers, why on Earth does anyone care what they think?

We all have our opinions, we're all big enough to make up our own minds, anyone who takes what goes to print as gospel is foolish. As for the Dublin/Kerry game...
I saw far dirtier matches between the two, Kerry certainly looked like they wanted it more and were anxious to get a win over us. If we were to meet in the championship later in the year who would win? I think Dublin would! But for now, it's still 0-0!

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8678 - 03/03/2015 12:42:02    1698671

Offside_Rule I never claimed that mayo were innocent of anything. It isn't anything to do with them they just happened to be the other team on the day. The example is of a northern team giving the dirtiest performance of the weekend, and probably the year to date, and nothing much being made of it. Im just asking how can this be the case with this supposed huge bias in the media and on hoganstand that we are hearing about ad nauseum on this thread? The two don't add up. So please, can yourself or indeed anyone pushing this argument, take that point on and explain it?

Let me just give you an example of a few of the headlines on the report of the Mayo/Monaghan match:

RTE: Mayo punish ill-disciplined Monaghan
Irish Independent: Mayo pile on agony as 13 man Monaghan lose the plot
Irish Times: Mayo exploit Monaghan indiscipline to register 13 point win

Now compare the same papers headlines on the Kerry/Dublin match:
RTE: Bryan Sheehan fires Kerry to win over Dublin
Irish Independent: Games heavy weights prove why they are a class apart
Irish Times: Kerry warm up late in Killarney to leave Dublin out in the cold

And if you read the language within the reports then I don't know how you can make the assertion that nothing much is being made of the Monaghan approach.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 03/03/2015 12:53:01    1698677

Themaster

So the dirtiest team of the weekend were the northern team that played against your own county? What are the chances? Fair play to you for bringing some perspective to the thread.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12224 - 03/03/2015 13:04:02    1698684

Lads,

Lifford and Ulsterman and Sam originally are absolutely correct, it is the hypocrisy that is the issue here and personally speaking i do not like hypocrites

I am well aware all counties will be cynical and over aggressive when required including Ulster counties.

I personally have no problems with any team club or county who do this, i played full back most of my life so i know all too well the tricks you can and cannot pull. It must be said that i never deliberately tried to injure anyone and hopefully never did.

So that being said people need to call a spade a spade and move on, most do to be fair but there are the usual suspects that love nothing better than to point the finger at the northern counties!

And lads please dont go to the opposite end of the spectrum and start an Antrim love in, i think thats worse than being called rubbish :)

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 03/03/2015 13:12:12    1698695

Lifford what hypocrisy?? Has any Kerry person on here ever stated that Kerry are not able to handle themselves? You don't win 37 All Irelands by just playing nice football. Sometimes you have to front up to the physical stuff when that the game the opposition play.

There was a scuffle at the end of Mayo/Kerry last year. Were any punches thrown? Was it anything worse than what you see in rugby when a scrum collapses?? The biggest incident from that game was a bloody Mayo fan making a fool of himself!

What cynicism was there in the All Ireland final? Ok so Barry John kicked the ball away from Durcan, if you familiarise yourself with the rules of our game you would know that Durcan had placed the ball outside the allowed boundary line. He was at it all game, all Barry John did was the make him take it inside the required boundary line.

Have Kerry players ever eye-gouged an opponent or bitten them, for example??

What you are doing is taking the over the top reaction on here to a few minor incidents on Sunday and using it to throw mud at my county.

I'd say you were the kind of fella going on about how Kerry couldn't handle themselves when Tyrone beat us a few years ago. Now that we have shown that we can beat the best in Ulster when it counts, you switch the argument to the fact we are cyncial!

Get over it, and stop giving Donegal GAA people a bad name!

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 03/03/2015 14:04:13    1698725

Hermit that bit you wrote on Barry John Keane is ridiculous, everyone knows exactly what he was up to with the clock ticking, catch a grip!

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2513 - 03/03/2015 15:21:36    1698765

You see Hermit, I'm not one bit worried about giving Donegal a bad name....the media have been well able to do that this past few years...that's the whole point here you see....you can't take it when we're giving Kerry a bad name - when the shoes on the other foot ye can't stomach it...that's called hypocrisy!

Lifford Gael (Donegal) - Posts: 1925 - 03/03/2015 15:25:39    1698767

It's NOT about Dublin or Kerry's tactics on Sunday or the players or Jim Gavin and Eamon Fitzmaurice. I enjoyed the game, it was physical, it was at times a bit brutal with a few dirty strokes and there were some great scores. All in all it was like a typical Ulster Championship game at the top level and I am not going to criticise the two sides for playing the way they did. What I cannot abide is the nauseating, stomach churning, hypocrisy from the same fawning GAA and Southern media elements who have spent the past decade or so lambasting Ulster sides for doing the same. It was the same last year; Kerry brawled against Mayo in two games with dirty hits and cynical pulling and dragging and they used the dark arts against Donegal in the final. By ignoring Kerry's tactics these same GAA and Southern media sources proved that their coverage of Ulster sides was NOT about football style or tactics; it was ALL about geography, politics and partitionist anti-Northern bigotry. It is an ugly truth that some people want to ignore and I have been consistent in saying that for 10 years. I am not saying that we in Ulster are saintly without our own prejudices but I think it is time for some truth about this entire debate. The fact that Eugene McGee headed up a committee about 'negativity' in football then ignores Kerry and Dublin for doing it AND Colm Keyes fawns all them further vindicates my point.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9788 - 03/03/2015 15:48:41    1698780

SaffronDon watch the kick outs and tell me Durcan isn't trying to steal a few yards in the last few minutes of the final.

Lifford, what are you honestly talking about??

You have not responded to any point I made. Who ever said Donegal were cynical? I never did, maybe some people in the media did but what has that got to do with Kerry?

Yes some people, myself included, questioned Donegal's approach to Gaelic football in terms of their defensive tactics. Are we not entitled to? Are you just one of these people that is peed off because everyone didn't fall to their knees rejoicing when Donegal won in 2012. Well get used to it, because any time we win we are told it was a soft All Ireland!!!

I honestly think some GAA people in Ulster have an overwhelming siege mentality issue. You seem to think everyone is out to destroy your reputations and for some reason the focus for your anger/frustration is always at Kerry.

For the past ten years many commentators from Ulster heckled us when an Ulster team beat us and told us how we couldn't cope with modern football etc etc. Then when we are forced to adapt to front up to the physical side of the game and sometimes play more defensively to break down sides, we are these cynical brutes that beat up Dublin black and blue on Sunday allegedly.

And what has Kerry got to do with your obsession with how Ulster teams are portrayed in the media?

Lads, a hell of a lot of counties in Ulster don't play attractive football. Sport is meant to be a sceptical and if certain teams are dour and defensive well then some commentators will give out about that won't they? What's the big deal. People gave out about us last September because we played a certain way in order to beat Donegal. It doesn't bother us because we know how well we can play when allowed, as happened in Mayo games!

Get over this inferiority complex and just relax!

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 03/03/2015 15:55:42    1698783

Breffni39
Themaster
So the dirtiest team of the weekend were the northern team that played against your own county? What are the chances? Fair play to you for bringing some perspective to the thread.

They had two men sent off, one for a full on punch, another for throwing an opponent into the advertising boardings for no reason at all. They should have had another sent off for striking 3 players in the face in one incident, while another shouted abuse at the ref and went unpunished. That is even before you go into their generally heavy-handed approach in play once the first goal went in. It isnt as if it was a heated encounter or a clash between rivals or something. Can you come up with another team who put on an even worse performance? Just the name of the county and relevant game it occurred in will suffice please. This thread has had enough unfounded conspiracy theories.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 03/03/2015 16:02:51    1698790

The Master,

I missed the game at the weekend though youse certainly weren't too shy when it came to dishing it out against Tyrone a couple of weeks ago. However then as usual with you, your obvious dislike of all things from the north shines through so I listen to very little of your blinkered nonsense!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 03/03/2015 16:17:41    1698802

Offside_Rule, funny you chose to exclude these headlines:

Irish Examiner: Aidan O'Shea revels in new role as Mayo get back on track against Monaghan
The Herald: Mayo take advantage of 13-man Monaghan

The Mirror: Kerry 0-15 Dublin 1-10: The Kingdom hold on to win in bad-tempered clash in Killarney
The Irish Times: Kerry win the battle and leave Dublin empty-handed


The herald seem to be having more a cut at mayo than monaghan (no surprise at all actually), while the examiner don't reference monaghan's discipline at all. The other two speak for themselves.
Also, the amount of press fionn fitzgerald has gotten for going down easily is noteworthy, yet I seen a derry man go down like a sack of spuds in the tyrone game when a tyrone hand grazed against his face. He then lay on his hands and knees for about 90 seconds before realising nothing was happening and getting up again and getting straight back into the play. Not a word about it.

So where is this bias exactly? Furthermore, where is the bias on here? There are no posts about monaghan at the weekend, it is full of ones about Kerry. There is a bias alright, but it is one borne out of envy, plain and simple.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 03/03/2015 16:19:02    1698804

I wouldn't make a call like that themaster, I haven't had the luxury of seeing all the games like you have.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12224 - 03/03/2015 16:21:11    1698805

Breffni39
I wouldn't make a call like that themaster, I haven't had the luxury of seeing all the games like you have.

Well of the games you have seen then. Obviously you disagree with the point because you believe it to be inaccurate. Im just asking for your counter-argument as to why you believe it to be so. You must have seen a worse game, otherwise why would you be disagreeing? What is that game?

Furthermore, do you think it was better or worse than the Kerry-Dublin game? Which was the point of bringing it up.

It is easy to stand on the sideline and run a commentary of other people's posts. Why not add something yourself and back up what you are saying?

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 03/03/2015 17:08:57    1698827

bumpernut
I missed the game at the weekend though youse certainly weren't too shy when it came to dishing it out against Tyrone a couple of weeks ago. However then as usual with you, your obvious dislike of all things from the north shines through so I listen to very little of your blinkered nonsense!

That claim is very vague. What incidents exactly are you referring to? I don't recall any at all to be honest with you, and I see that as just a hollow claim of someone in full reverse. Explain these incidents please.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 03/03/2015 17:12:57    1698830

I still cant get over all that Kerry hype, just because they won 37 all Irelands most of them easy ones when opposition failed to turn up and easy roUtes to finals only having to beat Cork (who have won just a paltry 7 all Irelands)they hog the headlines They would not have to beat great teams like Tyrone Armagh Monaghan or Donegal along the way when they meet that kind of steel the fold . Just lookat how we in Tyrone took them apart in the first 10 minutes of the 2003 semi final they shivered in their boots everytime the met us since. Give us a break Kerry the Kingdom is a myth.

37sowhat (Sligo) - Posts: 752 - 03/03/2015 17:39:35    1698845

Geezuss Master if you can't pick out the incidents from the Mayo Tyrone game where Mayo mastered the dark arts then you're more deluded than I thought.

Lifford Gael (Donegal) - Posts: 1925 - 03/03/2015 17:40:28    1698848

It would be much more interesting if people could stick to issues rather than egos and personalities.....

BIG SACKS (Tyrone) - Posts: 1681 - 03/03/2015 17:46:01    1698851

Dont know what the fuss is all about.Bit disappointed with how we fell away during start of the second half.In my own opinion I dont rate Bastick as a footballer.He is poor on the ball in my opinion and is always in danger of getting sent off.If he is still at midfield later on in the year were in trouble.
Kerry seemed to take their scores a lot easier.We were at sixes and sevens until we made a late comeback.Plenty of food for thought but no need to panic.A lot of lads are getting good,hard,high standard game time.Come championship time we will have good options throughout the pitch.These games will stand to players.No harm in suffering a few losses to keep the concentration and hunger levels up.
Kerry remain the most natural footballers with some quality to come back.I think the All Ireland will be won by Kerry or Dublin.Cork,Donegal and Mayo will have a say in that.Im enjoying the league so far.Some close fought games with teams of an even standard throughout all the divisions.Things are shaping up nicely.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 03/03/2015 17:47:48    1698853