Mickey Ned: Minor too close to call

ELECTRIC IRELAND ALL-IRELAND MFC FINAL:

Having seen Tyrone at close quarters in the Kingdom’s semi-final loss, O’Sullivan was impressed with how the Ulster side played to their strengths, and believes that Mayo’s good last-four display against Monaghan may have raised their expectations.

“Tyrone keep it simple and don’t complicate things,” he said, “though if they have a weakness it’s their full-back line and they have a tendency to give away frees.

“They’re not necessarily disciplined in terms of fouling, but they are disciplined in that they stick of their system.

“Mayo play a very expansive type of game, so it’ll be a contrast. Looking at Mayo in the semi-final, I thought they were unbeatable. They looked incredible but often it’s not a good omen to play so well in the semi-final.

“I think it will be very close, there won’t be more than two or three points in it.”

Tyrone’s ability to close down space and pressurise the opposition will be a key factor in determining the outcome of Sunday’s decider, the former Limerick and Kerry senior manager believes.

“They play with a great intensity and don’t allow much time on the ball,” O’Sullivan said. “They have a very tight defence, they play an extra player protecting the space in front of the full-back line.

“They carry the ball through the centre and create space, then there are two good corner-forwards inside to exploit that and given the ball they can do a lot of damage. For their first three games, I think they had an average of 105 tackles per game, which is phenomenal. The national average would be around 64 or 65, so Tyrone work very hard.”

Sunday’s final will be the third time ever the two counties have met in the minor decider.