Tyrone power

Akin to Armagh’s thunderous breakthrough in 2002, there was an explosion of emotion at the final whistle as red-and-white bedecked supporters swarmed onto the pitch despite persistent entreaties from Croker’s public address announcer. The GAA had wanted to preserve their lush playing surface, but this was a day when agronomy played second fiddle to history.
And it was also a day of vindication for Peter Canavan. One of the best forwards of his generation, Canavan had been searching for his Holy Grail for the best part of 15 years. If the contest passed him by for the most part due to an ankle injury suffered in the semifinal victory over Kerry, he still managed 5 points from frees. More important, the team’s talisman started the game, was replaced at halftime and then returned for the closing minutes to guide his players to a long overdue success.
Manager Mickey Harte’s shrewd deployment of his pivotal man showed keen tactical appreciation on an afternoon when there were few cool heads on the pitch. If Canavan was prevented from delivering a vintage performance, he compensated in style with a stirring captain’s victory speech that invoked the efforts of the trail-blazing Tyrone teams of 1984 and ’95, which had lost in All-Ireland finals.
If Peter the Great had dominated the buildup, Tyrone proved, just as they had done against Kerry, that they are far from a one-man operation. While Eoin Mulligan struggled to make an impression in attack due to Armagh’s defensive blanket in general, and to Francie Bellew’s limpet-like attentions in particular, it was no surprise, given the intense rivalry and the importance of the occasion, that forwards found it hard to dominate.
Around midfield, Kevin Hughes was immense for the new champions, fetching, carrying and breaking up Armagh attacks with extraordinary energy. Brian Dooher wasn’t far behind in the perpetual-motion stakes, Conor Gormley made a sensational block to deprive Steven McDonnell of what seemed a certain goal in the closing stages, and Philip Jordan was highly impressive in the half-back line. If there was no one Tyrone player who rose head and shoulders above the rest, it was because, yet again, Harte’s emphasis on the collective will came up trumps.
As the dust settles on a grim contest in which substance carried infinitely more weight than style, not even the most partisan of Armagh supporters could deny that Tyrone were the better team: faster, more positive — if that’s possible in what was largely a negative tussle — and more creative. Consider that Tyrone engineered three clear-cut goal chances through Sean Cavanagh, Ger Cavlan and Mulligan and failed to convert each time because of some appalling shooting. Clearly, the margin of victory could have been much greater.
With just a tad more composure, the winners might have been out of sight before the frenetic finale that saw Gormley anticipate wondrously to deprive McDonnell when Armagh’s most dangerous forward had the goals in his crosshairs. As it was, a battle-weary Armagh were never able to get closer than 2 points despite of their opponents’ wasted opportunities, and while the 2002 champions had a genuine goal chance through Oisin McConville in the first half, the razor-sharp McDonnell was the only player to consistently trouble a massed Tyrone defense.
Diarmaid Marsden’s harsh sending off following a clash Jordan with 15 minutes to go was a setback but hardly pivotal to the outcome; he had made little impression on the proceedings. However, Armagh will justifiably claim that Jordan provoked the assault and should have been dismissed by referee Brian White as well. Still, Kieran McGeeney and his team know that they didn’t perform. Armagh appeared jaded following two seasons of high-intensity football and if there was always the feeling that they could snatch a victory in their own inimitable way, they didn’t deserve to become the first county to annex back-to-back titles since Cork in 1990.
“We didn’t perform, not to the best of our ability,” manager Joe Kernan said. “We had those couple of goal chances, and we fluffed passes at vital times. But you could even that up, anyway, because Tyrone had three open-goal chances as well. You can make all the excuses you want, but the best team still won out there on the day.”
If the occasion, and the intense nature of the struggle made for compelling viewing, this final was a dog of a game. A bright start had raised hopes that the first-ever senior decider between two counties from the same province might buck Ulster’s trend of defense-orientated football, but the match soon descended into a never-ending round of pulling, dragging and off-the-ball fouls, with referee White showing 10 yellow cards and eventually that one red to the unfortunate Marsden.
Although patently unfit, Canavan managed to kick five frees during the first half as Tyrone forged into an 0-8 to 0-4 advantage at the interval. Steven O’Neill had been brought on for McGuigan, who then took Canavan’s place on the resumption, and O’Neill was to play a vital role for the winners. The former All-Star went on to kick 2 points from play, including a celebratory score in injury time, and to generally trouble the Armagh rearguard with his movement and pace.
“I find it hard to take in, we’ve done it, just a great feeling,” Canavan said later. “To say the Tyrone supporters are hungry is just an understatement. They’ve been starved.” As for Mulligan, who went head-to-head with the physically more powerful Bellew, the triumph was a rite of passage. “Everyone says we’re a young team, but we’re men now,” he said.
So, it was a never-to-be-forgotten day for Tyrone, who have added the Sam Maguire to their national league title, but hardly a final that will go down in the annals. The combined scores of both teams was the lowest since 1990, when Cork beat Meath (0-11 to 0-9) and only 9 points were scored from play.
Not a thing of beauty, but around Omagh, Dungannon and Ballygawley they won’t give a damn for now and forever.
Tyrone: J. Devine; C. Gourley, C. McAnallen, R. McMenamin; C. Gormley, G. Devlin, P. Jordan; K. Hughes, S. Cavanagh; B. Dooher, B. McGuigan (0-1), G. Cavlan (0-1); E. McGinley (0-1), P. Canavan (0-5, all frees), E. Mulligan (0-2, both frees). Subs: S. O’Neill (0-2) for McGuigan, 32 mins.; McGuigan for Canavan, halftime; Canavan for Cavlan, 64 mins.; C. Holmes for Gourley, 71 mins.; C. Lawn for Gormley, 71 mins.
Armagh: P. Hearty; A. Mallon, E. McNulty, F. Bellew; A. O’Rourke, K. McGeeney, A. McCann; P. McGrane, P. Loughran; R. Clarke, J. McEntee (0-1), O. McConville (0-3, all frees); T. McEntee, D. Marsden (0-1), S. McDonnell (0-2). Subs: P. McKeever (0-2, both frees) for Marsden, 25 mins.; K. Hughes for Mallon, 41 mins.; Marsden for Clarke, 49 mins.; B. O’Hagan for J. McEntee, 61 mins.