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Tyrone too tough

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Last Sunday’s All-Ireland semifinal at Croke Park had been billed as an occasion for the purists who would come to watch players with a traditional focus as much on the end as the means. Substance, but style as well. When all was said and done, the billing was a sham because this was an abomination of a game.
More pulling and dragging than rugby, more play acting than at the Abbey Theatre and more fouls than you’d see at an average poultry farm. It seemed as if every creative instinct had been drained from both teams as the contest quickly descended into a war of attrition.
If the statistics are ghastly enough — 72 frees, 10 yellow cards and nearly 15 minutes of added time following interminable stoppages — the reality was even worse. In perfect conditions, in front of 60,000 spectators, the players were hell bent on preventing one another from scoring as a cynical defensive blanket was wrapped around the match.
So, presumably Tyrone will be examining their collective consciences before promising a more palatable offering for the first-ever all-Ulster final on Sept. 28? Not a bit of it. Manager Mickey Harte and his team won’t give a damn if they’re implicated in any inquiry as to whether neutrals should get their money back following last weekend’s purgatory. They’re men on a mission to seek out Tyrone’s first-ever All-Ireland title, and the closer they come to the county’s Holy Grail the less time there is for any sentiment.
There can be no doubt that Tyrone played a full part in all that was wrong about the semifinal. However, they brought attributes to the table that are priceless in this era of modern football. As they remorselessly hunted down the Kerry player in possession, sometimes swarming in bunches to cut off an intended pass, their fitness levels for amateur sportsmen were nothing short of awesome. On an energy-sapping afternoon, the type of game they employed often ends in air rapidly departing the balloon in the last quarter, but this time there was absolutely no letup to their intensity.
Tyrone also managed to rattle Kerry in every area of the pitch with their speed and aggressive approach. It was as if they’d studied the Armagh template of last year and infused it with even more dynamism. Equally, they proved that there’s life after Peter Canavan. When the team’s star player limped out of the action with ankle ligament damage in the 14th minute, the omens were hardly promising. However, with sub Stephen O’Neill stepping up to the plate, there was plenty of evidence that the orchestra knew the way to the coda without their conductor.
With Eoin Mulligan and Enda McGinley surging menacingly forward in attack, Tyrone were in the ascendancy in so many areas of the pitch as Brian McGuigan, Brian Dooher, Sean Cavanagh, Ryan McMenamin and Cormac McAnallen all left their marks on the game. Yet overall, it was the winner’s sheer collective will that engineered this victory. Kerry weren’t beaten as much as suffocated.
“One thing that can be consistent is your work rate,” Harte said. “Work hard, stay consistent and you’ll get results. At halftime we said we had to work harder, and we’d deal with whatever they’d throw at us. Our leads go narrower and that’s always cause for concern. It asked questions of our players, only asked questions. We haven’t answered them properly, we have no cup.”
That Tyrone lead had moved out to six points by the 25th minute despite the loss of Canavan. Kerry were mistake ridden and nervous, and when they had one or two scoring chances they were betrayed by poor finishing. Referee Gerry Kinneavy was also struggling to impose himself as the fouling by both teams only intensified, and while he would have been more than justified in showing a couple of red cards, until the GAA decides to introduce a sin bin, referees will continue to find themselves in no-win situations.
Kerry finally opened their account, but were trailing and in serious trouble at 0-9 to 0-2 by the interval. Not even Seamus Moynihan could offer any inspiration as the Kingdom once again failed to deliver on a major occasion. The frustration of last year’s second-half failure in the final against Armagh, and the ignominy of a crushing loss to Meath in 2001, can now be added to this latest debacle. While their forwards have been lauded in recent times, it has to be pointed out that they managed a mere 0-5 against Meath, just 3 points after the break against Armagh and a depressing 0-6 last Sunday.
“Kerry will always be there,” manager Paidi O Se said quietly. “We came back after last year and we’ll be back again. As for myself and my drive for another All-Ireland title, well, I’ve been involved in football since 1973 and I think I owed it to myself and to my family not to be making any decisions about my future today or the day after.”
O Se was right to keep his powder dry, but it’s clear now that his time as manager is over. Kerry have flopped once too often under his stewardship and if he refuses to step down, he’ll surely be pushed.
While Tyrone’s commanding lead was cut to 4 points following two frees by sub Declan Quill, the goal that Kerry so badly needed never looked like coming. In fact, by that stage the winners had packed the defense to stifle any likely threat — Moynihan likened midfield to Times Square — and typically O’Neill, Dooher and then O’Neill again finished the job to send Tyrone into the final for the first time since 1995.
“If it wasn’t the spectacle, the high-scoring game that people expected, then I’m sorry,” Harte said. “But we didn’t want a pretty match, we just wanted a pretty result.”
They got it and now they wait on the winners of Sunday’s semifinal between reigning champions Armagh and Donegal, and on Canavan’s fitness report.

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