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Ulster says yes

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

This hectic game could have become a grudge slugfest as two great Northern neighbors, Armagh and Tyrone, faced off.
The jokes floating around town certainly couldn’t have put Tyrone and Armagh supporters in a good mood either. Given that both counties are in Northern Ireland, the most commonly heard barb from other Irish people was: “Will the queen be presenting the Sam Maguire Cup?”
But the game turned out all right, and although Armagh supporters had to go home emptyhanded after their team’s strenuous effort failed finally to overcome Tyrone, the general sentiment was a game well played and a decent, sporting outcome.
In New York, supporters turned out in force, but there was a curious lack of game atmosphere.
The Kinsale Tavern on the Upper East Side was packed, but only a sprinkling of supporters wore their team’s colors. Eyes watched the television screens intently, points racked up, the ref hoisted the yellow card far too many times.
Tyrone took a swift lead, 2 points to 1 at 6 minutes. A Tyrone supporter at the bar pleaded to the screen for goals. “Look at them,” said a spectator critically, “Tyrone hunts in packs.”
At 19 minutes, a sudden flurry of action on the screen brought some gasps and shouts from the crowd, but as the commentator put it, Armagh had missed “a gilt-edged chance” for a goal.
Across the newly renovated Croke Park, red-and-white-clad Tyrone scattered across the pitch with orange-clad Armagh in hot pursuit: the players cast long shadows on what was a fine, temperate, bright day back home.
As the second half started, there was standing room only in Maggie Mae’s on Queens Boulevard. But this was by and large a good-natured crowd — subdued, almost, it seemed. Why?
“Seems like maybe a lot of Tyrone and Armagh ones went home for the game,” said a young man who gave his name as Dermot. “They’d want to be there. Look at them,” he continued, nodding at the crowd scenes on the television screens. “They’re going mad right now. There’ll be fights before it’s over.”
Fights, maybe: twice in this dour game, it seemed like players would come to serious blows, but referee Brian White capably managed the feisty sides though he was forced to hoist the yellow card plenty of times.
“Come on Tyrone,” yelled the boys in the back of Maggie Mae’s. Excitement piqued as the clock ticked toward full time. But again, there was some vital spark lacking.
“People watching their wallets?” wondered one supporter afterward. At least the crowds back home were making up for it.
The final 3 minutes of the game saw Armagh make a desperate attempt to close the 3-point gap, but the goal that would have led to a draw never materialized.
In Maggie Mae’s, Tyrone celebrated in style — but there were more smiling faces than wild cheers.
As the crowd filtered slowly out on to the street, they melted away. Unlike the wild celebrations after Armagh’s victory in 2002, here things remained subdued.

And in Dungannon . . .
That wasn’t the case back in Dungannon, where supporters and fans honked horns and screamed and cheered until long after midnight, a scene repeated all across the county.
This was a victory, but also a validation: Ballygawley man Mickey Harte’s methods had been proved right, not least the performance of team captain Peter Canavan.
Canavan had played the entire first half and then gave superb energy and inspiration to Tyrone in the last 10 minutes of the game.
That, Harte told reporters afterward, had been planned in advance, confirming what was already well-known: these teams are now using careful planning and high-tech information to study form and tactics, raising the bar ever higher in what is still technically an amateur sport.
Having guided the county to Minor and Under-21 All-Ireland titles, Harte masterminded Tyrone seniors’ 2003 National League success before going on to beat Down in the Ulster Championship final.
And there can be no mistaking the reverence shown him and Canavan: at Croke Park Ulster flags, all too frequently seen only at loyalist marches, were hoisted, emblazoned with a new, altered slogan: “For Peter and for Ulster.”

Strabane snafu
Tyrone’s joy continues. Reporters continually comment on it: no county has such raucous, rawly emotional fans as Tyrone. One commentator put it thus: “apologies to the other 31 counties . . . but there are no more passionate GAA fans that those who hail from Tyrone.”
As ever, sadly, controversy had to break out somewhere.
In this case, the North Tyrone town of Strabane hit the headlines after Tyrone flags appeared at the town’s fire station. Fire fighters in the largely nationalist town refused to remove them, and the flags were removed and management officials issued a statement, while denying they had taken the flags down.
“It is our duty to provide a neutral service to all sections of the community,” said Eoin Doyle.
“To do that we must not cause offense to anyone and if there is potential for someone to take offence at Tyrone flags erected on our property.”
“I can’t understand what the whole furor is about,” said Aodhan Harkin of the Sigerson GAA Club.
“We are in a totally nationalist town, so I cannot understand how a Tyrone GAA flag offends anybody.”
Strabane council chairman James Emery said that while he did not follow Gaelic football, he hoped Tyrone went on to win the All-Ireland.
However, he said he supported the Fire Brigade policy.
“Certainly I believe that the flying of the flags on public buildings is wrong because it can be sensitive to other sections of the community,” he said.
Perhaps nursing sore heads, the Tyrone men crossed the border Monday evening into familiar territory: Aughnacloy, the border town with the world’s widest main street. It’s a few short miles from Peter Canavan’s and Mickey Harte’s hometown, Ballgawley, which was their next stop.
Harte, who’s simple eloquence has long been noted, had the last word.
“It is difficult to find the words to describe this moment,” he said. “This is a day we have longed for and dreamt about. We have been working towards this all year. I am proud this team has brought back the one thing everybody hankered for.
“It did not come off for them but they actually laid the groundwork for us to come along and go a little bit better.”
And though they will remain the greatest of rivals, it’s unlikely Tyrone and Armagh will fall out over this game.
“Fair play to Armagh, we knew they would not let go of their easily, they are a very good side,” Harte said.

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