The Kerry-Tyrone rivalry continues to fascinate. It has evolved over the years, certainly for me. Where once upon a time it could have been described as toxic now it is a friendship filled with respect, off the field at least. In the past when I arrived in Omagh as a player or as a manager we would have been on a war footing. For a week.
It was always a hostile atmosphere. A tough place to go, but a great place to win, if you could manage it. When I returned in recent years as an analyst for this paper or for RTÉ I couldn’t believe the change in dynamic. I have been treated with incredible generosity and everyone is so genuine. I have now fostered great friendships up here, something I couldn’t have imagined even a couple of years ago. On Saturday I made the long trip north with Tina and the kids. As well as taking in the match, Peter Canavan had invited us up to be part of a panel-style chat show the night before the game, at his place, Canavan’s in Garvahy.
Paul Galvin, Killian Young and myself lined out for Kerry, with Enda McGinley and John Lynch representing Tyrone. Pat McEnaney was there to referee proceedings. The conversation veered from the current day to yarns from yesteryear in a humorous and enjoyable night. Needless to say the new rules got a good going over, which was the speciality of your’s truly, as often seems to be the case these days. There were plenty of questions and observations from an engaged and knowledgeable audience and a great night was had by all.
Friendships or not, when I heard the match was moved from Omagh to Pomeroy I smiled to myself. It had ambush or an attempted ambush written all over it. Wind and rain was forecast and the match was moved to the highest pitch in Tyrone, and one of the highest villages in Ireland, noted for its blustery conditions. What could possibly go wrong?
As it turned out, not that much. The rain stayed away and while it was extremely windy and made the playing conditions tricky for both sides we were treated to a right old-school league battle. The Pomeroy club put on a great show at their impressive facility at short notice. The significance of the two league points on offer was clear from the off as both sides went at it, with the ball being turned over four times in the first minute. Kerry started well but Tyrone worked the two point arc to great effect in the first half kicking four doubles in total. Kerry didn’t manage any and as the season progresses it is something they will look to develop, I’m sure. They have the personnel and may not want to be showing their full hand just yet.
In many ways, the match was the DC show. At one end David Clifford was slowly but surely blowing a long winter’s cobwebs off himself and at the other end Darragh Canavan was buzzing around with menace and threatened every time he got the ball in hand. Both players got goals and stood out on a heavy pitch on a windy day playing winter football. David was really sharp in the warm-up. He looked hungry, agile and fresh and finished up with three goals, having also crashed a right-footed drive off the crossbar and brought a decent save from Niall Morgan early in the second half. He once again has space to thrive and has the energy to attack as he doesn’t have to constantly chase decoy runners and shadows back the field. Same story for Canavan. When it comes to championship in the summer both will shine. As marquee players that get us out of our seats, we will all be the better for it.
It’s hard to quantify what a win like that can do for a group in general and this Kerry team in particular. It is their second consecutive away day win in Ulster where they finished strongly to win tight and tough matches. No bad habit to be developing. There was a genuine feelgood vibe leaving the ground yesterday. Sort their home form now with the All-Ireland champions coming to town St Patrick’s weekend and they will be quite content as they move towards championship. Because of the novel venue this particular win reminded me a lot of another win under Jack, also on the road, against Monaghan in Scottstown way back in 2006. We won that day in the last minute with a Colm Cooper point, whereas yesterday was more about a sustained power play in the closing 10 minutes.
First up they looked in trouble, as if they were going to regret their goal scoring profligacy for a second week in a row. When Tyrone won a long kickout and attacked into space it was straight from their 2021 playbook. From their perspective the right man had it as Darragh Canavan sped towards goal hunting a second goal. Joe O’Connor fouled him, gave away a penalty and got a black card for his troubles. Mark Bradley’s penalty was saved by Shane Ryan but Bradley netted the follow-up. Two minutes later David Clifford picked up a needless black card reducing his side to 13 men. The home crowd certainly felt the game was up and that the two precious league points were theirs. The following six or so minutes was the winning of the match. The Kerry players deserve massive credit for keeping Tyrone scoreless during that period, in fact they kept the Ulster men out for the rest of the match. When Clifford came back on there was still three in it. He had his third goal post-haste. Suddenly it was all Kerry. Barry O’Sullivan was significant in this phase of the game. He caught two Niall Morgan restarts keeping Kerry on the front foot and denying Tyrone the chance to attack, and any opportunity to wrestle back the momentum that was speeding away from them. The previously noisy home crowd were silenced and the Kerry crowd were loudest when the final hooter sounded.
For Tyrone obviously none of this is ideal. Two points from four games puts them right in the relegation conversation. Malachy O’Rourke is still getting to know his squad. He is sifting through the players available to him and working out who he can he trust and more importantly, those whom he can’t. He has been given much food for thought over the last few weekends. The return of the Errigal Ciarán contingent is huge and I expect them all to start next week. It doesn’t get any easier for them as they face two tough away games to Galway and Donegal next. Whatever the outcomes of these games O’Rourke’s experience will be critical during this tricky period. He will be focused on the big picture and will be keen to keep every one else in the county on the same page.
