If Kerry are really serious about winning an all Ireland they should move heaven and earth to get Limerick hurlings man with the whiteboard. Serious football pedigree and would get the very best from that bunch of players. Mind you it’s a fleet of psychologists they will need after today’s result and cork last year.
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Match highlights.
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Congratulations to Tyrone and @Fulvio_From_Aughnacloy .
Congratulations also to Kerry who only even accepted this match because they wanted a warm-up before Mayo in the AIF. Yerra.
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Is this the first time since Mayo have been All Ireland favourites before the final?
They would have been underdogs in all their finals v Meath, Kerry, Dublin and Donegal and probably Cork before that in the 80s?
Kerry were 1 to 2 to win the all Ireland yesterday. Cant see mayo beating Tyrone
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I think Mayo went in as narrow favourites against Kerry in 1997. They’ve been underdogs in every other final they’ve been in since 1951.
It’s all on the day though.
Mayo won’t fear us but I think we have that extra forward quality and strength in depth. It’s a real 50/50 game as far as I see it. Mayo have a unreal ability to just overwhelm teams and run all over them.
McShane starts the final I think, who do Mayo put on him? O’Hora or Keegan?
We have the weapons to spring off the bench.
Canavan looks a tidy footballer but he looked very nervous and lightweight today
I thought he was excellent with his movement and ball carrying ability. He is lightweight but he has serious ability to wriggle free. Had a clear free not given to him after a great run near the end of the first period of extra time that would have pushed the lead to 4, Kerry went down the other end and got a score.
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Can someone copy and paste this?
Here you go and congratulations well deserved
TYRONE
NIALL MORGAN
In the negative column, his long kick-outs were devoured by Kerry and he kicked a couple of late frees wide. But he also intercepted a near certain goal for David Clifford and kicked surely the longest point ever seen in Croke Park from almost halfway. 7
MICHAEL McKIERNAN
Started on Paul Geaney and kept him scoreless for the time spent in each other’s company. Carried the ball fearlessly too and like the other members of Tyrone’s full-back line, scored a point from play before half-time. 7
RONAN McNAMEE
Not the first man to find the going tough on David Clifford, but whatever about the mercurial Kerry man’s shooting, McNamee allowed him to win ball out in front far too often in the first half. 6
PÁDRAIG HAMPSEY
Did as well as any marker has on Seán O’Shea in a couple of years. Led by example at the back, absorbing every hit aimed at him. As fearless in the tackle as he was composed in possession. 8
FRANK BURNS
A late inclusion in the Tyrone team in place of Tiarnan McCann. Didn’t bring the same kind of energy to the role but guarded his wing and picked up whichever Kerry forward came into his zone. 6
KIERAN McGEARY
Pulled off one eye-catching dispossession of Gavin White at a time when the flying Kerry wing-back was prodding and probing for space to explode towards. Tidy in possession. An All Star in waiting. 8
PETER HARTE
All action. Scored a point, made a brilliant block on Killian Spillane and carried the ball nearly 60 metres for the first Tyrone goal, the score that changed the atmosphere in Croke Park and teed up Tyrone’s most unlikely of victories. 7
BRIAN KENNEDY
Kept presenting himself as a target for Morgan’s forced long kick-outs but Tyrone couldn’t seem to isolate him. Forced one brilliant turnover on David Clifford in a game where every single such moment was vital. 6
CONN KILPATRICK
Paired off mostly with Jack Barry. Did best work between the two ‘65s but given the pace of the game – and both team’s devotion to running the ball – it wasn’t a day made for big men to dominate. 6
CONOR MEYLER
Stuck to Paudie Clifford for everything he was worth. It wasn’t a match-up many had predicted in advance but it was one of the most important battles of the game – one that Meyler won comprehensively. 8
MICHAEL O’NEILL
Ostensibly Tyrone’s sweeper. He made sure any breach of the defensive line was met with back-up. He stopped Seán O’Shea dead in his tracks on one such occasion early in the second half. 6
NIALL SLUDDEN
Put in a ferocious shift, although his most influential moment was the well-timed pass he squared to Conor McKenna for Tyrone’s opening goal of the game. Put his team under pressure with a needless black card in the 40th minute. 7
DARREN McCURRY
Was overwhelmed by Tom O’Sullivan in the first half but recovered to kick two frees and two points from play. His black card for a foul on Gavin Crowley was fully deserved and utterly unnecessary. 6
MATTIE DONNELLY
Scored a single point from a mark but his GPS pack must have been in danger of overheating, such were the miles he covered in Croke Park. Went to midfield for a spell and gave Tyrone much-needed energy there too. 7
CONOR McKENNA
You could argue he was lucky to still be on the pitch by the time that second goal fell from the sky. Was comprehensively beaten to a couple of balls before that but got the two most important scores of the day. 7
SUBS
Tiernan McCann ran the ball with purpose and Darragh Canavan was a threat with each possession. But Cathal McShane’s 1-3 (0-1f) after his 43rd minute introduction was effectively the winning of the game for Tyrone. 8
KERRY
SHANE RYAN
Neither goal could be pinned on him. Tyrone never really went after his kick-outs either, shutting down only the shortest options but Ryan found mid-range targets men at his ease. Confident enough to carry the ball out towards his ’45 also. 7
BRIAN Ó BEAGLAOICH
Took up arms against both Conor McKenna and Mattie Donnelly at different stages and mostly, did the basics of his role well. Blown for overcarrying once in the first half in a rare forward foray. Replaced before extra-time. 7
JASON FOLEY
Didn’t stray far from his primary posting. Made one brilliant dispossession on Cathal McShane in the second-half of normal time when Kerry’s ’45 was being swarmed with Tyrone runners. Solid. 7
TOM O’SULLIVAN
The best of Kerry’s defenders. Won three balls cleanly in the first half off Darren McCurry, thundering into the duels, attacking every delivery from behind. Scored a point also to embellish an excellent individual contribution. 8
MIKE BREEN
Not alone among the Kerry team in over-extending himself by running into trouble – a repeated issue for Peter Keane’s side - but he did pay the price when he was replaced after 49 minutes for Gavin Crowley. 6
PAUL MURPHY
Attacked the second half with a greater sense of purpose, demanding possession and driving at Kerry. Part of a Kerry defence who conceded three goals on a day when Tyrone were always likely to need at least two. 6
GAVIN WHITE
Threatened to cut loose on a couple of occasions in the first half but Tyrone were clearly wary of his threat and made sure there enough bodies between White and the scoring zone. Won plenty of breaks but never fully got going. 6
DAVID MORAN
Imposed himself around the middle, particularly on the Tyrone kick-outs – most of which were sent long. Faded as the game went on though and was eventually replaced by Tommy Walsh. A last stand for one of Kerry’s best recent servants? 6
JACK BARRY
Needlessly kept a shot from going over the end line in the first half of extra-time. The ball fell kindly for Conor McKenna, who scored the goal that effectively buried Kerry. He was taken off soon after. 5
DARA MOYNIHAN
Replaced Diarmuid O’Connor in the Kerry line-up before throw-in. Skewed kick pass just before half-time ensured he was the first Kerry man off after a peripheral 35 minutes. Didn’t get to the speed of the game at all. 5
SEÁN O’SHEA
Got minimal change from Paudie Hampsey. Kicked all of his frees and one first half point from play but one of a number of Kerry players who took too much out of the ball in pursuit of a goal at stages of the game when a point would have sufficed. 7
STEPHEN O’BRIEN
Strayed into the square by inches, just as Paul Geaney squared the ball in the first half. It would have been the easiest goal he ever scored. Tyrone got their first goal soon after. Won four scoreable frees but coughed up possession too often. 6
DAVID CLIFFORD
In truth, Kerry would have been in trouble by half-time were it not for his finishing. Kicked 0-8, four from play but succumbed to an injury just before the end of 70 minutes and didn’t reappear for extra-time. 8
PAUL GEANEY
Probably took the right option in drawing Niall Morgan and flicking that ball across to O’Brien in the first half, but the timing of the move was just slightly off. Didn’t score until extra-time. Didn’t last the 70 either but came back on for David Clifford. 6
PAUDIE CLIFFORD
Totally overshadowed by Conor Meyler, who hounded and hunted him everywhere he roamed. Scored two points from play but a disappointing end to a season in which he established himself as a key element in Kerry’s attack. 6
SUBS
Killian Spillane didn’t have the same effect as in previous games, with Diarmuid O’Connor the only Kerry sub to register a score. Tommy Walsh had a late effort under pressure to send us to penalties, but his shot fell short and wide. 6
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If I was from Mayo I’d rather be facing Kerry.
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Both teams go into this final after pulling off a beating New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup style heist.
In this situation, more time to prepare is a significant advantage.
Tyrone won today’s game with physicality, running, and snap goals. Kerry didn’t have the physicality to match them. Mayo will.
Mayo by 7.
Very well written pal
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Epic drama. Keane needs to go, that team has regressed under him even if the raw material isn’t what is being made out.
Bar Gavin White and Paudi Clifford, Kerry have a massive issue breaking tackles.
The Geaney error on the disallowed goal will haunt them but you’d sense Tyrone would’ve overpowered them anyway. Kerry had no structure in attack and their kick passing was poor.
Also they cannot cope at all with teams running at them.
Well deserved Tyrone, moved the ball much sharper than Kerry who were aimless, lot of Kerry lads whose skills don’t really hold up under pressure from a Championship animal like Tyrone.
Don’t think Mayo can start Aidan O’Shea in the final the way Tyrone move the ball, McShane must surely start. He’s a monster.
Final is a coin toss.
Arguably the key minutes of deciding the entire match. Tyrone would have found it very difficult to come back from a goal deficit. Instead they had a goal advantage a minute or two later.
Kerry got 22 scores to Tyrone’s 17.
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Ya he has to start imo also… Prob keegan will take him… He will get the better of keegan. Mayo were very physical in their last 2 games… That would work against kerry… Not against Tyrone…
The best football all year long has been played in the North. Not often you will hear me saying it but I hope they win. They deserve it.
They were favourites in 97