Seán Morangets the views of Joe Kernan and John O'Mahony on Tyrone's remarkable victory
IN THE aftermath of Tyrone's dramatic All-Ireland victory over Kerry on Sunday there is no argument over the precise turning point of the season. Having clocked up a mediocre NFL campaign and early exit from the Ulster championship in a replay against Down, Mickey Harte's team stepped through the looking glass in Croke Park when overwhelming Dublin in the quarter-finals.
This phenomenon of a key match, re-igniting the All-Ireland challenge of counties whose time looked to have passed isn't new.
In 2001 Galway turned around a poor early championship to become the first team to win the All-Ireland through the qualifiers and the pivotal match was a qualifier against Armagh. Like Tyrone Joe Kernan's Armagh re-launched their campaign when they drew Dublin in the 2003 qualifiers.
Neither Kernan nor John O'Mahony, who managed Galway in 2001 and whose current Mayo side came close to eliminating Tyrone in last month's qualifiers, had any inkling that the new champions were capable of what they achieved at the weekend.
"In fairness, no," according to Kernan. "I didn't have them in my top four at the start of the season. But if you looked at the two matches against Down they were high-quality and entertaining, two of the best in the championship.
"It helped them to regain their hunger. Losing to Down hurt them and players have to be hurt by defeat before they respond. After winning in 2003 and '05 I think they were in a comfort zone but like a few counties they must have been looking at 2006 and '07, think that they could do better than Cork and Mayo.
"Dublin was the right match at the right time. They were a different team after that. In 2003 after we lost to Monaghan we struggled for form in the qualifiers against Antrim and Waterford and it took the Dublin game to set the fire again."
As late as Tyrone's uninspiring elimination of Mayo, O'Mahony couldn't catch a glimpse of any glittering prospects for his team's conquerors. "To be honest I couldn't see it that day. We should have beaten them and we had injuries and wouldn't exactly been on top of our game so how they transformed themselves into a team that won an All-Ireland was a major turnaround.
"I remember playing them in the league and they looked like a team in clear decline. A lot of the fellas who had been central to winning in 2005 were now not making the team. Peter Canavan had retired, Stephen O'Neill followed him and Brian McGuigan had been undermined by injuries and players like Owen Mulligan and Kevin Hughes had become peripheral. Yet the quality of Sunday's performance attained those levels (of 2005) if not exceeded them.
"The reason I went for Kerry to win is that Tyrone's big performance in the quarter-final had to be seen in the light of Dublin's collapse. It was a good win but not earth shattering. But the manner of Sunday's win as much as the All-Ireland itself had the stamp of greatness."
Tyrone's system of almost complete inter-changeability is well practised and the entire team buys into it. Attacking half backs are covered by team-mates dropping back and forwards drop deep to defend when the opposition has possession. Sunday was always going to be about whether they or Kerry would be able to dictate the patterns of the game. "They play with confidence and no fear," says Kernan. "So many of them can play in any position. Is there anyone who could go from the Kerry half forwards to corner back?
"Kerry's defence was wide open. Mickey Harte sacrificed a play maker (Brian McGuigan, dropped before the start) and told (replacement, Martin) Penrose to take Aidan O'Mahony out of the centre, which left it clear for Enda McGinley and the wing backs. In the second half Kevin Hughes was through the middle three times."
In the debate about whether Tyrone with three All-Irelands can claim to be the team of the decade in comparison to Kerry, who although they have four titles have lost to Harte's side in each of their successful campaigns, the counter argument is that Kerry have consistently contested the later stages of every championship since 2000 whereas Tyrone when not winning All-Irelands fade off the screen completely.
"Kerry are coming from a different background," says Kernan. "They've one hard match in Munster and after that they're either straight into the quarter-finals or have one qualifier match to get there. Tyrone can lose at any stage in Ulster. That's why Kerry are there or thereabouts every year. Tyrone come out of the hardest province and win three All-Irelands in six years. Play the All-Ireland as an open draw for 10 years and Kerry might be glad to win one."
O'Mahony agrees that the private argument between the counties has now been settled. "This was a big chance for Kerry to deal with the Tyrone issue.
"The flip side is that because they didn't, Tyrone have become as big a shadow as Down were in the 1960s. And it can't be shaken off now because even if Kerry were to beat them once this would still go down as an era of coming second best."
Kernan believes that Kerry's rich history has become a nagging subtext in the county's football story, especially Mick O'Dywer's team which won eight All-Irelands in 12 years.
"I think all Kerry teams are living in the shadow of the team from the 1970s and '80s and I've no doubt that last year they weren't thinking about just a three-in-a-row but a five-in-a-row."
He and O'Mahony disagree on the immediate future for Tyrone. Kernan feels that the fundamentals in the county are so well established that prospects are bright.
"Now they've the whole county working very well, success at under-age and confidence in their own traditions of success."
The Mayo manager, however, is more sceptical: "I wouldn't say that they'll win the next two or three and it looks more to me like a final chapter.
"Of course, they probably don't see it like that!"
