Tyrone v Kerry on a Saturday in July just seems wrong on so many levels but it is what the GAA family will find themselves enthralled in this evening.

Kerry and Tyrone will be wary of the dangers of each other this evening.

The throw-in is at 5 o clock and even that in itself became a bit of a furore earlier in the week as Tyrone complained that a late kick off would be unfair on the fans travelling down from the northern county.

Tv3 will be screening the game although the Tyrone county board’s grumblings almost gave way to a non-show of one of the biggest qualifiers since the concept was born in 2001.

The TV station had wanted to put the mouth-watering clash on air with a 7pm throw-in but the Tyrone board wanted the game to be played at 3pm to allow time for fans to travel back, also taking into consideration that many fans would be hoping to travel to Clones a day later for the Ulster Minor Final.

Thankfully both sides managed to thrash out a compromise and the biggest game of football this year will now go on air at 4.30pm this evening with throw in at 5pm.

There have been many calls from all quarters in recent years for the qualifiers to be modified in all sorts of ways; there has been talk of scrapping the 6 day turnaround for beaten provincial finalists to scrapping the league in favour of a more drawn out qualifying championship but all will be forgotten for at least 2 hours tomorrow.

Fans will flock to Killarney with the very real danger of one of the plausible All-Ireland favourites being out of the Championship in July. A stark thought for men and women from either county.

It has been well documented that Kerry and Tyrone are not the forces of old, that they are not the same sides that won seven consecutive Sam Maguires between them in the early noughties, but who said they were?

Anyone who thinks Tyrone or Kerry are the same sides of a decade ago needs to be told how a team sport works. Yes, players move on and teams develop for better or for worse but one thing is for sure – Saturday’s game needs no introduction to the players.

It might be Peter Canavan versus Darragh O Se in the pundits box this weekend and not the pitch, but try telling the returning Stephen O’Neill or Marc O Se this isn’t as big a game as previous meetings.

Stephen O’Neill is a welcome addition to the Tyrone starting XV for today’s game.

Qualifiers or not, this is the biggest game of football either side has played this year. It’s even bigger than Kerry’s game against Cork in May which sees them in this precarious position.

Both sides will come flying out of the blocks and there is plenty of attacking menace to turn this game into another classic much like those that were served up by the pair in the early noughties.

It will be a tough assignment for the Red Hands no doubt, as Kerry are a formidable side at any stage in the Championship but the qualifiers have been known to serve up a few upsets down the years.

A win for the Ulstermen may only be described as an upset due to The Kingdom’s home advantage and history, as for many this match is evenly balanced.

Neither side has played their best football yet, with Kerry scraping through against Westmeath last time out as Tyrone downed Roscommon at Dr.Hyde Park.

However Kerry have an abundance of talent that just seem to produce on the day and the Tyrone back-line will have to be wary of the aerial threat from Kieran Donaghy and his partnership with the ruthless Colm Cooper.

It will be an interesting encounter at Fitzgerald Stadium this evening with both sides hungry to progress to round 4 whilst simultaneously disposing of a big threat to their prospective All Ireland crowns.

Darran O’Sullivan scored Kerry’s winner against Westmeath last week but the dynamic forward has been plagued by a hamstring injury which sees him on the bench again.

Kerry have plenty of class but looked shaky at times against Westmeath last week and such shakiness will be afforded no excuse from the accomplished Tyrone forward line. On the other hand Tyrone’s defence isn’t what it was and Kerry have a ruthless full forward line even if they haven’t got going yet.

This one could be a very high scoring game but Tyrone could just pip it if their midfield gets a grip on the game early. It will be a tough game for both sides but if Clarke and McCrory can get to grips with Donaghy and Cooper then we could see last year’s All Ireland finalists out of the Championship in July for the first time in their history.

 

Verdict – Tyrone by a whisker

 

  • Tyrone: P McConnell, A McCrory, C Clarke, D Carlin, C McCarron, C Gormley, Sean O’Neill, Joe McMahon, C Cavanagh, Matthew Donnelly, Mark Donnelly, P Harte, M Penrose, Stephen O’Neill, O Mulligan. 
  • Kerry: B Kealy, M O Se, A O’Mahony, S Enright, T O’Se, A O’Mahony, S Enright, T O’se, E Brosnan, K Young, A Maher, B Sheehan, P Galvin, Declan O’Sullivan, D Walsh, J O’Donoghue, C Cooper, K Donaghy.

 

Related articles