Defeat to Armagh would have been unthinkable-Kennedy

TYRONE midfielder Brian Kennedy pulled out all the stops with a number of eye-catching fetches against Armagh last weekend – and he acknowledges that it would’ve been a massive disappointment had they thrown away a healthy lead for the second time in their campaign.

The Red Hands relinquished a five-point advantage at half-time of their Ulster Championship opener against Monaghan back in April, and it was looked like history was possibly about to repeat itself when Armagh chipped away at their lead in the final quarter at O’Neill’s Healy Park on Saturday evening.

It made for a jittery finale but Tyrone did enough to claim victory on a final scoreline of 0-13 to 0-11, setting them in good stead for their third and final group stage encounter against Westmeath in a week’s time.

Speaking after the game, Kennedy accepted that it was vital that they kept the door shut on their neighbours across the Blackwater.

“It was definitely good we saw it out, it was getting tight towards the end. If we hadn’t seen it out there would’ve been serious questions within our group.

“After the way Monaghan pipped us, it was good to get a win by any means. It was tough and maybe we should’ve run out easier winners, but it was just good to get the win in the end.”

Kennedy has embraced the new group stage format at the last 16 stage of the All-Ireland, arguing that it’s enabling Tyrone to pick up a bit of form ahead of – all being well –- the business end of the season.

“In any other season, after two championship defeats we’d be gone, so it’s good to get another bite of the cherry and redeem ourselves in that sense.

“The way is good and there’s plenty of football, and it’s also giving us a chance to find a bit of form, so I’d be in favour of it for those reasons.”

The Derrylaughan powerhouse is always in the thick of the midfield battle for Tyrone. He has the physicality, ball-winning ability, the competitive instinct and all the rest of it, and he certainly had an eventful evening against Armagh.

Fans of both persuasions were concerned when he was left stricken on the turf after an accidental collision with his own teammate Darren McCurry and Armagh’s Jarly Og Burns. Thankfully he was able to get back on his feet after the game was placed on hold for a few minutes, and his ball-winning ability proved crucial when the game was in the melting pot.

“Armagh are very good, Ethan Rafferty, Andy Murnin and Jarly Og Burns are excellent fielders but you still fancy your chances when the ball goes long.

“Rian O’Neill was sent off in the first-half, he’s another big physical presence so I suppose it was fortunate for us that his game ended that way, it had a big bearning on things. To be honest we’re just glad to come away with the two points as they were very much needed.”

The cards were stacked in Tyrone’s favour early in the second-half as they had a man’s advantage and a five-point cushion on the scoreboard, but Armagh dug deep and it took a couple of classy efforts from Darragh Canavan on the home straight to settle the matter once and for all. The Orchard County deserve credit for sticking with it, says Kennedy, but accepts that Tyrone could do with a bit more consistency in their performances.

“We lost a man down in Galway so we know ourselves it’s not easy to come back into games in that situation, so fair play for Armagh for putting it up to us, it wasn’t an easy task.

“We’ve been there or thereabouts in our games to date but couldn’t get over the line [against Monaghan and Galway]. Something we want to build on is obviously coming out on the right side of matches. We’ve been playing well in patches and if we bring it all together we’ll be hard to stop.”

Tyrone’s group stage fate still hangs in the balance as they gear up for Westmeath in a week’s time. The Leinster side were characterised as the whipping boys of group two at the outset, but they were unlucky enough against Armagh and gave a reasonable enough accountable of themselves against Galway last weekend.

Kennedy commented: “I was very impressed with them against Armagh so we know it’ll be no easy task for us, it’ll be a tough game. They’ve a lot of strong players down the middle, they’re lively and full of running.

“Hopefully we’ll get away with the two points, it’s very delicately balanced at the minute, it’s almost luck in the draw about whether it all pans out as you could end up meeting a big team like Kerry. But first and foremost we need to get over Westmeath and then we’ll see how it’s all panned out.”