Red Hands are second best in Kerry

Tyrone 1-11

Kerry 0-18

By Alan Rodgers

ONE more win in Division One is now the least that Tyrone will be needing after a below-par performance against Kerry yesterday has left them with an eye firmly on the top flight relegation zone.

Hopes had been high that the Red Hands would maintain the momentum of their fine win a week previously. But the reality turned out to be sadly more frustrating as results elsewhere in round five means that their survival remains unsecured with two matches remaining.

There were some positives from this long trip to Fitzgerald Stadium. The return of Cathal McShane, the performances once again of the Canavan brothers and this season’s debutants provide a platform ahead of facing Monaghan next time out.

Victory was vital for both counties entering this fifth round clash. Swapped points between Sean O’Shea for Kerry and Tyrone’s Ciaran Daly settled them, as the various match-ups around the pitch were tested. Perhaps the most important was Padraig Hampsey’s task in marking David Clifford.

Seanie O’Donnell edged the Red Hands ahead briefly after eight minutes. But that was as good as it got for the visitors as their lethargy going forward was exploited by a series of strong Kerry counter-attacks.

It was looking ominous just moments later when the Munster side raced through and looked certain for a goal when Sean O’Shea found himself one on one with Niall Morgan. However, the Tyrone goalkeeper made a fine save.

An altercation soon after had the potential to spur on the Red Hands. Peter Harte, Dara Moynihan and Paudie Clifford each received yellow cards. Tyrone’s Darren McCurry put them 0-3 to 0-1 ahead and hopes were high that they would build on that boost for the second quarter.

The teams were level on three occasions subsequently. Conn Kilpatrick put Tyrone ahead again only to be pegged back by Paudie Clifford. Then, swapped points between Sean O’Shea and Darragh Canavan kept matters very much in the balance entering the final stages of that first half.

But Kerry then really grabbed the initiative, and their cause was aided by Tyrone’s failure to really make their attacks account. Time and again, good moves forward were let down by a poor final pass. Add in six wides and Kerry effectiveness in taking their own scoring opportunities, and the task facing the Red Hands was soon becoming abundantly clear.

There was little between them at that stage. Then, though, Kerry ran riot, with David Clifford spearheading their attacking movement. Padraig Hampsey, Cormac Quinn and Niall Devlin worked hard to try and stem the tide, only to see Kerry outscore them by 0-6 to 0-1 for the remainder of the half.

Sean O’Shea, Adrian Spillane, Paudie and David Clifford all fired over to leave them 0-11 to 0-6 ahead at the break. Tyrone’s only response was from a Darren McCurry pointed free. It wasn’t as if they weren’t creating chances, but a number of shots just went wide, another struck the post and the end result was a five point interval deficit.

No wonder, then, that there was much work to do on the resumption. The big question was whether they would be able to turn things around against opponents anxious to make their mark at home after a big Croke Park setback against Dublin one week previously.

Matters got little better either immediately on the restart as Kerry extended their lead. A brace of points from David Clifford left Tyrone with an uphill task. They now trailed by 0-13 to 0-6, as the pace of the game diminished considerably even at that early stage of the second half.

Darragh Canavan reduced the deficit as the introduction of Kieran McGeary and Aodhan Donaghy was aimed at injecting new life into the Red Hand challenge. Two long range wides, though, frustrated their hopes of cutting the Kerry lead.

Tyrone did up the tempo, but whether or not it would be enough to get them back into the game was the big question. They looked threatening when attacking in waves and were rewarded with two well-taken points entering the final quarter.

First Darragh Canavan fired over a rasping shot that almost dipped at the final moment. Then Seanie O’Donnell put Ben Cullen through and he fired over. That left the score a more manageable four points, 0-14 to 0-9, with plenty of time left to boost that total still further.

As the half progressed, though, Kerry always looked like winners. Scores courtesy of Paudie and David Clifford and Dara Moynihan extended their advantage back to seven, as they confidently dealt with Tyrone’s best attacking efforts. It ensured that the closing minutes proved frustrating for a Tyrone team working hard to try and retrieve something from the tie.

To their credit, Tyrone finished with a strong rally that provided them with a fighting chance of staging a last gasp fight-back. Ciaran Daly took a pass from Seanie O’Donnell to deftly fire to the net, before a great point courtesy of Ruairi Canavan left only four points between them.

But they just weren’t able to raise the tempo sufficiently to complete what would have been a remarkable revival.

Swapped points between David Clifford and Niall Morgan completed the scoring in a tie that didn’t really reveal much about the potential future fortunes of either team in 2024.