Dermot Carlin Column: 2025 season has laid foundations

There are definitely positives for Tyrone to take from this 2025 season despite our defeat to Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. But for now it’s disappointing that the championship season has ended after this loss.

It is clear that the first quarter was our best spell. During those opening stages, the forwards were showing immense energy, they were finding gaps, and getting the scores which their effort definitely justified.

Darragh Canavan, Ciaran Daly, Seanie O’Donnell and Mattie Donnelly showed a lot of speed and composure on the ball. They were putting the Kerry defence under pressure and we were full value for the 0-4 to 0-1 lead at one stage.

Eoin McElholm and Ben McDonnell were players who injected a lot of pace into the Tyrone performance when coming on as substitutes. Obviously Malachy O’Rourke wanted to put Kerry under pressure right from the start, and that is entirely understandable because a strong first half was essential.

But then Kerry began to get a grip of things. I know how difficult it is as a corner-back to mark a forward who is receiving possession in front of him. That was how it was for David Clifford on Saturday. The quality of the ball going into him was excellent, and it was hard to know what else could have been done to stop him.

In saying that, Niall Devlin did well on Paudie Clifford and Peter Teague was good against Sean O’Shea. The only problem was that those players were still able to put passes into the other forwards. Even though we were only two behind at half-time, Kerry could definitely have had a couple of goals.

Mattie Donnelly’s point just before half-time was an important one, and we hopeful going into the second half. But, maybe the heat had a big impact because there was a lack of energy in our play. I watched Niall Morgan and he was looking to play the ball long, but just didn’t have the options that normally present themselves.

As a result of that, Kerry were finding David Clifford and he was able to win primary possession and lay it off. Their third quarter performance was once again what made the difference for them.

Tyrone did come back a little bit near the end, but there was too much left to do by then for the Red Hands to get back into contention.

Overall, though, this year has to be viewed from a positive standpoint.

The start of the season was tough because the Errigal Ciaran players were in the All-Ireland Club, which meant that weren’t available for Tyrone. Relegation followed, but the championship efforts have been much better.

The other aspect which needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that so many players have gained in experience and that will stand to them next year. They include the likes of Eoin McElholm, Seanie O’Donnell, Darragh Canavan, Niall Devlin and Peter Teague.

Hopefully, our more experienced players will also remain on board for 2026. They will have a valuable role to play in ensuring that the younger lads continue to learn from them. If that happens, then I have no doubt that Tyrone will return to the later stages of the All-Ireland soon and be much better equipped to make a big impression.