Tough trip into the Kingdom for Tyrone

THE prospect of facing Kerry never loses its lustre no matter the circumstances, but Tyrone will be especially eager to have a cut at the Kingdom after the events of last Saturday evening.

The Red Hands have the wind in their sails following a much-improved showing when they played host to Mayo, producing a second-half performance of real drive and energy capped off by scintillating attacking displays from Darragh Canavan and returnee Darren McCurry. It was, it’s fair to say, much more like it.

Kerry, by contrast, endured something of a horror show against Dublin. It was a fairly abject performance all told as they slumped to a 3-18 to 1-14 defeat at Croke Park. Two stats: it was Jack O’Connor’s worst ever league defeat across his three stints as Kerry manager, but it’s also worth considering that only once – back in 2010 – have they ever lost two league games running under the vastly experienced Dromid Pearses man.

Losing so comprehensively to the Dubs has raised a bagful of questions (though curiously Kerry remain outright favourites in the race for Sam Maguire) but they’re a wounded animal and you’d expect some sort of backlash this Sunday in Killarney.

Kerry have a proud record in Killarney, though their 28-year run without losing a championship match in their own backyard of Fitzgerald Stadium came to an end against Mayo last year. Still, Jack O’Connor has gone on record as saying he’s going back to the drawing board after the shellacking at the hands of Dublin so it’ll be interesting to see what they come up with against Tyrone.

Tyrone likewise will feel they have something to prove this weekend. They won’t need reminding of the last time they faced up to the Kingdom, losing by 2-18 to 0-12 in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final, a result out of whack with recent meetings between the two teams.

The Red Hands have generally fared very well indeed in the last half-a-decade against Kerry – indeed they’ve won three of their last four league encounters – while they should also take great heart from their win over Mayo on Saturday.

They took the bull by the horns in the second-half with a more ‘Tyrone-like’ performance and if they claim at least one more victory from their remaining three fixtures (Kerry, Monaghan and Dublin) they’ll be safe for another year in the top flight.

Trillick’s Seanie O’Donnell, excellent against Mayo, is a major injury doubt for Sunday having been stretchered off late in proceedings but it’s understood that he won’t be out for the long-term. Tyrone fans will wish to see another gritty performance and a win would be the cherry on top as it’s never easy to come back from Killarney with two points on the board.

We shall see and let’s hope we’ve something to cheer about come Sunday afternoon.