Tyrone aren’t getting carried away says Kilpatrick

THERE was an evident sense of satisfaction among the Tyrone players as they reflected on that first championship victory over Dublin since the famous All-Ireland SFC quarter final clash of 17 years previously.

But the glow in the aftermath of an impressive win did not obscure either the prospect of an imminent All-Ireland semi-final. Kerry would later be confirmed as the opponents for the Red Hands, and another high-profile match against the Kingdom is whetting the appetite and providing all the motivation for Malachy O’Rourke and the Tyrone players.

Croke Park next Saturday at 5pm is the venue for that eagerly anticipated last-four clash in the latest installment of a rivalry that has really gripped the public imagination since that famous semi-final match back in 2003..

Conn Kilpatrick was understandably delighted with the win over Dublin, and reaching the last four for the first time since 2021 is ensuring that Tyrone’s hopes of more All-Ireland success remain very much to the fore and on target.

His midfield performances have been exemplary throughout 2025 and more of the same from him would do nicely indeed as the Red Hands get set to take on the Munster champions next time out.

“We had a great second half performance and I suppose Dublin were going to come strong at some stage. They have been playing in the later stages of the championship more than us during the last number of years and it was about putting the performance in and hopefully then the result would look after itself,” said the Edendork clubman.

“The fact that we had won the Sam Maguire in 2021 and not been in the semi-final since was probably a goal for us.

“We hadn’t beaten Dublin since 2008 in the championship, so we were trying to create our own bit of history as well. There’s still a lot of work to do, but you can only win one game at a time and now we’ve two weeks to train for the semi-final.

“It’s about looking forward to the next game. We were a point up at half-time against Dublin, both teams probably hadn’t played to their best and so we knew we had to improve and they were going to improve at the same time. We needed to watch their main players and our lads definitely put in a big shift. It was about getting over the line.”

Last Saturday’s win was also Tyrone’s first in a Croke Park championship clash since the 2021 All-Ireland Final, so there was no shortage of incentives for the players entering the tie.

Now, the full focus is on Kerry, who, of course, recorded a massive win over the reigning All-Ireland champions, Armagh on Sunday.

It will certainly take another Herculean display from the Red Hands to overcome their old rivals from the Kingdom and reach what would be the county’s eighth All-Ireland Senior Final.

That is the target, and Conn Kilpatrick believes that there will be no stone left unturned as they prepare for this next championship assignment.

“It was great to beat Dublin, but we’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves,” he added.

“Now it’s about knocking the walls down and building the blocks for the next game. Beating Dublin was a big achievement but it’s not the be all and end all. There’s nothing won, and there are three other good teams in the last four.

“Our aim now is to get the training and recovery done, get back to basics and we’ll move forward again. It’s about getting the result, we were happy to do that against the Dubs and we’ll see how things go from here.”