Tyrone vs Dublin All-Ireland SFC- Five Talking Points

Days like these

THERE haven’t been enough big games in Croke Park from a Tyrone perspective in recent years. The U20s have won three of the last four All-Irelands but never got to sample the hallowed turf at GAA Headquarters, while the seniors last graced the Jones Road venue in an ill-fated All-Ireland quarter-final clash against Kerry. Croker should be bouncing this weekend across the two double headers, and let’s hope Tyrone fans come out in force because one thing’s for sure – there’ll be plenty of Dubs in attendance.

The direct path

THE omens are good for Tyrone. In the previous years of the group stages (this was their third and apparently final year), only two teams have played in a preliminary quarter-final and gone on to reach a semi-final. So it has happened, but rarely. The extra week’s recovery won’t win us a place in the last four of the All-Ireland race, but it’s certainly something we have over our opponents, who just happen to be a Dublin team which has won nine of the last 14 All-Irelands…still they aren’t quite the force of old and Tyrone will be quietly confident.

The loss of a key player

MICHAEL McKernan was in All-Star form before he was forced off with injury in the early exchanges of Tyrone’s group stage win over Cavan less than a fortnight ago. He won’t be fit to see action this weekend, which is a crying shame as he’s been one of the team’s best performers. While he’s a big loss, Tyrone do have strength-in-reserve. Peter Harte was exceptional when he entered the fray for McKernan against Cavan, Conor Meyler is back in action and there’s plenty of others who can also do a job if asked.

The quadruple is on…

THE All-Ireland U20 title is in the bag. We’re one step away the All-Ireland minor crown, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibilities that we end the year with Sam (we’re fifth favourites with the bookies but sure we’ve always loved being underdogs). A word for our Masters team as well – the Tyrone over-40s are still in the hunt for what would be a fifth All-Ireland title in a row as well. Anyway, we’re probably getting  a touch ahead of ourselves but it’ll be hard not to get excited if we don’t claim our first championship victory over the Dubs since 2008 on Sunday.

The litmus test

IN a funny sort of way, it’s hard to tell where exactly this Tyrone team is at. The high water-mark of Malachy O’Rourke’s tenure to date was that memorable Saturday evening in Ballybofey. On their next day out they didn’t really perform against Mayo. Then the group stages ended on a happy note with victory over Cavan – but sure we always beat Cavan (no offence to any Cavan folk who happen to be reading). This weekend should tell a story – even if the result eludes us, at the very least we’ll be looking to see a strong performance against one of the country’s heavy-hitters.