Conor Meyler (Tyrone) and Paudie Clifford (Kerry) in action during the All-Ireland football semi-final last Saturday

Shay Connolly writes:

So just what happened Kerry on Saturday? Slaughtering all before them (except Dublin, of course), the bookies made them favourites to win the All-Ireland at the start of the Championship. According to commentators and journalists alike they had found the jewel that they were previously missing. A playmaker, a man who could go up and down the pitch and make it all happen. His brother David was the man everybody knew but this was the guy that was hyped up to fill the missing link in the Kerry armour. His name? Paudie Clifford.

All year he lived up to the promise and his engine was firing up and down the pitch solving conundrums and creating gift-wrapped parcels for his well known brother and other Kerry forwards as they scored goals for fun throughout the League and Championship, including six against this same Tyrone team just two months ago.

So in desperation almost, the media created a scenario where someone else was going to win the All Ireland other than Dublin. And the hype grew and grew as more money went on the Kerry boys.

Conor Myler is a 26 year old Tyrone footballer. His father played for Tyrone in the 1980s and managed his son’s team at Omagh St Endas. His son didn’t make his team! He played on the B Team. Conor couldn’t make the school team either. He was also an athlete, a cross country and road runner, competing in events throughout the Country. Hard stuff that. At 18, not having made the first team in the club or the school team he had a choice on which sport to pursue 100%.Despite all the negative signs he chose Gaelic Football.

Conor didn’t pin down a first team place with his club until 2014. They won the County Championship that year for the first time in 26 years.. Conor played a leading role. In 2015 he had made the senior County team. He broke his leg in the quarter final win over Donegal.That would be the end of anyone’s season. Not Conor. I read what he did to get back and it was self flagulation stuff in a Tibetan moneastary. He lined out against Dublin in the final eight weeks later. That was the road map that Conor brought into Saturday’s match.

In the last number of years we have constantly heard about these sparkly new diamonds from the Kingdom coming on the scene. Five All Ireland Minor football titles in a row from 2014 to 2018 and not a word about cutting the Ring of Kerry in two. These players are now on the scene. None of them has added a senior crown to their Minor crowns and after Saturday’s display they might never do so.

Kerry came out with bells and whistles ringing from their boots and togs. Half their names were households names throughout the country, even though they have won nothing. Most households would find it hard to name two or three Tyrone players. Conor Myler was given the job of marking the Kingdom’s new jewel, Paudie Clifford. He snuffed him out completely in an amazing display of man marksmanship and ball retention. And the rest is history.

Kerry believed their own hype within their own Kingdom and the hype of others outside of it.Tyrone knew they would have to street fight to win it. Kerry thought that that the jewels in their crown would sparkle with a little polish. Tyrone stole the Kingdom’s jewels and the street fighter won the contest.

Unless Kerry can learn how to become rough diamonds rather than sparkling blue sapphires then they will have to settle for being second or third best for a long time. They can take all the plaudits from around their neighbours fireside and an ever lustful media, who in trying to create a Gaelic Kingdom outside Dublin created a bunch of false pretenders.. and Kerry themselves believed it all.

Shay Connolly is a writer/songwriter, a Ringsend resident and a former Dublin Minor Hurler.

Pic by Philip Walsh via Irish News

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10 thoughts on “Tyrone Power

  1. Cú Chulainn

    Always happy to see Kerry beaten.. but that’s a tad harsh.. Kerry could have won the game and there wasn’t much in it from start till the last goal and even then with a bit more composure Kerry might have nicked it. Congrats to Tyrone, a great game to watch.. commiserations to Kerry..

    1. Bertie blenkinsop

      A lot of confirmation bias there. Always good to see Kerry beaten but both Cliffords are wonderful footballers. Kerry didn’t take their chances on the day imo, taking nothing away from a decent Tyrone side

    1. paddy apathy

      Dub-splain that to me again.
      So, Dublin are a better team and they would have beaten the other team that they lost to, and every other team, because the other team just scored more, but Dublin are still better than the team they were bettered by, and would have beaten those other teams on Saturday.
      Because, like, they’re better?

  2. Dub4sam2022

    Well said. Kerry believed the hype and couldn’t deal with the intensity Tyrone brought to the game. They were shell shocked

  3. V aka Frilly Keane

    Dunno

    seems to me that Kerry haven’t managed to fill Seamus Moynihan’s boots yet
    and he’s gone years, or more recently Marc Ó Sé

    Tyrone Full Forwards ran riot with the weakest 1-4 Kerry has ever put out
    5-7 aren’t their finest either

    in a low scoring game, and always v Nordie defensive football
    or as Smig would say Puke Football ⊙.☉
    a leaky back line is always going to crucify Kerry
    They line out the most stylish footballers known in the game year after year
    not many of them in the 1-4 jersey

    in fairness they could have had the Gooch, Mickie, Ogie and Maurice Fitz there on Sunday with Clifford at his absolute peak
    and none of them could have stopped Tyrone getting green flags up

  4. Gabby

    The Kingdom wuz beaten by one point by a spirited Tyrone. That’s the explanation in a nutshell. Now let’s have an almighty final in September between the men from Mayo and the men from Tyrone.

  5. Shayna

    Enjoyed the post, funnily enough. I’ve always had a soft spot for Kerry when Tyrone were in the wilderness years. In 2003, I was sat in The Canal End Stand for the semi-final, Ryan McMenamin was marking The Gooch, Cooper – I could hear the verbal abuse “Ricey” was inflicting on his opponent. At one stage, I thought Kerry weren’t going to score in the first half. Spoiling tactics weren’t necessary on Saturday. I hope the final is a great game. Two great pedigree footballing counties, although – Tir Eoghain Abu!

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