The ten moments that define the relationship between Kerry and Tyrone
Declan Bogue
THE RIVALRY BETWEEN Tyrone and Kerry has been entertaining, sometimes toxic and always compelling.
Here, we look at 10 key moments that have shaped the relationship between the two.
Carrickmore and the Patrician Hall – 1981
On 28 March, 1981, Kerry fetched up in the village of Carrickmore as the latest hitching post on a tour of Ireland, playing challenge matches to raise money for a world tour to recognise their three-in-a-row.
The arrangement was simple: locals wanted their own to be stuffed by Kerry, collect autographs and have a chance to sink a pint with these legends. In return, they would turn out their pockets.
The matchday programme promised an evening’s revelry in the Patrician Hall. For the cost of £1 entry, it promised ‘Leading Artistes, including: Eoin ‘Bomber’ Liston, Paul O’Shea and Charlie Nelligan.’ Bomber would oblige with several songs.
Kerry won, 2-14 to 0-6. Mickey Harte clipped over two points while being marked by Jimmy Deenihan.
“Everybody thought this was magical, to see these boys who were the real deal, on the fields of Tyrone. It was an amazing event,” Harte told this writer in 2021.
“It is hard, looking back on it to imagine that they carried that sense of awe and wonder to them. And our county were as much in awe and wonder as anyone,” remarked Harte, before delivering the sentiment that he did more than anyone to achieve; “Thankfully, those days are gone!”
The Unhappy Prince – 1986
The first championship match between the pairing came in the 1986 All-Ireland final. For Tyrone, it was their very first time in a decider. Kerry were going for three-in-a-row.
For Tyrone fans that day was a dreamlike experience. A county that had given so much of themselves to get to a respectable position were suddenly within a chance of winning an All-Ireland, at a time when the Troubles were raging in the county.
Halfway through the second half, they found themselves well on top. It was so unthinkable that manager Art McRory had planned for every eventuality, apart from how to hold on to a big lead.
Helped by Paudge Quinn’s goal, Tyrone were six points up when Kevin ‘The Prince’ McCabe stood over a penalty, looking like a prime Tom Selleck with a moustache thicker than a yard brush.
He blasted it over Charlie Nelligan’s crossbar.
WWC / YouTube
Spillane’s diving goal – 1986
…And then came Kerry.
With time running out, they launched an attack straight after the penalty. The ball broke up in the Tyrone defence and it was flicked to Ger Power. He darted towards Aidan Skelton’s goal before spotting Pat Spillane coming like a bullet, unmarked.
Sheehy fisted to Spillane and left the ball with a bit of hangtime. Rather than gather it in, Spillane twisted himself in the air, flicking it in the opposite direction to completely flummox Skelton. An outrageous example of inventiveness, athleticism and cheek, it inspired Kerry to reel Tyrone in.
TheRealClareTV / YouTube
The swarm – 2003
Mickey Harte had played against Kerry in the national league of 1974 and in that challenge match in Carrickmore.
By the time he got his teeth into Tyrone seniors as manager, he had led his minors of 1997 to a memorable win over Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final after two epic games. The first was in Croke Park, the second in a packed Parnell Park as Tyrone fans felt a crusade around this team after the tragic death of Paul McGirr after a game against Armagh in Omagh.
GAA - officialgaa / YouTube
Harte believed there was nothing superhuman about Kerry when they met in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final. That day, the most memorable scene was a passage whereby Dara Ó Cinneide and then Eoin Brosnan were hunted down by four Tyrone players – more arriving in support – under the Hogan Stand sideline before the ball was turned over.
Tucked in the corner – 2005
By 2005, Peter Canavan was 34 and while he hadn’t played much underage football, he had made up for it with an astounding output at senior level.
Struggling with asthma and an ankle injury that year, his appearances were restricted and limited with Tyrone that season and he had the bizarre episode of being sent off a minute after coming on as sub in the Ulster final replay against Armagh – later cleared on appeal.
GAA - officialgaa / YouTube
In the final, it was very even but Tyrone dealt Kerry a serious body blow as the first half crept into injury time.
Philip Jordan spotted Owen Mulligan at full-forward, being marked by Paul Galvin. Mulligan pulled the ball down and while being stood up, spotted his old school teacher Canavan running at an angle with arms outstretched appealing for the ball.
Mulligan delayed the pass to screen off Galvin and Canavan rolled the ball off his left foot into the corner of the net to leave it 1-8 to 1-5 at the break, Tyrone going on to win.
Beardy boys – 2008
After losing to Down in the Ulster quarter-final replay, Tyrone players and management had a reflective evening when they discussed how to change their approach and what they could do to freshen the thing up.
Ryan McMenamin broke the sombre mood by saying, ‘We could grow beards…’
The next night at training, a few arrived with some stubble. Then a few joined them for the next night.
Within a few weeks, most of the panel were sporting thick beards, a trend that caught on among their support. It’s fair to say that some were more impressive than others, with Joe McMahon and Ryan McMenamin looking like Barbarians.
By the time they met Kerry in the All-Ireland final, the talk leading into it was of the Twin Towers attack of Kieran Donaghy and Tommy Walsh. Mickey Harte switched the McMahon brothers, Joe and Justin to full-back, and they did their job in another impressive win.
The Kingdom strikes back – 2012
By 2012, the Tyrone team were not the force of old with a raft of retirements following a heavy defeat in the 2011 All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin.
Therefore, when they were drawn to face Kerry in Killarney for a Round 3 qualifier, the Kingdom smelt blood. After an opening 20 minutes that featured seven yellow cards, Kerry had forced themselves into a 0-8 to 0-2 lead.
While Tyrone got a lucky goal that came off Conor Gormley on 43 minutes, Kerry hit back immediately with a major from Kieran Donaghy.
From that point on, Kerry pressed for home and won 1-16 to 1-6.
While it had been somewhat ill-tempered and Kerry players celebrated wildly on the pitch at the final whistle, there was an emotive counterpart afterwards.
Tyrone manager Mickey Harte emerged from the dressing room, where hundreds of Kerry fans greeted him with a cheer and sought autographs and offered condolences on his daughter Michaela, who had been murdered the previous year.
Jason Foley and the ‘poisoned’ water bottle – 2019
Perhaps one of the first WhatsApp rumours to make it into mainstream and worth noting because of how batshit crazy it was at the time, and how people keep falling for this catnip.
A WhatsApp with the multiple forwarded telltale sign of the bullshitter, held that a Tyrone player was continually asking David Clifford if he wanted a bottle of water in their 2019 All-Ireland semi-final that Kerry won, 1-18 to 0-18.
It went on to say that a Tyrone selector had offered Kerry full-back Jason Foley a drink from a bottle, and how Foley had become violently sick at half-time, from the ‘poisoned’ drink.
All nonsense of course.
As mental as this was at the time, worse was to follow and continues to convince those that would eat everything they see.
And yet there’s a whole other sub-section of rumours which we can’t get into here either, such as Colm Cooper getting a finger stuck in his eye on another occasion.
‘Pulling a fast one’ – 2021
Another conspiracy theory.
In 2021, after winning the Ulster final against Monaghan, played in Croke Park, Tyrone manager Feagal Logan missed out on being on the sideline as he was sitting on his sofa at home watching it on television, having caught Covid-19.
With the championship being a straight knockout because of the epidemic, the original date of the All-Ireland semi-final was pushed back from 15 August to 21 August.
Tyrone then issued a statement that, given the level of Covid infection within their panel, they would not be in a position to fulfil the fixture, effectively ejecting themselves from the All-Ireland championship.
RTÉ Sport / YouTube
To their eternal credit, Kerry responded by saying they would play it at a later date, which eventually was decided to be 28 August.
Naturally, not everyone agreed with this course of action, with Pat Spillane critical of the lack of medical information released into the public domain, however unlikely it might have been, adding that, “misinformation, false narratives, and innuendo,” had been allowed to flourish.
Tyrone then beat Kerry in extra-time, which did little to help Spillane’s mood.
The kickpass from the heavens – 2023
And after all the snarling, tension, accusations and subterfuge, we finish on something fairly wholesome.
The game was the All Ireland quarter-final, in Croke Park.
Kerry were the better side and were threatening to break free completely from Tyrone as the hour mark approached when Diarmuid O’Connor netted a goal in the 53rd minute.
Tyrone’s frustrations grew and all shape went out of the game. A ball was played towards Clifford and his marker, Padraig Hampsey.
Ronan McNamee arrived to double-team the Fossa man and it looked like he might gather the ball before the forces of Aghyaran and Coalisland put him into the tenth row of the Hogan Stand.
Instead, Clifford barely had his hands on the ball before, in the next stride, he produced a kick over his head to the unmarked Tony Brosnan. He then passed across to Sean Ó Shea who jigged into position to pot his shot to the net.
Pass of the century, so far.
Dan the hurling guy / YouTube
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