JOHN O’MAHONY ON WHY ULSTER IS A CUT ABOVE
WHILE a lot of people would have expected to see Tyrone lining out for tomorrow’s Ulster final, few would have predicted that Down would be the team standing in their way.
That comes down to the fact that, because Tyrone have won three All-Irelands under Mickey Harte, whenever they raise their head at all they are seen as being in the top three or four teams in the country. And, even though Tyrone tapered off at the end of the League this year, their demolition of Donegal would suggest they are still in the box seat as Ulster’s most likely contender for Sam Maguire.
Of course, we have seen all of this before. Tyrone threatened to make a real push for Sam last year but then they fell off badly against Mayo, so in a way there is a lot more pressure on them to deliver this year.
Harte, the longest serving manager in county football by a mile, has made no secret of his desire to continue at the helm and is looking for an extension to his term in charge, so that brings its own pressure too.
His hopes of doing so would take an immediate hit if they failed to retain their Ulster crown.
As well as that, Seán Cavanagh, the spiritual leader of this Tyrone team, has given clear indication that this will be his last season.
His importance has already been huge this year, so Tyrone will look to make the most of their chances while they still have him around.
Overall, while Tyrone seem to be the most well-equipped team in Ulster, it is difficult to know if they have what it takes to challenge the big guns come August and September.
Just go back to that one point All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Mayo last year, where they struggled after losing Cavanagh to a red card on the hour mark and couldn’t find an equaliser despite having 10 minutes to do so. The big question that hung over Tyrone these last few years was that Harte didn’t seem to have the same quality of forward as he did in those All-Ireland winning sides of 2003, 2005 and 2008.
He had a lot of forwards that were quite similar in style, but was perhaps lacking the gamechangers needed to win the big honours, and that was evident against Mayo. The likes of Peter Harte and Mattie Donnelly have stepped up recently, but tomorrow’s game will give us a clearer idea as to whether Tyrone have improved in that area.
They’ll be putting pressure on themselves after that exit last year, and tomorrow they are coming up against the team that, in many respects, have proved to be the team of the Championship so far.
In an Ulster Championship that has had more one-sided games than we have seen over the last few years, Down have provided that little bit of electricity.
While their shock win over Armagh wasn’t earth-shattering, the following win over Monaghan was, in particular due to the manner in which they went about their business that evening.
This is a side full of confidence that will not be fazed by anyone, and they will certainly not fear this Tyrone team — particularly you when you look at how the Connacht final played out last weekend.
Players that were hardly known nationally are now being compared to the best players in the game — Caolan Mooney has been likened to Jack McCaffrey and Kevin McKernan was superb against Monaghan as the mobility man in the middle.
Their only problem is that the genie in now out of the bottle, and there’s no better man than Harte to make the most of that.
Armagh, and to some extent Monaghan, wouldn’t have known what they were in for against this Down side, but Tyrone will be much more prepared for what is coming their way in Clones.
Looking at the other Ulster sides left in the Championship, Donegal are slowly improving and probably hold the advantage against Galway next weekend, and similarly Monaghan will be expected to beat Carlow today, so you could see three or four Ulster teams in the quarter-finals, which would indicate that the province remains the most dominant in terms of overall quality.
Monaghan would have targeted an Ulster title, but the fact that they failed to do so doesn’t mean they should be written off.
They didn’t capitulate against Down and I think they’ll get back on track this weekend and can have a say in this Championship.
Armagh seemed to get their mojo back against Westmeath but the trip to face Tipperary is a massive challenge. While Kieran McGeeney has certainly steadied the ship, they still have a bit of to do before they get up to the level of Tyrone, Monaghan and Down — the three Ulster sides teams will hope to avoid as summer progresses.
Four of the last eight may be from north