McGinn: No bad blood with Kerry
McGinn, who was centre-back on the Tyrone team that lost the 1986 All-Ireland final to Kerry, has rubbished suggestions there is animosity between the counties as “absolute nonsense”.
He also dismissed the possibility of any ill-feeling from last year’s qualifier in Killarney as well as the Cookstown-Finuge and Derrytresk-Dromid Pearses club games manifesting itself in Healy Park.
Brian McGuigan’s claims against Declan O’Sullivan feigning an injury left a bitter taste last July, while the recent spitting controversy in the All-Ireland intermediate club final has turned the spotlight on the counties’ relationship yet again.
“First of all, there is nobody from Derrytresk playing on Sunday,” McGinn pointed out. “I was at all those games including Portlaoise and everyone has their own opinion on it. It’s history, it bears no relevance to this game. What happens between clubs stays between clubs, it doesn’t come onto the county scene.
“The All-Ireland final between Finuge and Cookstown, it [the spitting allegations] was a non-event. Suddenly, it cropped up six weeks later. You have to ask yourself why wasn’t it headline stuff at the time. A load of nonsense.
“The guys who were involved in that [are] self-seeking publicists. That’s the way I see them. It has no relevance to Sunday.
“The McGuigan thing? Brian McGuigan is no longer on the Tyrone panel. What he spoke about, I’ve no doubt that Brian McGuigan felt it was true. I’ve no hesitation about [saying] that.”
McGinn fancies Kerry will be seriously motivated for the trip as they contemplate the potential historical repercussions of relegation.
“I’m expecting Kerry to be fired up in a big way. They’ve a lot more to gain from this than Tyrone who have already qualified [for a semi-final].
“Kerry have far more to lose too so I expect them to be hungrier and more motivated. Some of these Kerry players are near the end of their careers — do they want to be known as being part of the team that took Kerry to Division 2 football?
“That, to me, would be a huge motivating factor. Omagh is also nothing like a fortress for Tyrone. It wouldn’t surprise me if Kerry come up and win on Sunday.
“A lot of the hype and all this talk of animosity is absolutely nonsense,” continues McGinn. “Tyrone and Kerry are two very competitive teams. Over the last 10 years, they’ve played some of the best Gaelic football matches ever.
“They certainly have a very healthy rivalry but they also have a very healthy respect among the players.”
In McGinn’s opinion, the relationship between the counties greatly improved in the direct aftermath of the All-Ireland third round qualifier in Fitzgerald Stadium last summer.
“Anyone who was in Killarney last year saw how the Tyrone and Kerry players shook hands and embraced at the end of the game.
“That to me, although Tyrone had received quite a beating, was an indication of the respect the players and the managers had for each other. Anyone who was in Killarney would have witnessed the way Mickey Harte and the players were treated by the Kerry supporters. They had photographs taken and they shook hands and it was a long time before the Tyrone bus left.
“We went home hurting, make no mistake about it. The Kerry players and supporters celebrated as if it was a win in Croke Park but I could understand that because Tyrone had been their nemesis for so long and just to get one over on them, obviously they were delighted.
“We’d have been no different had the shoe been on the other foot.”
