Royal redemption at hand

THESE are interesting and enlightening times for serious students of modern day midfield play.

Up until Tyrone changed our views on how to win a game of football by taking two All-Ireland finals against Kerry in 2005 and again in 2008 without actually winning the midfield battle, it was generally accepted that you had to dominate the aerial battles in the middle of the park to win a game of Gaelic football.

Managers and tacticians the country over have had the last few years to familiarise themselves with the art of winning games by living on scraps around midfield, and while some have floundered, others have got as much lemonade as they could have from the lemons available to them.