Work ethic the key, says Harte

THEY are so close now, they can almost reach out and touch Sam.

Tyrone have spent this summer burying ghosts. Yesterday was no different. The memories of Kevin McCabe’s penalty and Eugene McKenna’s injury that have hung over the county like a dark cloud for 17 years, were erased. The hungriest county on this island will go into the All-Ireland final, believing this third time is going to a charm. Tyrone supporters begin each championship campai gn with the eternal hope that this is their year. Last winter, Mickey Harte was given the task of delivering GAA’s longest and most agonisingly unfulfilled dream. He has already acquired folk-hero status in record time. Now, he stands about 75 minutes away from being a legend.

Although football purists have been setting their video timers and Croke Park throbbed with anticipation beforehand, the classic was never going to materialise. They rarely do in All-Ireland semi-finals. These occasions are about heart and soul, those intangible things that separate champions from contenders. Not one Tyrone person is going to care when they read this morning this was a game of 19 scores and 73 frees. Victory was all that mattered.

“People were expecting a high-scoring classic, nobody was going to allow the game to be 1-24 to 1-23 in an All-Ireland semi-final. The scoring averages were going to come down, it would be naive to think otherwise,” Harte said afterwards, his voice almost lost to the passion of the occasion.

Tyrone’s stall was set out early. Their sheer will and volume of their effort swamped Kerry, smothering their stylish attack. No cause was lost yesterday for Tyrone, every ball was worth fighting for. The wrongly-maligned Brian Dooher exemplified this more than anyone. You have to wonder does Colm O’Rourke like ketchup with his straw hat.

It doesn’t matter what O’Rourke thinks, because Dooher did a passable impersonation of the hardest working footballer in the modern game again yesterday. There wasn’t a blade of grass in Croker left untouched by his boots. To most eyes, he was Man of the Match and Harte’s smile became a little wider when he was asked about the veteran’s contribution.

“People don’t appreciate just how good a footballer Brian Dooher is, but I think this year, Brian has opened all eyes. Brian Dooher is the player you would not want to be without in your team. He covers every blade of grass, pops up to take scores, pops up to win breaking ball, goes back to cover for his defenders.”

Each Tyrone player matched Dooher’s inexhaustible work ethic. The consistent harrying and hunting painted an ugly complexion on the game in the second half, but their ceaseless toil had to be admired.

“That is what I said to the lads at half-time. If we worked hard and were consistent, we would come through. And our players, they weren’t going to leave the first-half work behind them on the field. I told them to work harder in the second half, to take everything that Kerry could throw at us. And the lads took it all.”

There was a brief spell in the second half when hope glimmered for Kerry. Darragh Ó Sé was winning all the possession Ger Cavlan won in the first half and the Kingdom supply line was operating a little more smoothly. When Kerry came within four points of Tyrone, their supporters were starting to wonder. They had been down this road before.

“Well, that was a cause for concern.We had built up a big lead, some would say an unassailable lead and it was clawed back to four points. That wasn’t the place you want to be against Kerry going into the last fifteen minutes of an All-Ireland semi-final, because Kerry have 32 and Tyrone don’t have any. It certainly asked questions of our team, but the boys answered the questions.”

They have spent a summer answering questions. After only 15 minutes, the sporting Gods decided to ask Tyrone the biggest question of all, the one they have failed to answer so often in the past. Peter Canavan fell awkwardly, damaging his ankle. He would spend the rest of the game on the side-line. His absence seemed to inspire his team almost as much as his presence constantly does.

“It has been said about us in the past that we can’t play without Peter, and if we didn’t win this game, it would have been held against us again,” Harte said, nodding his head.

“We all talked about the team effort, everyone had to count. Maybe, this was a time and day to stand up and say Peter we have to do it for you. It hasn’t been done often enough for him, he has had to carry the can. If Peter was gone other times, Tyrone lost a lot of heart. Not today, there is life in Tyrone even if Peter Canavan is off the field. And to see him there on the side-line and dressing-room on crutches, that made the players say we have to do something here.

“We answered that question, but there are always more questions to answer. The only question we want to answer is the one we will be asked on September 28. We are in the final. That’s all. We have to meet Armagh or Donegal, and there is no cause for celebration yet. We are delighted to be in the position of looking forward to the final, but there is a lot of work to be done if we want to lift the Sam Maguire.”

And with that, Mickey Harte, the man who has inserted the spine of steel which Tyrone football was always thought to lack, leaves, to shake hands with those most passionate of followers who have already accorded him messianic status.

They are close now. Getting closer.