Tyrone face a whole new ball game to topple the Kingdom

MICKEY HARTE accepts Tyrone will face a “different” Kerry in the Bank of Ireland football final in three weeks to the one they easily overcame in the 2003 semi-final.

In his view, they may not have necessarily "adapted" to the style perfected by both Tyrone and Armagh over the last few years. What they have done under new manager Jack O'Connor is to "add variety" to their play! Harte accepts that after consecutive failures to Armagh (in the 2002 final) and Tyrone, some commentators suggested that Kerry "needed" to refine their play if they were to get back to winning ways. However, he stressed that he himself never stated this.

"I said that the game had moved on, that everyone should take note of that. If people didn't want to move that way that was their prerogative, but they shouldn't cast aspersions on those who did. That's what I said at the time.''