Tyrone tough it out as luckless Lilies fall short

GIVEN the week just passed, who better than those four ageing Irish rockers to sum it all up?

‘Faraway, So Close’ was the fifth track from U2’s 1993 Zooropa album and it fits the story of this All-Ireland quarter-final like a glove.

Just like in the Leinster final against Dublin, Kildare found themselves neck and neck with a more fancied runner coming off the final bend, only to be left gasping for air and eating dust in those cruel final yards.

They have improved beyond sight under Kieran McGeeney and have given Dublin and Tyrone the fright of their lives. But the bottom line for Kildare is that they have just exited the championship at the very same stage as last season.

With 15 minutes left, McGeeney’s lads were a point to the good having dominated the first half and recovered from Tyrone’s second wind after the interval. Then came the game’s defining moment.

A long dropping ball into the Tyrone penalty area was punched away by goalkeeper Pascal McConnell but only as far as the lurking Robert Kelly. The prospect of a second goal and a four-point lead was suddenly very much alive.

Kelly would still have had some work to do had he caught the ball. but instead he let the chance slip – quite literally – through his fingers. Tyrone survived and two minutes later they drew level for the fourth time.

The manner in which they did so said everything about a team that has perfected the art of winning no matter what the stage or the scenario. Sean Cavanagh rose highest to claim a dramatic high catch and his pass sent Brian Dooher galloping through the open plain towards Kildare goal and the wee dynamo has never scorned points in those circumstances.

The All-Ireland champions outscored Kildare four points to one in that last quarter but the losers had their chances. Five times they kicked wides in the closing eight minutes, each one a heavier blow than the last. Their tame ending wasn’t the only thing that contributed to their demise. John Doyle made a superb return to form after a quiet summer but he was the only Kildare man to score more than once all afternoon.

At this level that just isn’t good enough. Stephen O’Neill scored seven points too but the Tyrone corner-forward had support from Owen Mulligan who chipped in with three and the ever-excellent Brian Dooher who produced two.

Damaging though the final 10 minutes were to their chances, Kildare will know that the first half cost them dearly too. It was one they dominated but their four-point lead at the break didn’t adequately reflect by how much.

The theory was that Tyrone were making their seasonal debut in the big house feeling slightly vulnerable after an Ulster campaign that had left them largely untested and it was one that held water in that opening period.

Sure, they made Kildare work hard for their scores but Kieran McGeeney obviously had his boys well schooled. When Tyrone threatened to swarm the attacker, Kildare simply retraced their steps and probed elsewhere until a gap opened.

Kildare, thanks again to some heroic dogwork by Dermot Earley, were winning two balls to every one in the midfield trench as well and they were mixing their play up cleverly between short hand passes and long diagonal balls.

Their goal was a beauty too. Andrew McLoughlin launched the counter-attack 14 minutes in with a long ball to James Kavanagh and the wing forward’s pass across goal allowed Ronan Sweeney slot it home under McConnell.

Kavanagh was central to all that was good about Kildare by now and, with Doyle showing signs of a personal renaissance, the Leinster side began racking up the scores. They would lead by four at the break.

Kildare’s tackling was superb in that opening half. Tyrone weren’t helping themselves by missing well over 50% of their attempted shots on target but Stephen O’Neill was getting some change from Hugh McGrillen.

Then Tyrone hit the jackpot after the change of ends. They hit Kildare for six – points that is – in 12 devastating minutes after half-time. Owen Mulligan broke free of Gary White to hit three, O’Neill chimed in with two and Martin Penrose knocked over the other.

All of a sudden, Kildare were trailing by two but the script had a few twists and turns pencilled in before Tyrone could call it a wrap. For once this season, Tyrone were being hounded all the way to the post.

Four times the sides drew level over the course of less than 20 minutes but Tyrone found the higher gear thanks in no small part to the efforts of subs like Brian McGuigan and Sean O’Neill.

Scorers for Tyrone: Stephen O’Neill 0-7 (2f), O Mulligan 0-3, B Dooher 0-2, Justin McMahon 0-1, D Harte 0-1, T McGuigan 0-1f, M Penrose 0-1.

Scorers for Kildare: J Doyle 0-7 (4f, 1 sideline), R Sweeney 1-0, M Foley 0-1, J Kavanagh 0-1, A Smith 0-1, E Callaghan 0-1.

Referee: G O Conamha (Galway).