Tyrone attack impresses Mikey Sheehy

The meeting of Tyrone and Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final 12 years ago is often seen as a watershed in the development of Gaelic football.

It was the day Kerry were limited to just six points as they struggled to cope with Tyrone’s swarming defensive tactics, which Pat Spillane branded as “puke football”. One of Spillane’s team-mates from Kerry’s golden years, current selector Mikey Sheehy, was a columnist for The Kerrymannewspaper at the time and he saw the 0-13 to 0-6 result coming, even if it wasn’t a popular prediction.

A bit of inside information - his sister is married to the brother of former Tyrone manager Art McRory - helped his prediction but, while he wouldn’t necessarily be tipping the Red Hands for Sunday’s last-four clash, he’s not expecting a cakewalk for his own side, either.

“At that particular time [2003] I was nearly run out of Tralee!” he laughs. “Because I’d predicted, all right, Tyrone were going to win. But I think it was a fluke really - a bit of a lucky one. If I was able to look into a crystal ball, it’s a difficult game to call. I saw the game last Saturday in Dublin, and a lot of people talk about Tyrone and their defensive system - which is a very disciplined system - but people must realise they’re racking up big scores.

“Their game isn’t just completely defensive. They counter-attack and I think, during the qualifiers, they’ve averaged the bones of 16, 17, 18 points a game. So that’s quite impressive.”

Sheehy’s final game in Croke Park as a Kerry player was against Tyrone in the 1986 final, when he scored 1-4 in what would be the Kingdom’s last win until 1997.

“A game we should have been beaten in as well, possibly! They were seven points up at one stage and, funny enough, during that game, I’d say it was the one thing they hadn’t prepared for. You could see it in them, they were kind of shell-shocked, and we got a couple of scores and prevailed in the finish. I think Kevin McCabe missed a penalty.”

Having been denied from the spot by Offaly goalkeeper Martin Furlong in the 1982 final, when a Kerry goal would surely have secured the five in a row, Sheehy can emphatise. McCabe’s pointed penalty felt like a let-off for Kerry, leaving the gap at seven rather than nine, and Sheehy is in no doubt that he should have gone for the jugular.

“I think he went for a point, even though he said he went for a goal, because if he got the goal, the game was over.”

It’s difficult to foresee Tyrone getting into a position which well leave them shell-shocked on Sunday, with all possibilities catered for in advance. Sheehy certainly acknowledges that Kerry will be preparing for variations in tactics, though it’s not an exact science.

“You do hope that you have prepared for every eventuality, but you don’t really,” he says. “You’ve just to be very smart on the line. You’re watching what positions in particular - our match-ups and their match-ups, what Kerry forwards they pick up and vice versa. But you’d be very tuned in, just to see what system they’ve in place, if they’ve one sweeper back or whatever.”

One player Sheehy firmly expects to see on the field is Tyrone’s Tiernan McCann, despite the eight-week ban given to him after their win over Tyrone.

“I think this thing about Tiernan McCann is blown out of all proportion,” he says.

“He’s not the first guy that has dived, and won’t be the last. The thing that amazes me is, wherever this rule or this proposed eight-week ban, I don’t know, is it true or untrue, nobody has verified it. It’s a warning shot. He’ll play Sunday and I hope he does. He doesn’t deserve an eight-week ban.”