Recounting the famous day in 1981: 'We thought Kerry were wonder men coming to Tyrone'

40 years ago, Tyrone and Kerry met for only their second ever time in a challenge match in Carrickmore as part of a Kerry fund-raising tour for a world tour. Relations were convivial and happy, but one man that evening set about changing the course of history...

Young Tyrone fans pose alongside the Sam Maguire during Kerry's visit to the county in March, 1981. Picture: McSorley via Jason McCartan

As game week draws to a close, the Kerry and Tyrone squads are cocooned inside their own worlds, blithely ignoring the noise while the mortars and scuds are flying across newsprint, podcasts and radio, shelling their walls.

The two-week delay has everyone tetchy, tense, antsy. On a war footing. You could hardly believe there was a time that Kerry were worshipped in Tyrone.