A road trip to Killarney following the county in June sounds like a great idea but the pandemic means we, the fans, are not really invited, bar the lucky few who will receive tickets from their clubs. Drives around the Ring of Kerry, trips to Dingle and pints in Tattler Jacks and Páidí Ó Sé’s bar at Ventry will have to wait to another time.
While away games in Kerry do not often produce positive results, it is one of the more glamorous weekends on the calendar for GAA fans and it will be disappointing not to be there in the midst of it.
Significantly Tyrone haven’t won away to Kerry since 2003. The long distance is crucial, indeed with seven victories apiece and two draws in 16 league meetings since the turn of the century, the home team has emerged victorious 12 times. Tyrone’s record against Kerry at home is very impressive but their away record in Killarney and Tralee is truly atrocious.
The return of league semi-finals feels quite daft given that a final will only happen if both Tyrone beat Kerry and Dublin beat Donegal. Tyrone have been lucky to secure Division 1 status for 2022 already despite just one victory over Armagh and a draw against Monaghan. Their best football was probably played in the opening match against Donegal where Paul Donaghy shone bright.
Tyrone had Kerry’s number in the 2000s, winning all three championship encounters. Since then Kerry have knocked Tyrone out of championship three times: 2012 in Killarney and 2015 and 2019 in Croke Park respectively. The 2019 All Ireland semi-final should especially rankle Tyrone as they went in four points up at half time despite the systematic tactical fouling of Peter Harte. In the second half, Tyrone’s main men with the exception of Cathal McShane were largely anonymous and the game slowly ebbed away from them. It was a missed opportunity to repeat the pairing of the 2018 All Ireland final with Dublin.
Revenge of sorts was dished out in dreadful conditions during Storm Ciara at Edendork in February 2020 after Healy Park was ruled unplayable. It was a day when a peerless David Clifford was immense despite being sent off unfairly thanks to some smart but cynical defending from the hosts. Darren McCurry and Niall Morgan had a day to remember on their club’s home pitch as Tyrone edged out Kerry narrowly.
It will be interesting to see how both teams approach this weekend’s game. Kerry start their Munster campaign in a fortnight but Tyrone have four weeks to wait until their opener against Cavan. A win in Killarney and a potential league final against Dublin would be fantastic preparation for championship for a Tyrone side who are struggling to establish an identity under the new Logan-Dooher management.
Kerry are most people’s tip to finally end Dublin’s dominance and they have classy players all over the pitch, especially in the forward line, so it won’t be easy for Tyrone. If Tyrone hold any hopes of progressing out of Ulster this summer, they will need to show something against Kerry that has only been seen in brief glimpse during the three games so far. The bookies have Tyrone 3/1 to record a win. We’ll see!
Unofficial Tyrone 