Kerry are regarded as the bluebloods of Gaelic football. So what better scalp to get in an All-Ireland final, says Tyrone old boy Sean McNally. It's the sharpest point of the business end of the summer but Tyrone old boy Sean McNally admits that at one stage during the year he doubted whether the O'Neill County would be in situ at this juncture. He recalls Tyrone's Ulster championship defeat to Down and how it seemed to suck the life out of the county's morale, making way for a panoply of soothsayers to come forward. However the former flying forward delights in detailing how the county improved their form thereafter, resusitating their fortunes from untypical comatose beginnings. McNally is mindful of how practically every second Tyrone fan after the Mourne County setback was writing off the county's chances of bringing Sam home. He himself was on the cusp of becoming a card-carrying member of the doubting Thomas brigade back then but his faith in Mickey Harte's management ability kept him sane: "Tyrone supporters weren't that hopeful about getting another crack at winning the all-Ireland after the Down game but I had no doubts about Mickey Harte's management ability. "Sections of the media and some smart fellas among the support were giving him a bit of a going over but some people have very short memories when it suits them. "Everyone lives for football in Tyrone and there's always great expectations but a few people weren't being fair to Mickey and they've had to eat some humble pie since." Ahead of Tyrone's All-Ireland SFC decider with Kerry, McNally emphatically believes that the two best teams in the country will contest this year's mother-and-father of finals. McNally goes even further and says Tyrone and Kerry have proven themselves to be the best duo this decade and that a win for either this time around will have huge symbolism. "I think this is the final Tyrone wanted and the final Kerry supporters would have wanted as well," says McNally, right-half forward when the sides met in the 1986 All-Ireland SFC final. "Kerry have that aura about them and they'd be viewed as the number one team by most people outside of Tyrone I suppose. "Teams from Kerry have always had this swagger and self-belief about them and the current team are no different and supporters would tell you that beating Kerry any day is special. "It's great that we're able to look forward to playing them in the final because at the start of the year it wasn't looking that good because of injuries and retirements." Although convinced that the GAA will have the two most accomplished Gaelic football teams on duty for their biggest day of the year, McNally says the system did give them a dig-out. He is conscious of the fact that Tyrone and Kerry were both able to make use of the 'back door' system after exiting from the motorways at the junctions marked 'Down' and 'Cork'. "There might have been a lot of post-mortems carried out when both teams were surprised in their provincial champions but, in the long run, it has worked out well for them. "The qualifiers suit the bigger counties 'cause it allows them to pace themselves and gives them a chance to get over a shock result and get back in the race for the Sam Maguire. "With the injuries that they had to contend with, Tyrone were able too to blood some of the younger players in the squad during the qualifiers and get (Tommy) McGuigan back fit." The fact that Tommy's brother Brian McGuigan only sneaked into the All-Ireland SFC-winning panel of 2005 after a six-month stint in Australia isn't lost on our man McNally. A co-incidence or not, McNally is hopeful that the late return to the fold of Stephen O'Neill will spawn a similar result in the all-Ireland final three seasons on. Significantly, the one-time ace ball-carrier McNally believes that O'Neill and Co. make up a more potent attacking formula than that present in '05: "I think, overall, the current squad is more of a unit but the attack in particular has that bit more to it because in 2005, it was mostly all about Peter Canavan and O'Neill up front. "This time around, you can't really say that any one or two players stand out in the same way up front. "Definitely the return of O'Neill must be a big psychological boost to the players but I can't see Mickey Harte starting him in the final. "I've seen O'Neill playing recently for Clanna Gael and he looked very fit and he was showing up very well which is a very good sign for the Kerry game. "He's been out of action at intercounty level for a while now though and it's a big step up from club to county level so we'll have to wait and see how he gets on." And the Paul Galvin re-introduction to the fold? "Galvin's return will even things out but it remains to be seen whether Kerry start him either because there's a lot to be said for keeping with a settled, winning side. "It's hard to know exactly what the starting fifteen will be for both teams but, either way, it should be a good, open game of football because there's a lot of quality footballers about. "And with the return from suspension of Darragh O Se, there'll be an even bigger number of heavyweights around in the final." McNally reckons this year's final is a "50/50" affair but thinks the Kingdom's traditional superiority in Gaelic football will lend them the moniker of favourites in the days ahead. He remembers 2003 though when no one-thought Tyrone had a chance of beating Kerry but instead won by a convincing seven points margin and 2005 more or less saw a repeat. In terms of what Tyrone need to do to upset the odds once again this time around, the one-time speed merchant reckons the Ulster kingpins need to get a flying start off the blocks. "I think the first 15 or 20 minutes of the game will be very, very important and whoever gets into the driving seat will have a big advantage and could hold onto it. "Tyrone need to win the most of the breaking ball and try and control the Kerry forward line and stop them making enough impression in the early stages of the match. "Kerry have a deadly panel but a very good full-forward line in particular with the Donaghy and Cooper partnership now being added to by the emergence of Tommy Walsh." On the flip side of such a positive analysis of the opposition's make-up, McNally isn't altogether fazed by Kerry's worth at the back. In fact, he is fairly convinced that Kerry's rearguard this year isn't "nearly as good as it was, say, four or five years ago, especially their full-back line." Tyrone have the punch, poise and panache, he suspects, to enable them to exploit Kerry's alleged weaknesses in defence. The O'Neill county will go into the final in confident mode, the 1985 Ulster SFC debutant moots as "most of the players have either played in Croke Park finals at either minor or U21." And long gone are the days, he points out, when teams from the North would come down to Croke Park in almost apologetic mood and in awe of behemoths like Kerry. Tugging the forelock is a thing of the past for Ulster's finest and the upcoming final will again feature a meeting of equals with the destination of the spoils likely to go down to the wire. "I think the performances of Ulster teams over the last twenty years or so have meant that they're given much more respect now and they've no sense of inferiority. "Going right back to 1985 when Monaghan should have got a win instead of a draw against Kerry in the semi-final and then when we ran them so close in the final the next year." It doesn't concern him that Kerry have the incentive of sealing a three-in-a-row title success and, instead, reminds all and sundry that Tyrone are gunning for something similar. "We beat them in 2003 and again in 2005 so why shouldn't we get the better of them in 2008 and make our own three-in-a-row out of it?" Tweet

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