All-Ireland SFC: Tyrone upset Kingdom to take third Sam Maguire crown
September 21, 2008
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Tyrone captain Brian Dooher raises the Sam Maguire trophy after his side has once again beaten Kerry
Tyrone 1-15
Kerry 0-14
An awesome second-half of supremacy saw Tyrone halt Kerry's three-in-a-row Sam Maguire bid and capture their third All-Ireland title.
After trailing by one point at the break, Mickey Harte's men thundered out of the traps in the second-half with an early goal from Tommy McGuigan which paved the way for eventual victory.
In one of the great All-Ireland finals, the lead had switched hands nine times in total but an inspirational score from the sublime Sean Cavanagh six minutes from time saw the Red Hands into a lead that they would never surrender.
As expected both Stephen O'Neill and Paul Galvin were introduced as substitutes for either side over the 70 minutes, but one man who didn't feature was Tyrone goalkeeper John Devine after the sad death of his father over the weekend.
From the throw-in Enda McGinley thundered forward and forced a foul out of Darragh Ó'Sé which Colm McCullagh pointed in front of goal, handing Tyrone the advantage after just 38 seconds of play.
A fine fetch at centre-field from Darragh Ó'Sé and a pass to Colm Cooper resulted in a tidy point from the corner-forward for the defending champions.
Both Cooper and Tommy McGuigan traded frees before patient possession from Tyrone's forwards presented Davy Harte with the opportunity to give his side the lead for the third time and the half-back made no mistake in dividing the posts on ten minutes.
Kerry ghosted in front through Cooper's second free and glowing work from centre-forward Declan O'Sullivan to one-two with Darragh Ó'Sé around Tyrone's defence to fist over the Kingdom's fourth.
However, the useful outlet of Sean Cavanagh provided a brace of points for the O'Neill County that saw his side regain the lead.
Until then Kerry had been dominating at centre-field with Darragh Ó'Sé very much to the fore-front for the champions, and the points of Declan O'Sullivan and a Bryan Sheehan free edged them into a deserved lead.
Kerry's hunger in the first-half was typified when the game's first out and out goal chance landed to Cavanagh, after a wayward shot from Tommy McGuigan fell to the full-forward, and he was blocked down by the Trojan-like Declan O'Sullivan, who had monitored the move back from his position on the 40. However, O'Sullivan did seem to be carrying the burden of chasing Tyrone's attacking defenders all on his own throughout the 70 minutes.
Brian Dooher levelled for the sixth time on 25 minutes with one of the game's outstanding scores from his half-forward position, with Mickey Harte sending on his trump card in Stephen O'Neill in place of the wounded Colm McCullagh moments after.
Brave work from Ryan McMenamin found Martin Penrose in too much space from a Kerry point of view to shoot the Ulster side back into the lead.
A 55 metre free from Bryan Sheehan which curled marvellously over the bar equalled the sides once more, and made way for a simple Colm Cooper free in front of the posts soon after to give the Munster side a minimal advantage going in at the break.
Just 28 seconds into the restart Tyrone stormed into the lead when Stephen O'Neill held up possession and fed an on running Kevin Hughes whose effort took a deflection a dodded towards the goal-line where it was met by Tommy McGuigan ensuring it hit the net.
Ryan Mellon pointed from the resulting kick-out, but a white flag from Darren O'Sullivan just moments after taking his place as a substitute made sure the gap stayed at two on 42 minutes.
Both Brian Dooher and Tommy Walsh exchanged scores, as did Cavanagh and Cooper, but the two Ó'Sés would eventually bring things level for the first time in the second-half as both Tomás and Darragh hit points, with Cooper providing a wonderful assist for the latter.
A catch and layoff from Kieran Donaghy to Cooper saw the champions back with the initiative, but those typical traits of the Kerry full-forward were a sight not too often seen by the Kingdom fans over the course of this decider, mainly due to a combination of poor supply coming out of his side's half-back line and dogged Tyrone defending.
In response substitute Owen Mulligan dished a quick pass off to Sean Cavanagh who levelled matters before Paul Galvin's introduction a minute shy of the hour mark. The Moy clubman then went one better by sneaking in from the left flank and sending over to change the lead for the ninth and final time.
Five minutes from time Declan O'Sullivan was given the chance that would have surely have won it for Kerry, but replacement 'keeper Pascal McConnell denied the former Kingdom skipper with what was undoubtedly the save of the match.
Instead Enda McGinley, Kevin Hughes and Colm Cavanagh all pointed the way to the ultimate finishing line as Tyrone sealed their third All-Ireland success in five years, while denying Kerry of an elusive three-in-a-row.
Tyrone - P McConnell; R McMenamin, Justin McMahon, Joe McMahon; D Harte (0-1), C Gormley, P Jordan; C Holmes, E McGinley (0-1); B Dooher (0-2), M Penrose (0-1), R Mellon (0-1); T McGuigan (1-1, 1f), S Cavanagh (0-5), C McCullagh (0-1, 1f). Subs - Stephen O'Neill for McCullagh (25), K Hughes (0-1) for Holmes (35), B McGuigan for Penrose (51), O Mulligan for Mellon (57), C Cavanagh (0-1) for T McGuigan (68).
Kerry - D Murphy; M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan, P Reidy; T Ó Sé (0-1), A O'Mahony, K Young; D Ó Sé (0-1), S Scanlon; B Sheehan (0-2, 2f), Declan O'Sullivan (0-2), E Brosnan; C Cooper (0-6, 3f), K Donaghy, T Walsh (0-1). Subs - Darren O'Sullivan (0-1) for Brosnan (42), T Griffin for Scanlon (52), P Galvin for T Walsh (59), D Moran for Sheehan (67).
Ref - M Deegan (Laois)
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