FASCINATING CLIMAX TO GREAT FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP It's the Bank of Ireland football final that so many fans wanted as Kerry, the 2004 champions, put their title on the line against Tyrone, who won the title for the first time in 2003. Their clash in Croke Park next Sunday (3.30) promises to be an epic battle between two excellent sides, both of whom are driven by powerful motivations. Kerry are attempting to become the first county since Cork (1989-90) to win the title in consecutive years and are also on a revenge mission after losing heavily to Tyrone in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final. Tyrone have arrived in the final via the long route, having to take the qualifier road after losing to Armagh in the Ulster final replay. They will be playing their 10th game next Sunday having already beaten Down, Cavan (in a replay), Monaghan, Dublin (in a replay) and Armagh. They also drew with, and lost to, Armagh in the Ulster final. Kildare's Michael Monahan will be in charge of next Sunday's game which will have the Down v Mayo minor final as curtain-raiser at 1.30. Next Sunday's game will be the 65th of the 2005 Bank of Ireland championship, made up as follows: Connacht 6; Leinster 10; Munster 5; Ulster 12; Qualifiers 24; All-Ireland quarter-finals: 5; All-Ireland semi-finals and final (barring a draw) 3. There were five draws (four in the Ulster championship and one in the All-Ireland quarter-finals). PATHS TO THE FINAL KERRY Kerry 2-22 Tipperary 0-13 (Munster quarter-final) Kerry scorers: C Cooper 1-5, MF Russell 0-8 (0-3 frees, 0-1 free), E Brosnan 1-4, L Hassett 0-3, M O Se 0-1, B Sheehan 0-1. *********** Kerry 2-10 Limerick 0-10 (Munster semi-final) Kerry scorers: C Cooper 2-5 (0-3 frees), E Fitzmaurice 0-1, MF Russell 0-1 (0-1 free), D O Cinneide 0-1, L Hassett 0-1, S Moynihan 0-1. *********** Kerry 1-11 Cork 0-11 (Munster final) Kerry scorers: D O'Sullivan 1-0, D O Cinneide 0-2 (0-1 free), T O Se 0-2, C Cooper 0-2, D O Se 0-1, M O Se 0-1. E Brosnan 0-1, L Hassett 0-1, MF Russell 0-1. *********** Kerry 2-15 Mayo 0-18 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Kerry scorers: C Cooper 1-1, MF Russell 0-3, P Galvin 0-3, D O Se 1-0, E Brosnan 0-2, M O Se 0-1, L Hassett 0-1, W Kirby 0-1, A O'Mahony 0-1, D O'Sullivan 0-1, D O Cinneide 0-1 (‘45'). Average For: 2-14; Average Against: 0-13 ************ Kerry 1-19 Cork 0-9 (All-Ireland semi-final) Kerry scorers: C Cooper 0-5; E Brosnan 1-2, P Galvin 0-3, B Sheehan 0-2 (0-2 frees), T O Se 0-1, L Hassett 0-1, W Kirby 0-1, MF Russell 0-1, A O'Mahony 0-1, M McCarthy 0-1, D O'Cinneide 0-1 (free). Played 5, Won 5 Average for: 1-17 Average against: 0-12. TYRONE Tyrone 1-13 Down 1-6 (Ulster quarter-final) Tyrone scorers: M Penrose 1-1, O Mulligan 0-3, S O'Neill 0-2, P Canavan 0-2, S Cavanagh 0-2, P Jordan 0-1, R Mellon 0-1, E McGinley 0-1. ************ Tyrone 0-10 Cavan 1-7 (Ulster semi-final) Tyrone scorers: S O'Neill 0-4, P Canavan 0-3, R McMenamin 0-2, O Mulligan 0-1. ************ Tyrone 3-19 Cavan 0-7 (Replay) P Canavan 1-7, S O'Neill 1-5, P Jordan 1-1, C Gormley 0-2, O Mulligan 0-1, S Cavanagh 0-1, M Penrose 0-1, E McGinley 0-1. ******** Tyrone 0-14 Armagh 2-8 (Ulster final) Tyrone scorers: S O'Neill 0-10, B Dooher 0-2, S Cavanagh 0-1, C Gormley 0-1. ******* Armagh 0-13 Tyrone 0-11 (Replay) Tyrone scorers: S O'Neill 0-5, M Penrose 0-1, B Dooher 0-1, R Mellon 0-1, R McMenamin 0-1, D Harte 0-1, B McGuigan 0-1. ****** Tyrone 2-14 Monaghan 1-7 (All-Ireland qualifier - Round 4) Tyrone scorers: S O'Neill 2-7, P Canavan 0-2, S Cavanagh 0-1, M Penrose 0-1, C Gormley 0-1, R Mellon 0-1, D Harte 0-1. ********* Tyrone 1-14 Dublin 1-14 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Tyrone scorers: O Mulligan 1-1, S O'Neill 0-6, S Cavanagh 0-3, B Dooher 0-1, R Mellon 0-1, E McGinley 0-1, B McGuigan 0-1. ******** Tyrone 2-18 Dublin 1-14 (All-Ireland quarter-final replay) Tyrone scorers: O Mulligan 1-7, S O'Neill 1-3, B Dooher 0-3, R Mellon 0-2, S Cavanagh 0-2, B McGuigan 0-1. ******* Tyrone 1-13 Armagh 1-12 (All-Ireland semi-final) Tyrone scorers: S O'Neill 1-4 (1-0 pen, 0-3 frees), O Mulligan 0-3 (0-1 free), S Cavanagh 0-2, P Canavan 0-2 (0-1f), R McMenamin 0-1, S Sweeney 0-1. Played 9, Won 5, Drew 3, Lost 1. Average For: 1-18 Average against: 1-10 KERRY v TYRONE - THEIR LAST CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING When Kerry and Tyrone met in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final, nobody could possibly have anticipated the easy manner in which Tyrone would advance to the final. However, they dominated from the start and ran out comfortable winners on a 0-13 to 0-6 scoreline. Tyrone led by 0-6 to 0-0 before Kerry opened their account in the 25th minute but Tyrone were well on their way to the final against Armagh when they led by 0-9 to 0-2 at half-time. Tyrone led by 0-10 to 0-3 after 48 minutes and while Kerry cut the margin to four points (0-10 to 0-6) after 63 minutes, Tyrone added three more points to run out comprehensive winners. Tyrone scorers: Owen Mulligan 0-3, Stephen O'Neill 0-3, Brian McGuigan 0-2, Brian Dooher, Enda McGinley, Ryan McMenamin, Peter Canavan, Sean Cavanagh 0-1 each. Kerry: Declan Quill 0-2, Colm Cooper, Marc O Se, Dara O Cinneide, Declan O'Sullivan 0-1 each. Tyrone: John Devine; Ciaran Gourley, Cormac McAnallen, Ryan McMenamin; Conor Gormley, Gavin Devlin, Philip Jordan; Kevin Hughes, Sean Cavanagh; Brian Dooher, Brian McGuigan, Gerard Cavlan; Enda McGinley, Peter Canavan, Owen Mulligan. Subs: Stephen O'Neill for Canavan, Colin Holmes for McGinley Kerry: Declan O'Keeffe; Tom O'Sullivan, Seamus Moynihan, Michael McCarthy; Eamonn Fitzmaurice, John Sheehan; Darragh O Se, Eoin Brosnan; Sean O'Sullivan, Dara O Cinneide, Liam Hassett; Mike Frank Russell, Declan O'Sullivan, Colm Cooper. Subs: Marc O Se for Sheehan; John Crowley for O'Sullivan, Seamus Scanlon for Russell, Declan Quill for O Cinneide, Aodan MacGearailt for Hassett. KERRY v TYRONE - THEIR ONLY ALL-IRELAND FINAL MEETING Kerry and Tyrone have met just once before in the Bank of Ireland football final. That was back in 1986 when Kerry were bidding for a three-in-a-row and their 8th title in twelve seasons. Underdogs, Tyrone led by 1-8 to 0-4 ten minutes into the second half (having seen a Kevin McCabe penalty fly over the bar) but Kerry battled back with typical courage. In fairness to Tyrone, the loss of Eugene McKenna and John Lynch through injury was hugely significant as both had been playing extremely well. Goals by Pat Spillane and Mike Sheehy stabilised Kerry who went on to win easily, 2-15 to 1-10. Kerry: C Nelligan; P O'Se, S Walsh, M Spillane; T Doyle (captain), T Spillane, G Lynch; J O'Shea, A O'Donovan; W Maher, D Moran, P Spillane; M Sheehy, E Liston, G Power. Sub; T O'Dowd for O'Donovan. Tyrone: A Skelton; J Mallon, K McGarvey, J Lynch; K McCabe, N McGinn, P Ball; P Donaghy, H McClure; M McClure, E McKenna, S McNally; M Mallon, D O'Hagan, P Quinn. Subs: S Conway for Lynch; S Rice for McKenna, A O'Hagan for M Mallon. BANK OF IRELAND SFC FINAL SHORTS *Kerry were easy winners in their last competitive clash with Tyrone, winning by 2-17 to 3-8 in a National League tie in Killarney on April 3rd last. Tyrone had already qualified for the League semi-final while the win for Kerry wasn't enough to earn them a place in the last four. Dara O'Cinneide on 1-5 (0-2 frees) and Colm Cooper (1-4) were Kerry's top scorers. Ryan Mellon on 2-0 (1-0 pen), Martin Penrose (0-4) and Enda McGinley (1-0) were Tyrone's top scorers. *Next Sunday's game will be the 6th All-Ireland final clash between Kerry and Tyrone in all grades. The score stands at 3-2 to Kerry. Senior: Kerry 2-15 Tyrone 1-10 (All-Ireland final 1986); Tyrone 0-13 Kerry 0-6 (All-Ireland semi-final 2003); Minor: Kerry 1-10 Tyrone 0-4 (All-Ireland final 1975); U-21: Kerry 5-12 Tyrone 2-11 (All-Ireland final 1990); Tyrone 4-16 Kerry 1-5 (All-Ireland final, 1991). *Mickey Harte is in his third season as Tyrone manager and will be leading then for the 25th time in the championship. His record leads: Played 24, Won 16, Drew 5, Lost 3 (to Donegal, Mayo, Armagh). Jack O'Connor is in his second season as Kerry manager and has yet to experience defeat in the championship. His record reads: Played 12, Won 11, Drew 1, Lost 0. ALL-IRELAND ROLL OF HONOUR Will Kerry clinch their 34th Bank of Ireland senior football title and move twelve clear of nearest rivals, Dublin? Or will Tyrone win their second crown, joining Roscommon and Limerick and moving ahead of Armagh, Derry and Donegal? Nineteen counties have won the All-Ireland senior football title leaving the following still chasing their first crown: Antrim, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Sligo, Leitrim, Clare, Waterford, Carlow, Laois, Longford, Westmeath, Wicklow, Kilkenny. 33 - KERRY (1903-04-09-13-14-24-26-29-30-31-32-37-39-40-41-46-53-55-59-62-69-70-75-78-79-80-81-84-85-86-97-2000-2004) 22 - Dublin (1891-92-97-98-99-1901-02-06-07-08-21-22-23-42-58-63-74-76-77-83-95). 9 - Galway (1925-34-38-56-64-65-66-98-2001) 7 - Meath (1949-54-67-87-88-96-99) 6 - Cork (1890-1911-45-73-89-90) 5 - Down (1960-61-68-91-94) 5 - Cavan (1933-35-47-48-52) 5 - Wexford (1893-1915-16-17-18) 4 - Kildare (1905-19-27-28) 4- Tipperary (1889-95-1900-1920) 3 - Louth (1910-12-57) 3 - Mayo (1936-50-51) 3 - Offaly (1971-72-82) 2 - Limerick (1887-1896) 2 - Roscommon (1943-44) 1 - Armagh (2002) 1 - Derry (1993) 1 - Donegal (1992) 1- TYRONE (2003) Tweet

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