Victory over Wexford gives Tyrone another glimpse of 'Sam'
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Tyrone’s Conor Gormley, Ciaran Gourley and Ryan McMenamin, flying high during their 0-23 to 1-14 All-Ireland semi-final win over Wexford at Croke Park on Sunday.PM3680
Tyrone 0-23. Wexford 1-14.
by Francis Mooney.
THE dream final will see Tyrone and Kerry do battle once again for the Sam Maguire Cup, following Sunday's cracking action at Croke Park.
The Red Hands qualified for their third decider in six years with victory over Wexford, while the defending champions got the better of Cork in a replay.
It was quite a day for Tyrone supporters, who watched the county's minor and senior teams win through to appear together on the GAA's showpiece occasion for the first time ever.
Now it's all systems go for September 21, when the Kingdom will provide the opposition in the season's grand finale.
Tyrone were simply awesome at times, playing irresistible football to which the Model men had no answer, but they also showed signs of vulnerability that will have to be addressed in the weeks leading up to the final.
Having led by nine points at one stage, Mickey Harte's men were pegged back to two points by a resurgent Wexford side, but had more left in the tank for a strong finish and a relatively comfortable passage to the decider.
Harte was delighted with the outcome, but admitted to some concerns over certain aspects of his side's performance.
“We're not setting the world alight. We're playing some good football and some ordinary football, but we're getting the right results at the minute, and it's results that really count. And here we are, we're in the final, and it's very good to be here," he said.
While Tyrone saw a nine points lead whittled back to two, Harte offered praise to Wexford for the manner in which they fought their way back into the game.
“It's one of those things, it's difficult sometimes to push on with a good lead. But it's not always your own fault. You have to give credit to Wexford.
“They could have rolled over and died if they hadn't been made of better stuff, but they're made of very good stuff, and the fact that we had known that they had come back twice against Meath after being 10 points down, it wasn't a strange place for them entirely.
Battled back
“And they battled back with a few scores, they got their goal, and suddenly very much it was game on.
“So it's credit to them. Okay, you might say we took our foot off the pedal, but that's a bit simplistic.
“Teams don't just sit back and take their foot off the pedal, the other team decides to take a hand in the action, and that's what Wexford did.
“We had to deal with that, absorb it and try and do something else, and thankfully we had another bit of something there, and the players decided it was time to change the script again and they did that.
“A lot of credit has to go to our players, who were in a very strong position, found it slipping away from them, and grasped the nettle again.
Harte conceded that the loss of ace attacker Matty Forde was a huge blow to Wexford's hopes.
“When you lose key players like Matty Forde, and they lost their wing half back Adrian Morrisey, a very important player for them as well, when you lose players like that, it will have a negative impact.
“But mind you, it didn't seem to do that, because I think Wexford played very strongly at the start of the second half.
“Maybe they spread the load a bit more, and didn't have such a dependency on Matty, maybe it helped them in a strange kind of way.
“Of course when we lost Sean Cavanagh it was a bit critical for us as well, for he's such a ball player, such a ball winner, and such a threat up front.
“He was a huge loss to us too at the time he went of, but that's the rough and tumble of the game. Sometimes things work out for you, sometimes you're under pressure.
“The result is everything and we have the result, and we're very happy about that."
Harte heaped praise on a Wexford side that has added a new dimension to the championship of 2008.
“They can be very proud of what they have achieved this year, and that's not patronising people whop have lost a semi-final, because when they were beaten by Dublin in the second half of the Leinster final, I thought this team won't be back for two years, never mind one year.
“But to come back from that and to be so positive again, and to have such belief, is a credit to all of them, their management and all the players, and it has to be a great move forward for Wexford football.
“And if they can build on that for next year, then not many people will want to meet them."
Wexford opened the scoring through Ciaran Lyng, but Tyrone responded with three quick scores. First Philip Jordan got them going, before Sean Cavanagh converted a free and added a gem from play.
Devastating scoring burst
Wing back Colm Morris added to Wexford's tally, but the Red Hands responded with a devastating scoring burst which saw them hit eight points without reply.
Brian Dooher cut in from the left to nail on a score, and Jordan charged forward again for his second, as did fellow defender Ryan McMenamin.
Martin Penrose, a late replacement for 'flu victim Brian McGuigan, Colm McCullagh (2), Tommy McGuigan and Cavanagh all added further points to push Tyrone into a 0-11 to 0-2 lead on 24 minutes.
Aidan Morrisey and Enda McGinley swapped points, and as Tyrone allowed the tempo to ease in the closing stages of the half, Wexford narrowed the gap with scores from full back Philip Wallace, Lyng and PJ Banville.
A Cavanagh free and another McGuigan effort from play to lead by 0-14 to 0-6 at the break.
Wexford's ace attacker Matty Forde failed to appear for the second half, having emerged from the dressing room on crutches, but the Leinster side nevertheless came out with all guns blazing.
Substitute Shane Roche added to their tally, Lyng struck two more and Paddy Colfer also hit the target.
Tyrone did get points on the breakaway through McCullagh and Davy Harte, but in the 48th minute Lyng burst through for a brilliant gap, and when he added a free, the deficit was down to just two points.
But Tyrone, with Justin McMahon and Jordan performing superbly, reacted to the danger.
McMenamin got forward to fist a point, Penrose added two more, and in a strong finish there were further scores from Tommy McGuigan and Dooher.
Tyrone scorers: Sean Cavanagh (2 frees), Colm McCullagh (2 frees) 0-4 each, Martin Penrose, Philip Jordan, Tommy McGuigan (1 free) 0-3 each, Brian Dooher, Ryan McMenamin 0-2 each, Enda McGinley, Davy Harte 0-1 each.
Wexford scorers: Ciaran Lyng 1-6 (4 frees), Philip Wallace 0-2, Adrian Morrisey, Colm Morris, PJ Banville, Paddy Colfer, Adrian Flynn, Shane Roche 0-1 each.
Tyrone: John Devine, Ryan McMenamin, Justin McMahon, Ciaran Gourley, Davy Harte, Conor Gormley, Philip Jordan, Colin Holmes, Enda McGinley, Brian Dooher, Martin Penrose, Joe McMahon, Tommy McGuigan, Sean Cavanagh, Colm McCullagh.
Subs: Brian McGuigan for Cavanagh, Colm Cavanagh for McCullagh, Kevin Hughes for Holmes.
Wexford: Anthony Masterson, David Walsh, Philip Wallace, Brian Malone, Adrian Morrissey, David Murphy, Colm Morris, Eric Bradley, Brendan Doyle, PJ Banville, Redmond Barry, Collie Byrne, Ciaran Lyng, Paddy Colfer, Matty Forde.
Subs: Shane Roche for Forde, Ciaran Deely for Byrne, Adrian Flynn for Colfer, Rory Stafford for Murphy, Niall Murphy for Morrissey.
Referee: Pat McEnaney (Monaghan).
