Kerry get cut off at source

Tyrone 0-13 Kerry 0-6: A great day for Tyrone and a not-so-great day for football was the consensus among neutrals after yesterday's Bank of Ireland All-Ireland semi-final. The neutral could add that Tyrone won't care too much about that.

Mickey Harte's team had far too much desire and football for a faded Kerry and although they topped the free count in a match of almost record-breaking delinquency they had plenty of help from the Munster champions and still proved themselves well superior in all aspects of the game.

To their additional credit they had to cope without their talismanic leader Peter Canavan for all but 14 minutes of the match. Had anyone suggested such a deprivation before the throw-in the odds on Tyrone would have lengthened like the shadows on an August evening.

Canavan's last semi-final, in 1996, was blighted by injury and this turned out a repeat. Early on he sustained a gash to the head and had to be bandaged - another echo of seven years ago, when Brian Dooher and Ciarán McBride required similar attention. Then in a contest for the ball with Seamus Moynihan in the 13th minute he went over on an ankle and had to hobble off. A scan will be needed and there will be an anxious wait in the county even though there are five weeks to go to the final.

It's not to sell short the Ulster champions to state that there will be official dismay at the level of fouling. In the first half Tyrone players were routinely pulled down when beating their men and they returned the tactic with interest in the second half.

Video analysis will indicate precisely who did what but referee Gerry Kinneavy might have reached for at least a couple of red cards amidst the plethora of yellow. Failure to punish persistent fouling is compounding the problem.

On a more positive note it was impossible not to be impressed by the Ulster side's resolve. Their constant movement and commitment scattered Kerry to the wind.

Losing manager Páidí Ó Sé said afterwards his side hadn't really done themselves justice but they weren't allowed get into their rhythm. If Kerry had arrived at Croke Park under the illusion that Tyrone would facilitate their familiar orthodoxy, they were swiftly disabused of the idea.

After the match, team captain Canavan spoke of the importance Tyrone had placed on starting well and denying Kerry the early momentum that makes them so hard to catch. This job was done so thoroughly that the winners led by 0-5 to nil at the end of the first quarter.

That spell provided the template for what would follow. Kerry's defence was ill at ease from the start. Tomás Ó Sé moved to centre back in a switch with Eamonn Fitzmaurice but it didn't stop Brian McGuigan making the feared inroads on the 40.

Inside, Owen Mulligan and Canavan were creating pressure and Enda McGinley was exploiting the havoc.

As most analysts were pointing out during the week, the way for both teams to cope with the opposing full-forward lines was to keep the ball away from them. Once it went inside, the damage was nearly all done.

Tyrone had obviously absorbed this. Their centrefield was tight and disruptive and their half lines voracious on the breaks. Darragh Ó Sé was unable to go steeplejacking for high ball until into the second quarter, by which stage the match was nearly beyond recall. Even when it came to kick-out ball, Tyrone's Ger Cavlan was the most impressive performer and took a succession of good catches.

And in defence the same patterns were asserted. Defence started in the full-forward line and if Moynihan had trouble winning possession as Tyrone swarmed forward, it was nothing to the difficulty he had breaking from the back. On such occasions he was surrounded by a swarm and struggled to get away precise deliveries.

There was, however, nervousness on both sides - a reflection of the high stakes involved - and frequently possession got turned over, but Tyrone were always likely to win it back. Michael Russell and Colm Cooper never got premium service in the circumstances and when in possession they were combatively marked by Ciarán Gourley and Ryan McMenamin.

By the break - only reached after eight minutes of injury time, a reflection of the inordinate number of stoppages - the score was 0-9 to 0-2 and barring a miracle the match was over.

There were few positive precedents for this Kerry team. They had caught Armagh in the semi-final replay of three years ago despite trailing by five at half-time but the more apposite comparison appeared to be with the mauling administered by Meath at the same stage in 2001.

In Kerry's favour was Tyrone's inexperience - or more precisely the bad experience of losing a big first-half lead to Sligo last year. That match had suggested a mental frailty and lack of leadership and maybe with Canavan off the field Tyrone would again be vulnerable. But it was plain at half-time that Kerry were the team struggling for inspiration.

There was an inkling in a ragged second half that Kerry might be able to get back into the match. Tyrone's play was ultra cautious and conceded Kerry a dangerous amount of possession. Chances at the other end weren't always taken, with Owen Mulligan, in the absence of his mentor, deeming it wiser not to pass at all. This cost a couple of scores, although he was just denied by a goal-line intervention from, of all people, Declan O'Sullivan in the 56th minute.

But Kerry were unable to take advantage. Moynihan had been brought out to centre back but found no more room there than farther back. Kerry managed one point from play in the second half. Although at 0-10 to 0-6 in the 63rd minute, Tyrone looked vulnerable to a quick goal, Kerry didn't look likely to conjure one.

Replacement John Crowley might have had a free in the 67th minute when surrounded by defenders but it didn't look like a penalty. By then Tyrone were putting the match away. Stephen O'Neill - a fine replacement for Canavan - pointed neatly. He added another in injury time after Dooher had crowned another all-action display with a point.

This was only the means to an end for Tyrone, who take their season of redemption to the final stage for the first time in eight years. It will also be the first All-Ireland final between two teams from the same province, as champions Armagh take on Donegal in the second semi-final.

For Kerry it looks like the end of an era. But that is a matter for private contemplation in the Kingdom in the days and weeks ahead.

TYRONE: J Devine; C Gourley, C McAnallen, R McMenamin (0-1); C Gormley, G Devlin, P Jordan; K Hughes, S Cavanagh (0-1); B Dooher (0-1), B McGuigan (0-2), G Cavlan; E McGinley (0-1), P Canavan (0-1 free), O Mulligan (0-3, all frees). Subs: S O'Neill (0-3, one free) for Canavan (14 mins), C Holmes for McGinley (65 mins).

KERRY: D O'Keeffe; T O'Sullivan, S Moynihan, M McCarthy; E Fitzmaurice, T Ó Sé, J Sheehan; D Ó Sé, E Brosnan; S O'Sullivan, D Ó Cinnéide (0-1 free), L Hassett; MF Russell, D O'Sullivan (0-1), C Cooper (0-1). Subs: M Ó Sé (0-1) for Sheehan (33 mins), J Crowley for S O'Sullivan (35 mins), S Scanlon for Russell (half-time), D Quill (0-2, both frees) for O Cinnéide (53 mins), A Mac Gearailt for Hassett (70 mins).

Referee: G Kinneavy (Roscommon).