Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final between Kerry and Tyrone rekindles memories of some intriguing battles between the counties in the last decade.
The 2003 All-Ireland semi had that defining image of the Tyrone defence swarming around Kerry’s Eoin Brosnan. It prompted Pat Spillane to issue those immortal words “puke football.”
In the 2005 and ’08 finals the fare on offer was a lot more pleasing to the eye. On both occasions, the Red Hand triumphed – they were becoming an itch that the Kingdom could not scratch.
Looking ahead to the weekend’s game, Kerry boss Éamonn Fitzmaurice is playing down the significance of those games from the last decade.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, he said: “There was a ferocious rivalry in the noughties and Tyrone had the upper hand, beating us fair and square in 2003, 05 and ’08. We got some measure of revenge in 2012 when we beat them in the qualifiers in Killarney.
"Since then there’s been a lot of change and two new teams will take to the pitch on Sunday. As a manager, my experience of Tyrone has been the few league games we’ve played."
That said, Fitzmaurice is expecting the Ulster side to mount a defensive shield at Croke Park, but is also wary of their threat going forward.
“Tyrone are defensive, but they do attack in numbers and have put up some good scores in many of their qualifier games,” he added.
“They have a lot of momentum and are getting better with each game. They were particularly impressive against Monaghan, which I think was lost a bit in the controversy that followed that match.”
As to how Kerry will deal with the Tyrone challenge, Fitzmaurice believes the players at his disposal will be able to adapt to what is thrown at them
“We have a strong squad and we will look to utilise that squad to its full potential on Sunday," he said confidently.
"We'll have to come up with different ways of breaking down the blanket defence and make sure that we defend well when they have the ball.
"Sometimes you have to cut your cloth to measure.”
Assessing the season so far, the Kerry manager has been pleased with the way his charges have performed since the drawn Munster final against Cork.
“It been said that we didn’t play well against Cork that day, but I thought we dug in well and showed great character to get the draw. Near the end, Ken O’Halloran had to make a great save from Paul Geaney so we could have won it. Fionn [Fitzgerald] kicked a massive point and bailed us out.
Our season turned after that primarily because there was a realisation that we had to up it. I think we did that in the replay. Training went up a few notches thereafter and I thought that was visible against Kildare [in the All-Ireland quarter-final]. Training in the last week has gone up another notch or two
"The lads love playing in Croke Park and the intention is to get to an All-Ireland final. Tyrone are going to be a big obstacle but we're ready for the challenge."
