A few weeks after Hurricane Charlie battered the country in 1986, Kerry and Tyrone met in the All-Ireland final. It was the first championship meeting between the counties. However, it wasn’t until the 2000s that he sides locked horns again and so began a modern-day rivalry that caught the imagination.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane.
1986 All-Ireland final - Kerry 2-15 Tyrone 1-10
The Kingdom completed a hat-trick of All-Ireland titles but not before they were given one hell of a scare from their Ulster opponents who made a mockery of their outsiders tag. In the first half, Tyrone were winning all the key battles, especially in midfield, and deservedly led by 0-07 to 0-04 at the break.
It got better for the Red Hand seconds after the break when Paudge Quinn goaled to put them six clear. A few minutes later and Eugene McKenna was upended in the square. A penalty was awarded and a chance for Tyrone to push nine points ahead and maybe out of sight. Kevin McCabe’s shot from the spot had too much elevation and Tyrone had to settle for a point.
Tyrone 1-08 Kerry 0-04 after 38 minutes.
That scoreline was the cue for Kerry to burst into the life. Their midfield began to dominate and their attack, in the shape of Mikey Sheehy, Ogie Moran and Pat Spillane, were beginning to get the ball they craved.
Ger Power sent in a delicate chip across the goal and Spillane rose delightfully to flick the ball to the net after 42 minutes. The comeback was on.
On 48 minutes, the Kingdom again raided with menace. Ger Power found Sheehy and the latter, despite being closed down by two players, squeezed the ball into the corner of the net.
Kerry were in the ascendancy now. Tyrone legs were starting to tire. The Munster men had turned a seven-point deficit into a six-point advantage in the space of 20 minutes. They would eventually win by eight, a stat that was a little unfair on Tyrone considering the shift they put in.
2003 All-Ireland semi-final – Tyrone 0-13 Kerry 0-06
The sun shone brightly from above but that was the only positive to take from 70-plus minutes of football, if we can call it that!
Tyrone were deserving winners - no qualms there. And while they would have liked their efforts to be more eye-catching, their objective was to get to an All-Ireland final. They achieved their aim by ways of a relentless surge right from the off that Kerry simply couldn’t live with.
The Kingdom’s opening point didn’t arrive until 25 minutes. By that stage, Tyrone had six on the board and by half-time Mickey Harte’s side led by 0-09 to 0-02.
Kerry did improve somewhat in the second half, driven on by Darragh Ó Sé's efforts at midfield. However, Tyrone’s strategy of fouling far out the field denied their opponents the opportunity to sufficiently close the gap. Kerry did reduce it to four but late points from Stephen O’Neill and Brian Dooher sealed Tyrone’s seven-point victory.
Afterwards Pat Spillane introduced the term “puke football” and that image of Kerry’s Eoin Brosnan being swarmed by Tyrone players got plenty of exposure. It said so much.
2005 All-Ireland final – Tyrone 1-16 Kerry 2-10
What a difference two years make! A truly absorbing final saw Tyrone hold their nerve to claim a second All-Ireland title and so deny Kerry back-to-back titles.
A Dara Ó Cinnéide goal after seven minutes had the Kingdom on the front foot and those early exchanges saw Colm Cooper kick some fine scores. However, the ‘Gooch’ would take a heavy knock to the face in an incident that annoyed the Kerry supporters. No action was taken, however.
Tyrone took control of the game in the second quarter and outscored their rivals by 1-05 to 0-02. Brian McGuigan, Brian Dooher and Ryan Mellon were exerting more of an influence in the half-forward line and just before half time, the Red Hand struck for a crucial goal. Owen Mulligan fed Peter Canavan and the latter’s deft ground shot found the corner of the net.
Indeed, Canavan was withdrawn at the break, but his re-appearance after 55 minutes gave Tyrone a psychological boost. It served to quell a Kingdom comeback in the shape of a Tomás Ó Sé goal that followed. That left a point between the sides, but Mickey Harte’s men, with Seán Cavanagh now more of a threat in the middle, showed the greater composure from there to the finish to see the game out by three points.
2008 All-Ireland final - Tyrone 1-15 Kerry 0-14
Sam Maguire wintered in Tyrone for the third time after this four-point victory. Quite simply, they wore Kerry into the ground as a priceless goal from Tommy McGuigan and a string of late points saw them prevail.
Indeed, it was a game tinged with emotion, following the death 24 hours earlier of the father of Tyrone goalkeeper John Devine.
Devine's place in the team was taken by Pascal McConnell, who made his presence felt by superbly denying Kerry two goals.
The sides were level seven times before Colm Cooper nudged Kerry 0-08 to 0-07 ahead before the break.
But just 22 seconds after the restart, McGuigan scrambled the ball to the Kerry net after Kevin Hughes' initial shot was blocked by Diarmuid Murphy.
With captain Brian Dooher and Sean Cavanagh pulling the strings, Mickey Harte's men went in 1-09 to 0-09 ahead.
Substitute Darren O'Sullivan made a big impact, bringing the Kingdom back to life with Darragh Ó Sé instrumental throughout.
Cooper's sixth point had Kerry back in front but the victors closed out a stunning win by scoring the game’s final five points, with three of them from the Cavanagh brothers, Sean (two) and Colm.
2012 All-Ireland qualifier – Kerry 1-16 Tyrone 1-06
Kerry scored a long-awaited win in this rivalry with an emphatic 10-point success at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney.
The Kingdom never looked like losing this one in front of their own fans, where a crowd of 24,370 watched a tense, rancorous contest which produced 16 yellow cards and a red for Tyrone’s Brian McGuigan.
Kieran Donaghy’s second half goal was the crucial score that set the hosts on their way and extended an unbeaten Championship run at home to 24 games.
Between them, Kieran Donaghy and Colm Cooper contributed 1-06 of Kerry’s total in a game where one James O’Donoghue also caught the eye.
Tyrone were reduced to 14 men in the 56th minute when McGuigan received a straight red card following a clash with Declan O’Sullivan, just seconds after entering the action.
