Derry and Armagh might have played out a thrilling Ulster final on Sunday afternoon, but the most dangerous team in the province was at home with their feet up, according to RTÉ Sport pundit Paul Flynn.
The former Dublin star reckons Tyrone could well turn out to be the most likely All-Ireland contenders in Ulster when all is said and done.
Derry outlasted the Orchard County in a penalty shootout in Clones after extra-time but, despite their excellent form all year, Flynn pointed to their feeble showing in the Division 2 league final against Dublin as an indicator that they might not quite have all their ducks in a row just yet.
Tyrone, All-Ireland champions in 2021, saw their Ulster tilt end in dramatic fashion last month when they conceded an injury-time goal in an uncharacteristically high-scoring quarter-final with Monaghan.
"It’s amazing that Derry don’t top the list, even though they’ve put in such a consistent level of performance all throughout the league – bar the league final – and even in the Ulster Championship and again today," Flynn admitted on The Sunday Game.
"They’re showing everything – the winning mentality, the structure, all the ingredients. But I can’t get the league final out of my head. I was there, they just didn’t perform against Dublin, four goals [conceded] that day. So that leads me to Tyrone.
"When I was playing they were always competitive, we saw it with them winning the All-Ireland a couple of years ago. Saw them up in Monaghan, they were excellent in the first half and I thought 'they’re back to the level they were at’ but then they go on to lose that game. But now, with a bit of a gap they’ll take a lot from that…"
Flynn’s fellow analyst, Lee Keegan, largely felt the same and pointed to Tyrone’s upcoming All-Ireland series tussle with Galway as a game that will tell a lot about who are the contenders and who are merely pretenders in this year’s race for Sam Maguire.
"The Galway game is coming at a really good time for them," the Mayo legend said. "You’re talking about one of the serious contenders, in Galway, we’ve all touted them very highly in terms of what they brought last year and the squad depth this year.
"That’s going to be a cracking game. If you’re Tyrone, you really want to target that game because you’re playing one of the top teams. That’ll paint a bigger picture for Tyrone. The All-Ireland a couple of years ago, you can’t omit that. They’re serious contenders if they get things right."
