Tyrone’s 100% Record Ends.

Monday 30.04.2012

Club

Tyrone’s unbeaten start to the season came to an abrupt end when they were beaten by a very well organised and hungry Kildare team. Kieran Mc Geeney’s side made one change before the start but that change was important as Eamon Callaghan came in at wing half back. The Lily Whites boss had planned on Tyrone playing with Ronan Mc Nabb in a withdrawn role and counted on utilising Callaghan to carry the ball from defence. Kildare’s selection and choices for man marking duties worked out very well for them and they were full value for their win with second half sub Padraig Fogarty hugely influential in the last quarter of the game.
Tyrone failed to make good use of the elements, and the ball in the first half and Owen Mulligan and Stephen O’Neill were starved of possession throughout the opening thirty five plus minutes. Kildare’s massed defence was very effective even if it made for poor entertainment but it provided them with a platform for the second half. That could all have so different had Stephen O’Neill’s goal bound effort not flashed the wrong side of the post just before the break.
Tyrone began the second half in a positive manner and controlled the game for the opening thirteen or so minutes as they upped the pace and workrate. An unfortunate slip by Johnny Curran afforded Kildare a way back into the game and once Fogarty hit the first of his three points the writing was on the wall for Tyrone.
Kildare, who last won a National Title in 1928 sensed victory and extended their lead with some very composed and confident play. This win will give Kildare a significant boost in confidence as they looked like a team with a single, shared purpose who have made great use of their ten days together in the sun. Ultimately however they will be judged by what they do in the championship and that will be the real measure of this side’s development. anything less than a Leinster Championship for Mc Geeney’s team will lead to questions with the county about the direction the team are currently going in.
As for Tyrone there are certainly lots of issues for the team to look at but the one consolation of this defeat is if there was ever to be a match that you didn’t mind losing this was the one. Tyrone should have lots to talk about and focus on when they meet up again next week but it is better to face these challenges now than later in the year after facing Armagh.