Sport

Energy of youth can carry Tyrone a long way

Mark Bradley puts himself about during Tyrone's win over Meath in their All-Ireland Qualifier last month
Mark Bradley puts himself about during Tyrone's win over Meath in their All-Ireland Qualifier last month Mark Bradley puts himself about during Tyrone's win over Meath in their All-Ireland Qualifier last month

AFTER too many matches to mention in 2015, the one that stands head and shoulders above them all for enjoyment, skill levels and drama is the All-Ireland U21 football final in Parnell Park. Tyrone versus Tipperary. Played under a concrete grey sky. In drizzly rain. Puddles of water in the rickety old press box. Electric cables perilously close to the puddles.

It's a stadium that is crying out to be knocked down and built again. All was forgiven after watching two brilliant football teams go toe-to-toe for 60 unforgettable minutes.

For such a big occasion, Tyrone and Tipperary played some sublime football. It is one thing playing at speed - but to execute the skills of the game as well was what glowed most on that bleak Saturday evening at the start of May.

It was the first time I'd watched Mark Bradley. The diminutive Killyclogher forward was a late change to Tyrone's starting line-up.

Wearing number 23, Bradley's skill levels, low centre of gravity, sharp movement and left foot stood out like a sore thumb.

He was uncontainable in Parnell Park that night, scoring two lovely points and directing the traffic from the first minute to the last.

Such a pity, I thought, that he's not big enough for senior level.

Of course, Mickey Harte wasn't a big man when he played his football.

Bradley's height and weight wouldn't count against him. Harte threw Bradley in as a second half substitute in Tyrone's Ulster Championship defeat to Donegal in Ballybofey.

Over the course of the All-Ireland Qualifiers Bradley has become a regular fixture in the Tyrone senior team.

It is players like Mark Bradley that give the Red Hands more than a puncher's chance against Kerry on Sunday week.

Reporting from Croke Park last Saturday, Bradley didn’t feature much in the game.

So I had another look at the game on TV and watched Bradley from the first minute to his 67th minute withdrawal.

During the 67 minutes he was on the field against Monaghan I estimated Bradley had seven touches of the ball. Seven touches. That's a lot of miles for just seven touches of the ball. Three came in the first half and four in the second half.

In the fourth minute, he off-loaded the ball to Mattie Donnelly along the ’45.

In the 17th minute he took a sideline ball in his own half.

In first half injury-time he exchanged fist passes with Mattie Donnelly.

In the second half, he had four more touches, off-loading the ball each time, one of which enabled Connor McAliskey to score.

Bradley kept it simple every time.

Growing up, I’m sure the Killyclogher clubman imagined a different experience of wearing the Tyrone jersey and playing at Croke Park.

What makes Tyrone a dangerous proposition for Kerry in nine days’ time, and indeed a stronger contender for All-Ireland glory than the last time they reached this stage two years ago, is the pure selflessness that players like Bradley bring to the table.

Bradley is prepared to run himself into the ground for the cause. When Monaghan attacked Bradley was nearly always goal side.

He must have made between 25 and 30 60-yard runs to help build Tyrone’s human cordon across their 45 metre line.

Now, Bradley won’t win many turnovers. That’s not his role. He’s not on the front line breaking tackles.

His task is to kill space, to close off routes, to track runners.

And there’s nothing mindless about how Bradley executes this heavily nuanced role.

There were times when Monaghan were attacking and where Bradley was in danger of being exposed in the tackle, he would gesture for one of the defenders to come out and meet the player in possession. Bradley would funnel in behind.

And yet he still had the energy and turn of pace to present himself in at least four scoreable positions when Tyrone attacked Monaghan.

Bradley was perpetual motion. Indeed, it is hard to exaggerate the energy the U21 players have brought to Mickey Harte’s team this year.

In an interview with the Irish News last year, former Tyrone defender Philip Jordan remembered how much young legs contributed to their All-Ireland successes of the last decade.

“That crazy way you play football in your youth, you make all types of runs,” he said.

“When you’re a bit older you think making that run isn’t going to make that much of a difference so you don’t make it.

“But when players make a lot of runs it creates space and causes a lot of damage to the opposition.”

They say you can't win anything without experience. Equally, you can't win anything in the modern game without legs.

At Wednesday night's media briefing, Harte speculated that Tyrone have more legs than they did in 2013 when they fell to Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-finals.

“Potentially, I think we are in a better place [than 2013] in that there is more of a transition taking place within the team and more of the players on the right side of 25 for energy than there was that time [two years ago]," Harte said.

"So I think that has to be positive, and we’ve still got quite a bit of experience in there as well. Maybe the blend, the mix is better than it was then. That can only be good."

Nobody will out-work this Tyrone team.

And that "crazy way" you play football in your youth that Jordan talked about is why Tyrone won't fear Kerry at Croke Park next Sunday.