Football

Cahair O'Kane : Passive Tyrone just waiting to get beaten unless they change

Tyrone's lack of aggression when faced with Dublin is something they will have to arrest if they are to win any future meetings. Picture by Philip Walsh
Tyrone's lack of aggression when faced with Dublin is something they will have to arrest if they are to win any future meetings. Picture by Philip Walsh Tyrone's lack of aggression when faced with Dublin is something they will have to arrest if they are to win any future meetings. Picture by Philip Walsh

TWENTY-three minutes. That’s how long was gone in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final before a Tyrone player engaged in a proper tackle with any Dubliner.

Jack McCaffrey cut inside and was stopped in his tracks by Colm Cavanagh. By that stage, its futility was already obvious.

Dublin were 1-7 to 0-4 ahead and even with Cavanagh’s tackle, McCaffrey just recycled. 15 seconds later, Con O’Callaghan was ghosting past another non-existent tackle to make the gap seven.

Tyrone’s defensive setup that day was the focus of much of the in-game and post-match criticism but after years perfecting it, the Red Hands could never have believed they’d go 23 full minutes without making a single meaningful tackle.

When Colm Cavanagh blocked down a Con O’Callaghan effort later in the first half, he turned to his own team-mates almost in anger. Dublin had kept the ball for 2 minutes and 10 seconds without a single hand being laid on them.

There was just a complete lack of aggression about Tyrone. Now isn’t that an ironic thing to say?

The players are partly to blame, but the system is too. Dublin just kept the ball out of the contact area and even when they went six, seven, eight down, Tyrone never enlarged that area for themselves.

What resulted was the frustrating sight of 14 white shirts inside their own 45’ while Dublin strolled with the ball at halfway.

Think about that strategy in comparison to the greatest tackle sequence of all time. When Tyrone hounded Dara Ó Cinneide and Eoin Brosnan into submission 15 minutes into the 2003 All-Ireland final, perhaps the most significant thing is where on the pitch it occurred.

That Tyrone team has always been held up by southern protagonists as the purveyors of defensive football and the idea of zonal marking, but this was a pack of white wolves chasing and hitting hard on the Kerry 45’.

Now that was a Tyrone team with one of the greatest forward divisions we’ll ever have the pleasure of witnessing, which is of great consequence in analysing why they had so many up the pitch to tackle in the first place.

There is little doubt that in trying to perfect the counter-attacking gameplan that has brought back-to-back Ulster titles, Mickey Harte has been covering for the absence of that absolute stellar quality among his current attacking options.

When they began down the Donegal path four years ago, the game had changed and become all about defending in huge numbers and counter-attacking.

But it has changed again since.

The current All-Ireland champions play by completely different rules of engagement than the previous trendsetters.

They make contact whenever and wherever they can. It has been one of their greatest strengths.

Mayo could perhaps even lay claim to the trend but the least they’ll have is a share in its origins. Kerry too, lest we forget, have almost got the job done on more than one occasion.

Where defensive football has failed so woefully, a brave, attacking gameplan has so nearly succeeded in bringing down the Jim Gavin empire.

The first two rounds of the National League are perhaps not much to set your watch by, but there have been definite signs that the trend set by the top three teams is being followed elsewhere.

Without boring you with too many numbers (you can go to Twitter for them if you’re really interested), the average score from the opening two rounds has increased significantly this year in the top three divisions in football.

The number of goals has gone through the roof. In just 32 games, there have already been 80 green flags lifted, which is almost double the tally for the same period last year (48).

As a Saturday night TV viewer, there was a marked difference in the two games. Tyrone used the boot and played well going forward in the first half, but when it came to it in the second half and they were again chasing the game, they reverted to type.

They spent the last 20 minutes back inside their own 45’ again as Dublin did the exact same thing, teasing them with the ball out the field before picking them off.

On the whole Tyrone were certainly more aggressive than last August, but there still needs to be much more.

Take, for example, the way in which Peter Harte has dealt with the waspish attentions of John Small. That’s twice now the Ballymun defender has limited Tyrone’s best player to a passive influence simply by being in his face and tormenting him.

If you were a Tyrone supporter and they met Dublin in July, wouldn’t you love to see Harte march up at the throw-in and reach for Small, start a wrestling match? Get the crowd going. Show a sign of intent. And leave Small walking the high-wire when you can play on it.

Small did get booked after 22 minutes last year but by that stage, the game was already over.

The Kerry-Mayo clash from the weekend is absolutely tempered by the individuals missing on both sides (the Mayo defence was almost unrecognisable), but the absolute commitment of both sides – particularly the Kingdom – to playing on the front foot was very noticeable.

At one stage, Paddy Durcan had to turn and kick the ball 30 yards back to David Clarke, who soloed on the spot for a good 10 seconds.

There was no pass on, every Kerry forward touch-tight on their man, forcing Mayo right back to the point that there were as many as 20 outfield players inside the home side’s half.

Such moments are about all you can take from February football in terms of what we might see in summer, but the evidence is already there that it will take a front-foot style to win Sam Maguire.

Tyrone may retain their Ulster title whether we see it from them or not, but unless they bring a bit of aggression and bravery to their play, all they’ll be doing in late July is waiting to get beaten.