NOT for the first time on Sunday afternoon, Cathal McShane found himself surrounded. By the time he was thrown on for the final quarter of an hour, Tyrone were already a beaten docket.
Six points down, Armagh tails up, the comeback never looked like coming. McShane had Aaron McKay for company upon his arrival, with a few others hovering around for good measure to ensure the door stayed shut.
At Croke Park the summer before - having worked his way back from injuries that dogged the previous 18 months – the Owen Roe’s colossus twice bounded from the bench, making his presence felt in formidable fashion as he bagged 1-3 in semi-final victory over Kerry and an instinctive goal seconds after being thrown on against Mayo.
McShane was Tyrone’s ace in the hole, a symbol of the depth that would propel Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher’s men to an All-Ireland victory few could possibly have predicted.
What he would have given for even one of those perfectly-weighted Conor Meyler crossfield deliveries into the square during his brief cameo at the weekend. Instead, the ball barely went near him.
Coming off the back of an 11 point hammering by Derry, Sunday’s performance was hard to fathom. If - as was the narrative attached last year - Tyrone need a cause to really stoke the flames, then what greater than a hammering at the hands of your noisy neighbours before an expectant crowd in Omagh?
Yet the Red Hands bowed out with little more than a whimper. Armagh were brilliant, of course, the Orchardmen feeding off the buzz created by a full house at the Athletic Grounds, roaring into their rivals like their lives depended on it. But even Kieran McGeeney can’t have expected his men to be so dominant.
McShane was one of the last of the Tyrone contingent out on the field, graciously signing jerseys and posing for pictures long after the rest had cut through the crowd, heads bowed, spirit broken, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
It was a long way from the bleary-eyed brilliance of sun-soaked Healy Park last September when, all clad in navy shirts and tan slacks, the All-Ireland champions emerged from the tunnel to a rapturous reception.
The night before, even with Sam Maguire just commencing a 10-day isolation period back in Dublin, celebrations had gone on well into the small hours at the Armagh City Hotel – just an Ethan Rafferty kick-out away from the scene of Tyrone’s last stand nine months on.
That’s the problem with being champions; the bigger you are, the harder you fall.
Defending an All-Ireland Championship has never been easy but, even though the back door offers a second chance for those vanquished en route to provincial riches, the challenge remains too much for most.
Indeed, outside of Dublin’s incredible, unprecedented six in-a-row between 2015 and 2020, only Kerry (2006 and 2007) have managed to retain the Sam Maguire since the qualifier system was introduced.
Mitigating factors curtailed Tyrone’s previous three attempts – the 2004 Championship came in the wake of the shocking passing of Cormac McAnallen, the physical and mental toll of which must surely have played a part in them eventually falling short.
On the back of their 2005 triumph, an injury crisis left them shorn of several key men as, first, they exited Ulster, managing only five points in defeat to Derry before Laois put the tin hat on a year to forget six weeks later.
The summer of 2009, meanwhile, saw the Red Hands conquer Ulster, only to run into an in-form Cork side who were probably around the peak of their powers under Conor Counihan. Yet it doesn’t make it any easier to stomach.
“Unfortunately in Tyrone,” said former midfielder Enda McGinley on The Sunday Game, a rueful smile adorning his face, “whatever it is about us, we struggle that year after. And that pattern has continued.”
Failure to back up your achievement can also lead to a fair amount of revisionism, fairly quickly.
Dick Clerkin was the first to publicly air what many had been uttering beneath their breath since the day and hour Paidi Hampsey hoisted aloft the Sam Maguire – that Tyrone had been lucky champions.
“How could a team that showed such energy and intensity in Croke Park not nine months ago be made look so pedestrian by their neighbours?” mused the ex-Monaghan midfielder in the days after Tyrone’s Ulster exit to Derry.
“Was that down to being still hungover from last year’s success, or was it more down to the fact that they won a lucky, Covid-impacted All-Ireland last year against the head, and in truth are not as good a team as would normally lift Sam?”
A bit of a pantomime villain among Red Hands supporters from his playing days, Clerkin wasn’t exactly endearing himself to the Tyrone faithful all these years on.
He was also wrong.
You don’t get past defending champions Cavan, Donegal and then Monaghan in Ulster on luck. Don’t forget, around the same time Kerry were handing out hammerings to Clare, Tipperary and a hapless Cork on the way to their All-Ireland semi-final spot.
Sure, the Covid situation that saw Tyrone’s All-Ireland semi-final against the Kingdom put back not once, but twice, was a major turning point in the Championship. Had Tyrone come up against Peter Keane’s men when they were supposed to, most observers offered little hope.
Truth be told, not too many did even when they eventually met, especially after Covid had swept through the panel.
Away from prying eyes in Garvaghey, and with an anti-northern wind blowing down the country as the Red Hands were seen to have out-cute hoored those cutest of cute hoors, the foundation stones of a siege mentality were formed. Mayo didn’t stand a chance by the time the final rolled around.
Between then and now, something has gone badly wrong. A failure to find any kind of momentum or consistency in the League came at a considerable cost. Too many key men have been woefully short on form all year. A few fringe players drifting off the scene isn’t unusual – but seven? From an All-Ireland winning squad?
A painful post-mortem awaits, but the barbs from Dick Clerkin or any others bold enough to lash the boot in at this low ebb will only add fuel to the winter fire.
It is also worth reminding ourselves that in the last 12 months Tyrone have won Ulster and All-Ireland titles at senior and U20 level, the latter team boasting a host of glittering talents ready to make their own name on the biggest stage when the time is right.
There have been back-to-back Ulster minor titles in that time too, a last-gasp All-Ireland final defeat last September while the Red Hand class of 2022 face Kerry tomorrow in a bid to earn their own crack at lifting the Tom Markham Cup.
Tyrone might be hurting but, with a production line the envy of most counties in Ireland, there can’t be too many tears shed after this setback.
They haven’t gone away, y’know…
