FORMER Tyrone goalkeeper John Devine says the current team is forging its own identity and will not be burdened by pressure to repeat the triumphs of the past.
As they prepare to meet Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final on Sunday week, reminders of Red Hand victories over the Kingdom in the Sam Maguire Cup-winning seasons of 2003, ’05 and ’08 are punctuating the build-up. But Devine, a medal winner in all three of those campaigns, is confident the players will not be distracted from their single-minded focus on the Croke Park clash with the All-Ireland champions.
“People talk about great teams from the past, but every good team starts somewhere and every great player was a young player himself, so with those players today who have come through a really tough battle, they’re starting to write their own identity now,” he said.
“They’re starting to give that team its own identity and they deserve credit for that. They knew themselves it was going to take a lot of hard work and everything else that goes with it - the skill, the determination, but now I think a lot of people will sit back and take notice of them.”
Devine, who retired from inter-county football in 2013, has been impressed by the skill levels and application of a group of young and emerging players. Watching on from the Hogan Stand as they despatched Ulster champions Monaghan last weekend, he observed confidence levels rising and rewards accruing for months of hard work on the training field.
“When you look at that Tyrone team, it’s laced with talent,” he said.
“There’s a lot of people that might doubt that because of the boys’ ages, but when you back it up with the hard work that they’re putting in, putting it in at training. A lot of those boys have dedicated a lot of their time to training and working hard and developing as players. And when you lace that hard work and skill together, it’s a potent combination and it definitely came to fruition.”
Kerry’s record against Tyrone in Championship clashes at Croke Park during the modern era is poor. But they have been in awesome form in recent weeks and Devine has no doubt they will be confident of putting one over on their Ulster nemesis. However, he sees no reason why Tyrone cannot extend that winning record and book their place in the All-Ireland final against Dublin or Mayo.
“I would say this Kerry team, under new management with an All-Ireland behind them as well, will not fear this Tyrone team coming forward, although back in Omagh this year in the League, Tyrone pushed them all the way,” he said.
“But why can’t Tyrone beat them? Tyrone are a young team, full of talent, now starting to create their own identity within the game and they’re working very hard. Every great team starts somewhere and why can’t ours start now?”
Kerry rifled seven goals past Kildare in their last game, while Tyrone have netted just three times in six games. But the Errigal Ciarán man pointed to an excellent defensive record which has seen Tyrone concede just one goal in this year’s Championship.
“I think Tyrone haven’t conceded a goal since the Donegal game. They haven’t conceded a goal in quite a long time, so defensively they’re playing very well," he added.
“The other thing about it is, when you go out to play a team like Kerry or Monaghan, there has to be match-ups. You have to make sure their danger men are marked closely. The Monaghan team had players like that and Tyrone got the match-ups right and I have no doubt that Mickey will get the match-ups correct again for Kerry.
“I think Mickey deserves an awful lot of credit. There would have been very few people out there who would have given him or that Tyrone team any chance of reaching the last four at the start of the year. And again he has proved the doubters wrong and he deserves an awful lot of credit for that.”
