Quote from: Lamh Dhearg Alba on February 18, 2024, 07:51:32 PMQuote from: Manning18 on February 18, 2024, 06:21:08 PMQuote from: Wildweasel74 on February 18, 2024, 05:45:40 PMDublin were actually still probably the best team that year, but Mayo caught them on the hop, after years of been beat by them,then couldn't produce the same display after.
It's Kerry that should've won that all Ireland on the bridle. They left about 2-6 worth of easy scores behind against Tyrone and conceded 3 goals in an extra time loss
Nonsense. Tyrone were down to 14 for 20 minutes and visibly tired in the second half of extra time, allowing Kerry to get back within a point. People have an awful habit of overrating Kerry teams because of the name. It was a decent Kerry team but not a great one. The better team won that day.
Ultimately Tyrone had been knocking at the door for a few years but Dublin were well ahead and we were also hamstrung by an overly cautious approach. In 2021 they had a license to open up more, the Dubs had gone back a few levels, Mayo weren't the team who had pushed them so close, and Kerry were overrated. Tyrone were the best team.
In truth there was more in that team. McShane wasn't fully fit, Darragh was still very young and we hadn't quite worked out how best to employ McKenna. There were more gears. But they rightfully celebrated an unexpected AI and between that and sated ambitions, then injuries, retirals (and McKenna heading off), they never again got back on course before the team started to break up. And there's no crime in that.
I'm don't mean to diminish Tyrone, in the wider context of this discussion I actually think they were decent winners. McShane not starting and Tiernan McCann not even getting on the pitch are signs of a very strong squad overall. Morgan had a season of seasons, the midfield pair were excellent and their scoring efficiency in semi and final that year was superb
I don't think it changes the feeling though that Kerry completely threw it away that year. Simple goals not worked, extremely simple fisted points going wide, missing frees. All the while conceding very soft goals and the game was still a draw in normal time after all that. And the best player in the land couldn't play in ET remember
I don't think Kerry will mind all that much though in hindsight. Would they have brought in O'Connor and Tally and set up the Tadgh Morley sweeper system that allowed them to win the following year had they got over the line in 21? Probably not