National Football League Division One

Tyrone v Kerry

Sunday, Fitzgerald Stadium, 1.45pm

By Niall Gartland

TYRONE legend Sean Cavanagh enjoyed an extraordinary amount of success during his career, but knows from personal experience that getting the better of Kerry in Killarney is one almighty challenge indeed.

He describes Fitzgerald Stadium as a ‘graveyard’ for Tyrone teams and for good reason; they’ve lost their last five games in Killarney by an average of ten points, stretching back to that famous qualifier defeat in 2012.

In fact, Tyrone haven’t managed to get one over the Kingdom away from home since a Division One clash in March 2003, clinching a 1-13 to 0-14 victory in the early days of the Mickey Harte years.

So it’s fair to say that the Red Hands are in a tricky spot at present; they may need at least a draw in their final round clash against Kerry this Sunday to solidify their Division One status for another year, and they can’t rely on other teams to do them a favour with so much at stake across the board in the top flight.

Cavanagh, who remains Tyrone’s most-capped player in history, wouldn’t be surprised if it gets ‘hot and heavy’ against Jack O’Connor’s side – yes they’ve already booked their spot in the league final, but the prospect of relegating their northern nemesis is no doubt an appetising one.

“Killarney has been a real graveyard for Tyrone in the last 10 or 15 years – a lot of the time we go down to Killarney we come back up the road with 10-point defeats.

“That’s how it panned out in last year’s Division One semi-final so Tyrone have a point to prove, but Kerry are a hard team and a very proud county as well, and they’ll be baying for blood. If there’s any chance of relegating Tyrone they’ll go for it, so it’s set-up for a hot and heavy game.”

Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher’s side played some of their best football of the season to date as held firm in the face of a Mayo onslaught after the break to record a significant league victory last Saturday evening. It’s fair to say it was badly needed, but Tyrone aren’t out of the woods just yet and are in real peril of relegation of becoming the first reigning All-Ireland champions to face the drop since Donegal in 2013. Cavanagh says it would be a worrying development if that comes to pass.

“I remember being devastated when we lost our Division One status because it means so much to us, we’re a proud county and we felt like we’d let a lot of people down, it was only a couple of years after winning the All-Ireland.

“The lads went out to prove a point against Mayo, that they weren’t All-Ireland champions out of any fluke. They’ll certainly want to maintain their Division One status and it’s vitally important as well, because of the way the Tailteann Cup is divided, there’s going to be Division Two teams not making it into an All-Ireland championship.”