Kennedy ready to rumble with the Dubs

By Alan Rodgers

ALONG the Loughshore in Derrylaughan, the GAA people know all about the challenge facing Tyrone as they prepare to meet the Dubs in All-Ireland action for the first time since the ‘Super Eights’ in 2019.

Defeat against the then all-conquering Sam Maguire kingpins was the lot for the Red Hands on that occasion at Healy Park. But time moves on, and now there’s a fresh determination for them to make a mark against opponents who have fallen slightly in the pecking order during the intervening six years.

For the members of the Kevin Barry’s and their dedicated support, the performances of Brian Kennedy have generated immense pride. There will be a special focus on him, and his efforts against the Leinster side in what promises to be an intriguing Croke Park encounter on Saturday.

Now Tyrone captain, he has made a massive impact at midfield in the past couple of seasons. He was introduced as a substitute in that 2019 encounter, worked hard in his time on the field, but couldn’t prevent a 1-16 to 0-13 defeat.

We’re told that things are different in 2025 and so they are. Both teams remain big contenders for All-Ireland honours, and some of Tyrone’s performances so far this year justify the belief that Dublin can and will be beaten.

For Kennedy, though, the focus is on maintaining the momentum of recent games.

Good wins against Donegal and Cavan sandwiched a difficult defeat to Mayo. Suffice to say, that there’ll be a hope of seeing the type of performances characterised in those All-Ireland round one and three victories.

“We had a tough test against Cavan the last day out and knew that they were going to be no easy test after beating Mayo. They put them to the sword and they gave Donegal a big challenge for 45 minutes of that match,” said Kennedy.

“That was our first real knockout game of the year and thankfully we got through it alright. It was very important for us to build up a good lead in the first half of that game, our scoring percentage was pretty good in the first half and every time we attacked we got a shot at goal and weren’t too wasteful in possession.”

It is fair to say, of course, that the challenge from Dublin will be far tougher than that posed by the Breffni men a fortnight ago.

Tyrone will have to up for what the 2023 All-Ireland champions pose, and probably need their best display of the year so far to emerge with the win.

“We have just been taking care of ourselves. We weren’t aware of how things were going in the Donegal against Mayo match and whatever the cards felt it was about dealing with that. But the extra week’s rest is definitely an added bonus,” added Kennedy.

“It’s massive for us to have reached the quarter-final. Topping the group was always a priority for us and we got there. But it’s going to be a massive test because there are no poor teams left in the competition now. You’ve seen how competitive the groups were and the quarter-final is always going to be massive no matter who it is.”

That two-week break has been consistently mentioned as a vital factor in how teams perform in the last eight and Kennedy was in no doubt about how beneficial it was not having to play in a preliminary quarter-final last.

“The break gives us the chance to rest up rather than having to go full at it again. It also gives the mind a bit of a break for a while, and then we knew our position a week on anyway,” he adds.

“We always knew that any of the teams left were going to be waiting on us. There are strong teams remaining, and we kept a good eye on the preliminary quarters and seeing what we were going to be up against.”

Tyrone haven’t beaten the Dubs in championship action since that famous All-Ireland quarter-final of 2008. Suffice to say, though, that there’s no doubting the determination of the management, players and supporters to bridge that gap come around 7.30pm on Saturday evening.