TIPP UNHAPPY AS RED HANDS SNATCH TITLE
AFTER the final whistle, the delirious Tyrone players danced in the rain on the Parnell Park pitch, chanting ‘Logie Bear’, a tribute to Feargal Logan, the manager who led the county to its first All-Ireland Under-21 title in 14 years. As Tyrone’s latest generation celebrated, emotions ran high off the pitch. Someone within the Tipperary camp took exception to the late tactics employed and Logan wasn’t admitted to commiserate with the losing players. ‘It’s raw for them at the moment but I hope relations between Tyrone and Tipperary football don’t get to the pitch where we have guys putting people out of a dressing-room,’ Logan said. ‘I don’t want to make a fuss out of it. They felt we coached a certain way, that’s their prerogative. ‘They are very sore, we are very happy. It’s a sore thing. I lost the 1995 All-Ireland final by a point, lost a club final with Stewartstown Harps and finally got to win one at the third time, so nobody needs to tell me how sore it is when you lose All-Ireland finals.’ If the steady rain that soaked Dublin on Saturday diluted the quality of this match, it didn’t lack for drama — right up until the final moment when Tyrone’s impressive Michael Cassidy was dismissed by Fergal Kelly, yet the referee allowed Seán Fox take his kick-out. The decision confused and vexed Tipperary manager Tommy Toomey. ‘The referee should explain how a man can be sent off for hitting a fella off a goal-post and he still gives a free out. I don’t understand that and I thought we deserved a draw.’ Tipp’s inspirational captain Colin O’Riordan did his best to drag his team to extra-time, scoring two exceptional points near the end. But Tyrone were streetwise enough to keep the slender lead they had held since Cathal McShane’s goal on 46 minutes. That bullet put Tyrone in front for the first time, 1-9 to 0-10. Mark Kavanagh went on a surging run, combining well with Frank Burns before feeding the big midfielder. The impressive Mark Bradley and Danny McNulty tagged on scores to keep them in the ascendancy, although O’Riordan drove his team forward at the death. ‘We got caught out with the goal,’ Toomey admitted. ‘And that was the deciding factor in the game, but I thought the lads showed their mettle to battle back. This team is never beaten. We are down but these players will gather themselves up and there are 18 of them under-age again, nine who played tonight. We are learning and this will stand to us.’ Tipp’s patient attacking play in the first half, when they only shot three wides, was in sharp contrast to Tyrone’s edgy forwards, who hit 10 wides in the opening halfan-hour and trailed 0-5 to 0-7. However, a medical emergency involving a spectator delayed the start of the second half by 45 minutes. Tipp had to retreat to the dressing-room after coming on the field and it unsettled them. ‘Tyrone came out and looked a bit livelier,’ Toomey conceded. ‘But they had to bring the game to us. I just felt for the families of the people who were in trouble.’ Logan echoed those sentiments. ‘My own brother Michael went to help resuscitate a Tyrone man. When I heard that, I thought football is not important. We had a long half-time but we regrouped. It didn’t suit Tipperary because they were thinking about the winning post.’ But once Tyrone got in front, they remained there. This will be a title savoured in the county. But Tipp’s fighting spirit suggests that there are better days ahead too.