Tyrone show they have the Harte for battle

THERE WAS enough in Tyrone’s clinical dismantlement of Armagh last night to send a chill through the rest.

The chasm in class between a top Division 1 team and an aspiring Division 2 one was there for all to see and if you were of an orange persuasion it was not pretty.

For that matter, if you were looking at this through Dublin, Kerry or Mayo lenses it is likely that you squirmed uncomfortably in your chair as well.

The argument is constantly peddled that they have not been tested this summer and while that may be the case, you can’t doubt the fact that they can replicate the game-plan that squeezed what little ambition there was out of Armagh.

The big difference was that Armagh tried to play a defensive game, while Tyrone gave a master class in how to play it.

Colm Cavanagh was magnificent in a sweeper role, dropping back when his team lost possession but also knowing intuitively when to join the attack as exhibited in kicking the game’s opening point.

All their big players played well but none shone as brightly as Peter Harte who was exceptional.

He turned over kick-outs, linked played and stung for vital scores, showing absolute composure and conviction in the manner which he converted that penalty. They showed that Dublin are not the only team to have have a bench that can draw blood; David Mulgrew exceptional as he stung Armagh for 2-1. In contrast, it was a bad evening for Kieran McGeeney (pictured) who got a lot wrong, not least his deployment of James Morgan in a free role when the Crossmaglen man would have been better suited to a man-marking role. On top of that, Tyrone targeted Blaine Hughes short-kick-outs, turning him over at a cost, not least for Tyrone’s opening goal. That summed up the reality that this was men against boys.