Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Tyrone v Derry (Sunday, 4pm, O’Neills Healy Park)
It remains one of the greatest upsets in the history of the Ulster Senior Football Championship.
In May of 2006, Tyrone began the defence of their All-Ireland crown with a home tie against Derry. It seemed a formality for the Red Hands, who won their second All-Ireland in three seasons in 2005 following a 10-game Championship odyssey.
Tyrone’s vulnerability without Peter Canavan (retired), Brian McGuigan and Stevie O’Neill (both injured) would become apparent as Paddy Crozier’s Derry ambushed the Sam Maguire holders in their own backyard.
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Inspired by a pre-game speech from 1993’s All-Ireland winning boss, the late and great Eamonn Coleman, the Oak Leafers held Tyrone scoreless in a remarkable first half of football with Enda Muldoon’s second half goal giving them a 1-8 to 0-5 win.
Joint-manager Feargal Logan believes that loss should guard against any sense of complacency in the Tyrone camp, especially considering managerial colleague Brian Dooher captained the Red Hands that day while coaches Collie Holmes, Joe McMahon and Peter Donnelly also featured.
“It is a big warning,” stressed Logan.
“It might seem like a long time ago for some people, but for me, the Tyrone and Derry rivalry goes back a lot longer than that.
“It is a very deep rivalry. There are warning signs all over that (2006 game), especially coming off the back of a successful season.
“Tyrone struggled to even get on the scoreboard that day.
“There’s big warning signs there that I hope our players will heed them.”
At the mid-way point of the Allianz Football Leagues, it looked like Tyrone and Derry might swap divisions.
The Ulster and All-Ireland champions were in a precarious position and their place in Division One was far from current while Derry looked primed to take one of the two promotion berths after winning their first four games.
Yet, Rory Gallagher’s men stumbled in key games, drawing with Roscommon before suffering an 11-point loss to Galway in their penultimate game with the Connacht sides gaining promotion to the top flight.
That might have dampened expectations in Derry ahead of their Championship meeting with Tyrone, but Logan insists that the Oak Leafers are brimming with talented footballers.
“Brian (Dooher) made the point that Derry are a Division One in all but name at the moment,” said Logan.
“They’ve a lot to offer and they’ve had a lot of club success and Derry are no strangers to success. This team has won trophies in Croke Park and they’ve really built a solid team under Rory (Gallagher).
“I know they had a dark time, but the darkest hour is just before the dawn and they’ve probably won as many games as any other team in Ireland over the last two years so it is all to play for.”
Tyrone’s chances of avoiding another shock defeat to Derry received a double boost earlier in the week.
Conor McKenna’s red card from the preliminary round win over Fermanagh was overturned by the Central Hearings Committee (CHC) on Monday night while All-Star defender Peter Harte is back in training after having his appendix removed.
The Donnelly brothers, Mattie and Richie, may also feature after missing the seven-point victory in Brewster Park.
There had been a suggestion that Logan and Dooher would look to Tyrone’s U20 squad to replenish their ranks following the well-publicised departure of seven players from their All-Ireland winning panel.
Paul Devlin’s side came from behind to edge Cavan in last week’s Ulster final and face Kerry in next weekend’s All-Ireland semi-final (date and venue TBC).
Logan insists he is happy for the U20s to concentrate on their All-Ireland campaign, but hasn’t ruled out bringing in some players at a later date.
“Football panels are always open doors in my eyes,” added Logan.
“Players come and go at all stages.
“For those U20 players, they are best served with Paul Devlin, Dermot Carlin and Owen Mulligan.
“They are in their own pier group and they are learning and developing in that. We are delighted to win an Ulster title, which is brilliant, and it is best for them to play in that age group.
“We wouldn’t interfere with that at all. Who knows what happens or where they’ll finish - we hope they go the whole way and win another All-Ireland for Tyrone.
“Who knows what the future holds. We can’t look beyond Sunday either."
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