JOANNE Cantwell drew a parallel between the judges at Madison Square Garden and the pundits in Croke Park.
The early hours of Saturday morning had seen Katie Taylor again add to her legacy in New York while the evening showcased why Kerry have been All-Ireland favourites for most of the year.
Kerry defender Jason Foley joined them for an interview post-match[/caption]
Upon the Kingdom securing their spot in the July 27 decider, Cantwell quipped that the scene before her was akin to boxing judges debating their scorecards.
Like the goings on in The Big Apple, it wasn’t a unanimous verdict as Sean Cavanagh was out-voted by Tomás Ó Sé and Ciaran Whelan over who should be named Player of the Match.
The Tyrone legend was aghast that David Clifford was overlooked in favour of Joe O’Connor who did put in a powerhouse display in the middle of the park.
He argued: “I think Kerry people underestimate how good David Clifford is because they see him so much.
“Every time I see this guy I see the greatest football I’ve ever laid eyes on.
“There’s plenty of workman-like players 99.9% of players can’t do what David Clifford can do. He can beat you in any way you want.”
To this Whelan countered: “Listen we know Clifford scored 1-9 and we know the genius he is.
“But sometimes the hard work that’s done out the field makes the difference he was phenomenal today box to box and he kicked two points.”
Ó Sé added: “Nobody can say Clifford didn’t deserve it but from the very start it was a workman-like performance and nobody epitomised it more than Joe O’Connor.
“He’s involved in every single thing from start to finish, but if Clifford had got it you couldn’t have argued.”
The Kingdom were angry against Armagh and deadly against the Red Hands as they backed up that quarter-final display with an even better overall performance at Croke Park tonight.
Clifford sizzled in the baking heat with 1-9, his brother Paudie continued to orchestrate their attack as Joe O’Connor lorded the middle and Seanie O’Shea worked tirelessly for the cause.
And Tyrone simply had no answers for a relentless performance as Clifford ran Padraig Hampsey ragged to fire Jack O’Connor’s men into the showpiece against Meath or Donegal.
Kerry’s midfield has often been questioned, but O’Connor silenced the doubters in style.
The Austin Stacks man won his epic battle with Conn Kilpatrick, and was the driving force behind their performance as they ruthlessly picked Tyrone apart with 0-9 without reply in the second half.
O’Connor scored 0-2, and covered every blade at Croker until the hooter. Even with seconds to go with his team eight points up, he flung himself in front of Mattie Donnelly’s shot to sum up his shift.
Darragh Canavan showed his class for the Red Hands with 0-7, but Malachy O’Rourke’s men totally ran out of gas as Kerry stayed in top flight.
Brighter days lie ahead for Tyrone on the back of All-Ireland minor and under-20 glory, but this was a big reality check.
