2005 was another red letter year for Tyrone. The late, much-missed Cormac McAnallen would have appreciated the O'Neill County's passion play. Tyrone's achievement in regaining the 2005 All-Ireland SFC title has been hailed as a watershed triumph. The O'Neill County's winning formula has forced the mere mortals elsewhere in the country into a massive re-think. Tyrone's success in securing the Sam Maguire Cup for the second time in three years has placed the O'Neill County's finest into the pantheon of great teams. Where once just Peter Canavan was lauded as the sole deity among mere mortals, each of the All-Ireland SFC-winning Tyrone players have now been tagged as the 'unbeatables'. So how did Red Hands manage to elevate themselves above the ordinary in 2005? Tyrone produced so much artillery, so few cracks in their armour and such a varied quotient of ammunition that even the most vaunted, most aristocratic Kerry team in years couldn't deny them their destiny. Seldom before in the history of Gaelic football have All-Ireland winners been so unequivocally and unanimously acknowledged as being the best team around as was the case with Tyrone on Sunday evening, September 26th. Tina Turner's 'Simply the best' would have been an appropriate refrain to hear from the tanoy at Croke Park on that date. And who knows what the ramifications of Tyrone's latest Sam Maguire Cup success will be in determining how, and just how many, teams are able to step up to the plate now that Mickey Harte's have raised the bar so high. It was the style with which Tyrone beat the best of the rest in 2005, and especially Kerry in the final, that has caught the imagination of the public. The manner of Tyrone's annexation of their two All-Irelands has created a new benchmark which has put it up to the rest of chasing pack 'something serious' as they say around Aughnacloy, Omagh, Pomeroy, Coalisland etc. Tyrone showed in 2005 that they have the perspiration and the inspiration in equal measure in their locker; a mix that no other team was able to match, with the exception of Armagh. That said, would-be opponents in Ulster and further afield were heartened in the early part of 2005 by Tyrone's apparent sluggishness. The players who would be kings did manage to top Division 1A of the NFL with five wins but losing to Wexford in the subsequent semi-finals hinted at a certain vulnerability. Still, Down couldn't match Tyrone's best Hand on May 22nd in Omagh in the Ulster SFC quarter-final. The Mourne County didn't so much fall on their sword as wilt in the face of a full-on Tyrone. Eight Tyrone players made the scoresheet as Down were downed by 1-13 to 1-6. It was an opening salvo which was efficient, industrious and liberally laced by degrees of imagination and cleverness which would become such a trademark in their all-conquering campaign. The next day out was mirage-like with a workmanlike Cavan team bursting a gut in Clones on June 19th to force a replay with Peter Reilly converting a 'soft' free eight minutes into added-on time to effect one of the shocks of the championship season. For Tyrone Cavan's production of a 'get out of jail' card appeared a bit like a runner coming up on the leader's shoulder with 200 metres of the mile left to run - a reminder. Tyrone manager Mickey Harte was content just to get another shot at making the provinical decider. "Cavan will probably feel they should have won but we done well to come back from two points down at half-time and then again after they got their goal. "We were lucky to survive though and if we don't change things in a big way we'll be in trouble the next day too." 'Aye right,' the Cavan fans collectively sighed. Cavan were duly dispatched in the replay by a whopping 21 points (3-19 to 0-7) with Peter Canavan notching 1-7 and Stephen O'Neill helping himself to a 1-5 tally. Almost as indictative of Tyrone's power and division of labour on June 25th at Casement Park was defender Philip Jordan's achievement in bagging 1-1. Around the corner lay chief protagonists up North and defending provincial champions Armagh. Predictably their Ulster final meeting was switched to Croke Park and a July 10th date arranged. Predictably it was to be a tense, tight and claustrophobic affair. Imbued by a five-star display by Stephen O'Neill (0-10), Tyrone were the better team in the provincial final but their 14 points were cancelled out by the Orchard County's 2-8 with Steven McDonnell and Paul McGrane goaling and pointing inside 40 seconds in the last minute of the game to level matters. Mickey Harte's tactics worked to a tee and ought really to have earned his side the Anglo-Celt Cup in front of 60,186 fans. Tyrone concentrated on a fast, short-passing game and their superior speed enabled them to gain the upper hand on Joe Kernan's men. The deployment of Enda McGinley on Aaron Kernan helped Tyrone work the oracle around the midfield area but Armagh didn't panic and pulled the fat from the fire in dramatic fashion. It was a hugely draining match for everyone involved, including a drained looking Mickey Harte: "We had probably one hand on the cup and they took it from us, which they're entitled to do. "If you're four points up against a team like Armagh with a little time to go, you would expect to be able to hold on. "If we hadn't conceded a goal we probably could have held on but we did concede a goal, the second of the game, and we have to live with that," Harte reflected at the time. If the provincial final was physically demanding, it was to be merely a couple of press-ups to the full circuit training of the entire campaign. When Tyrone subsequently lost the Ulster final replay by 0-11 to 0-13, questions were asked about whether the team had got the necessary killer instinct. Observers had conveniently forgotten about the variables which bedded down Armagh's win like the controversial dismissal of Peter Canavan and Stephen O'Neill which arguably cost Tyrone the game. But all of Tyrone believed that Armagh should have been dispatched in their first final meeting, no question. And the suggestion that Tyrone had a difficulty in squeezing the life out of ailing opponents was to raise its head again when the side tied the subsequent thrilling All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Dublin (1-14 apiece) on August 13th. Prior to the two games against Dublin, the would-be All-Ireland champions recorded a double scores, 2-14 to 1-7, win over neighbours Monaghan at Croke Park on August 6th. The compulsory championship banana skin had been binned in unceremonial fashion. The draw against the Metropolitans had those in the long grass whispering the word 'bottle' once again. "I suppose it's the theme of the day now, that we can't finish teams off," team-manager Harte commented. "I'm not that concerned about it. "We have been involved in a lot of close games. "The apparent trend is there but I don't see those things as being that closely associated with each other." The replay against the Dubs marked Tyrone's eight game of the championship. Once again their utter resolve and stamina would come under scrutiny, more so than their capacity to do the business in a tight finish. For the replay, the rejuvenated Owen Mulligan was again on fire and his 1-7 tally was instrumental in guiding the men from Ulster to an exciting 2-18 to 1-14 victory at Croke Park on August 27th. The season went on for Tyrone and manager Mickey Harte wisely altered the training regime to take into account the extra toll on his players. It was a master stroke. Instead of several collective sessions a week, the Tyrone squad did their heavy work by preparing with tailored programmes at local gyms that spared them being tired travelling to and from training. The players met up twice a week and individually trained on their own the remaining five days. It was a testimony to each and everyone of the players in the squad that they rigidly stuck to the ordained regime. Nothing would be sacrificed on the altar of mistrust. No drinking. Ice baths, pool treatments, masseurs. The formula was to be tested again and again. On September 4th, Armagh sought to puncture Tyrone's balooning confidence, yet again in Croke Park but this time in the penultimate round of the All-Ireland. As with their display against Dublin, the Tyrone lads impressed greatly in beating Armagh by 1-13 to 1-12; their battle hardness and Stephen O'Neill's ice-cool penalty conversion helping to push the team into the decider. Finally Tyrone had proven who was best. Armagh fans will disagree but the O'Neill County were the best outfit for long patches of the three matches with Armagh. But, amazingly, Tyrone saved their best display until the biggest day of all. The result? Tyrone 1-16 Kerry 2-10 In a high-tempo, physical contest, Peter Canavan played his by now customary cameo role to perfection with a choice and timely goal to leave his side three points in front (1-8 to 1-5) at half-time after an early Dara O Cinneide goal threatened to propel Kerry into clear water. But Tyrone proceeded to show that they held most of the aces. Ryan McMenamin smothered Colm Cooper's web of skills, helped by a lack of supply to Gooch; Brian McGuigan swept the man of the match trophy away with a textbook playmaker performance while, in front of 82,112 fans, Mickey Harte showed his tactical acumen with his introduction of Chris Lawn 23 minutes from time. With such a wealth of brillance all over the field, Tyrone added hunger and workrate to work the oracle with deadly proficiency. Points in the dying minutes from Brian McGuigan and Philip Jordan had the words nail and coffin richocheting from the rafters of Croke Park. It has been suggested that the 2005 Tyrone squad has the potential to be the best Gaelic football has ever seen. One wonders. The fact is that in scooping the 2005 All-Ireland SFC title, the Great O'Neills became the first team to win an All-Ireland final after ten matches. Enough said. Tweet

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