All-Ireland semi-final: Covid-hit Tyrone players must take credit for win - Dooher
- Published
Tyrone will return to Croke Park on 11 September to face Mayo in the All-Ireland final
Tyrone joint-manager Brian Dooher says his players have to take enormous credit following a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final win over Kerry.
Mayo await Tyrone in the final after a 3-14 to 0-22 extra-time victory over the strongly-fancied Kingdom.
The Red Hands' preparations were heavily impacted by a Covid-19 outbreak in their squad which led to the semi-final being postponed for two weeks.
"We are thankful to be still standing after all this," said Dooher.
"We were under no illusions about the size of the challenge. I didn't know how the boys would react, but they surprised me and they surprised everybody with their energy levels.
"They all dug deep, put in a big shift and they got us over the line."
On 14 August, joint-manager Feargal Logan revealed that there had been over 20 positive Covid cases within the squad and wider staff.
The GAA initially granted Tyrone's request to push back the semi-final six days until 21 August, and that was then delayed further until Saturday.
Despite a fast start from Kerry, Tyrone dug deep as Conor McKenna and Cathal McShane hit goals in normal time.
However Kerry, favourites for the All-Ireland after Dublin's demise at the hands of Mayo, forced extra-time, where McKenna struck his second goal which ultimately provided decisive.
'There were some phenomenal performances'
Dooher added he was thankful to the GAA and Kerry for the "sportsmanship" in allowing the semi-final to be pushed back and said it had been a "choppy time" for the county.
"We went through a spell where the numbers at training weren't good, but we got back gradually," he added.
"If you look at that performance today, and that is what we should be looking at, there were some phenomenal performances. If you look at the Kerry side, they were outstanding as well.
"We got the goals today and that is what made the difference. We got that cushion at the start of extra-time and that was the platform for us to build on. That was the critical part of it."
Tyrone's last All-Ireland success came in 2008 when Dooher lifted the Sam Maguire and the Red Hands take on a Mayo side who are looking to end a 70-year wait for gaelic football's biggest prize.
However after a bruising month for his side, Dooher said he was more focused on his players' recovery rather than the decider on 11 September.
'It's a dream come true' - Morgan and McKenna react as Tyrone reach All-Ireland decider
"A day or two isn't going to sort out the problems for some of our boys. There's not going to be much training done," he added.
"It's about getting them as right as possible then we will look at Mayo.
"Today we came out and just played the match in front of us. There was a point in it after 100 minutes of football, it is good for us to get over the line today.
"They players have to take the credit. They go over the white line, they do the work and they make the decisions
"If you have been through what Peter Harte has been through over the past three or four weeks, what he done today was phenomenal. I don't know where he got it out of."
Tyrone achievement 'massive' - Morgan
Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan praised the impact of Dooher and Logan, who replaced long-standing manager Mickey Harte this season.
"Since I started playing for Tyrone in 2013 we have struggled to get over the line against Kerry, Mayo and Dublin in big games," he said.
"It's massive for their first year in. Things have changed a bit and we have bit a bit more free, is probably a good way to describe it.
"There's no doubting what Mickey done for the county in his time in charge and this is building what he set in place.
"We managed to do it and get into the final so I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks.
"If you look at the Dublin v Mayo game it was end-to-end stuff, and it was much the same today. The second-half of extra-time seemed like it was complete chaos."
Conor McKenna scored two goals for Tyrone
Morgan said the work put in following Kerry's six-goal demolition of Tyrone in June, one of the reasons for the favourites tag attached to the Kingdom, was a turning point for their season.
"We went down to Killarney with a game plan that didn't work. We went back to the drawing board and we learnt from it.
"We done a serious amount of work straight after that game, for the Ulster Championship and not only in the hope of playing Kerry again.
"It was a carrot that was dangling in front of us. We have shown that defeat was a one-off day and we are a lot better than that."