Free-taking failure

With Ulster's dismal record in the All Ireland quarter-finals continuing, Jerome Quinn contends that the scarcity of specialist free-takers is a significant factor.

BBC Northern Ireland GAA presenter Jerome Quinn

So it's all down to Tyrone, again.

Armagh's defeat by Wexford means that there has not been a single Ulster winner in the All Ireland quarter-finals since Tyrone beat Dublin after a replay in 2005.

That also means it's been three long years since Tyrone beat Armagh in the semi-finals with Peter Canavan's famous late free.

Canavan showed in that game and in the 2003 All Ireland Final (on one good leg) that you need nerves of steel and a trusty technique to be a top free-taker.

Legs apart, angled to the target, a little jig, head down, good strike and follow through.

Compare this with the free-taker who prepares by soloing on the spot while looking at the target (what's that all about?) and then slices the ball wide, off the outside of his boot.

It happened in the Tyrone-Mayo game at a key stage and the Ulster team only just got away with it.

Similarly, Armagh couldn't convert a straightforward free last Saturday when Aaron Kernan was off the field being treated for an injury, just before half-time.

Armagh still led at the break, 0-6 to 0-5, but contrast the free-taking skills of the two teams - Lyng and Forde kicked four of Wexford's five points from frees and a sideline ball, while Armagh couldn't manage one.

2008: ULSTER'S TOP SCORERS Aidan Carr 0-24 (23 frees) Steven McDonnell 1-20 (7) Seanie Johnston 0-20 (7) Paddy Bradley 0-17 (10) Michael Murphy 3-8 (2-6) Benny Coulter 3-8 (0) Sean Cavanagh 1-13 (2) Colm McCullagh 1-13 (3) Tommy McGuigan 0-15 (8) Tommy Freeman 0-15 (7) Ronan Clarke 1-11 (0) Colm McFadden 0-14 (9) Eoin Bradley 3-3 (0) John Clarke 2-6 (0) Paul Finlay 0-12 (9)

Kernan recovered to kick three frees in the second-half but he only totalled 0-8 from frees in Armagh's five games.

Stevie McDonnell started promisingly against Cavan and Down but then faded alarmingly from the free-taking scene (0-2 in their last three games).

Armagh tried two other kickers - Paddy McKeever and Tony Kernan - but they contributed a mere 0-2 and in the absence of Aaron Kernan in the drawn Ulster Final, Armagh only converted one free.

Fermanagh were even worse, kicking themselves out of the replay and scoring only one free against Kildare.

The Erne County don't have a single player in the top 15 in the scoring charts.

Their top scorer was Ryan Keenan with ten points which averages as two points per game.

In previous years, Oisin McConville would have been leading the scoring charts for Ulster players by now, but that honour currently falls to Aidan Carr from Down on 0-24, with 0-23 from frees.

And he's a half-back, which doesn't say much for the forwards.

Let's go back to Aidan's dad in the early 1990s when Ross Carr's frees were vital to Down's double Sam Maguire success.

Peter Campbell free-taking helped Tyrone claim two All-Irelands

He was immense under pressure, though Down also had Gary Mason and Gregory McCartan to convert from the other side of the pitch.

Donegal had Declan Bonnar and Manus Boyle; Derry had Enda Gormley and Anthony Tohill.

The Derry duo contributed 0-9 from frees and 45s in the 1993 All Ireland Final.

Boyle hit three in-a-row at the start of the second-half of the '92 Final to send Donegal into a five-point lead. Vital contributions from reliable and specialist free-takers.

Perhaps something was lost in the rule change to allow frees to be taken out of the hands, because fewer players now seem to master the art. Canavan and McConville were the obvious exceptions.

So who's going to step up to the mark for Tyrone on Saturday?

Tommy McGuigan is the main source with 0-8 from frees though that was largely from the replay in Newry, Colm McCullagh has only converted 0-3, and Sean Cavanagh took over the long-range duties for a vital late score against Mayo.

Free-takers in Ulster could do worse than copy Kerry's Bryan Sheehan, the best in the business off the ground but sadly he's one of a dying breed.

His superbly executed frees from distance drove daggers into the heart of Monaghan and are a major reason why the Kingdom are on course for three in-a-row.

---

Don't forget Sportsound will also be streamed live on the BBC NI website on Saturday.

So let us have your views on anything GAA. Just fill in the form below or listeners can contact the programme by texting 81771.

---

Subject:

Name

Your E-mail address

Comments

The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.

Terms & Conditions

---