Dooher aware that the stakes are now much higher

A BIG display in this weekend’s Preliminary Quarter Final has the potential to breathe new fire into Tyrone’s All-Ireland campaign after the county recorded a second consecutive victory last Saturday over Cork.

It has been a season of encouraging highs mixed with frustrating lows for the Red Hands. But now they have the prize of a quarter-final place to focus their attentions.

Victory over Cork by 1-18 to 0-17 at the weekend highlighted what this Tyrone team is capable of. Now the challenge is to grasp this latest opportunity as the Sam Maguire race finally reaches its knockout stages.

The pressure is on for all counties from now on. Tyrone joint manager, Brian Dooher, is well aware of what’s at stake as they prepare to make their mark in the final twelve.

But the focus for the players and management is on concentrating on the team positives as they prepare for a sixth Championship clash in 2024 so far when Roscommon visit Omagh this weekend.

“It’s good to get the two points and the win, especially against a stiff Cork challenge.

“The first half was touch and go for a long part of it and then I think in the second half we upped the intensity and were able to push on,” was the assessment of the Red Hand manager afterwards.

“We got the goal and were able to keep them at arm’s length from then on. All we could do was go in and given a performance, and that’s what we came here to do. Wherever that takes us is all that we can do, and Conn Kilpatrick’s sending off was disappointing.

“It’s all sudden death from here on and you need your full panel of players from here on in and it’s something that we could do without to be honest. At this time of year if you don’t record back to back wins then you’re probably going to be in bother.

“Every day that you go out you want to win, and get the performance. Obviously, a bonus tie at home is important and it’s good to stay on the home pitch. But this was about producing the performance and then moving on to the next step against whoever it turns out to be. There’s nothing easy from here on.”

The former All-Ireland winner and Sam Maguire winning captain has praised the contributions of so many of the young Tyrone players.

They are continuing to establish themselves as experienced first-team players, and will be relishing the chance to prove their worth once again as the field is whittled down to eight after this coming weekend.Tyrone have, of course, consistently reached the last eight in the All-Ireland series in recent years.

Hopes will be high that they can achieve that aim again this year, and move one step closer to the later stages of a championship which has failed as yet to really catch fire.

“The young players are getting strong and more confident in themselves. They will have gained a of of experience this year and will have benefitted from this win over Cork,” added Dooher.

“We had a bit of breathing space after going five or six points ahead. It gave us opportunities and a bit of comfort going into the final minutes. We’re glad to be still in contention. There’s a home game next weekend and we’ll get well rested and the bodies ready for that game.

“It’s nice to be playing on our own pitch. Everyone knows where we’re going to be playing. There’s nothing between any team at this time of year and we’ll be looking forward to it.”

With the likely suspension of Conn Kilpatrick, and Kieran McGeary having had to withdrawn from the action just prior to the throw-in at Tullamore, Brian Dooher is well aware of the need to have a full panel available as this championship approaches its climax.

“You can’t afford to be losing players, but I suppose that’s what the panel is for and we’ve men who will stand up. To be fair, they’ve been doing that all year. The young players did it in the National League, and they’ve kept us going, so here that’s life.

“The games week on week over the past while has been tough on the bodies, especially with only a few days recovery. It’s physically and mentally, but we’ll do as much as we can to get everybody ready for next weekend.”