O’Rourke pleased with Tyrone’s opening night showing

A NEW era for the Tyrone senior footballers opened with an emphatic victory over their old rivals, Derry, providing plenty of hope that they are more than capable of maintaining their good form in Division One of the National League.

Next up for Tyrone are All-Ireland champions, Armagh. The match next Saturday night in the Athletic Grounds promises to be a big occasion, with Tyrone aiming to maintain the form that saw them emphatically defeat Derry at Healy Park.

No wonder, then, that the new manager, Malachy O’Rourke, was delighted to have gotten his reign off to a winning start. However, both he, the players, and supporters know that bigger challenges lie ahead as the 2025 season gathers pace.

“We knew that we were coming into this game understrength with a few players injured and obviously with the Errigal boys not back. Derry were coming with a strong team and this was always going to be a tough battle,” said the Errigal Ciaran clubman.

“Now we want to keep improving and hopefully get a few points to stay in Division One. We knew that if we played our best against Derry then we’d have every chance, and that’s how it worked out. It’s good because we’re only with the boys a wee while, and it always helps to start with a win or two because it copper-fastens what you’re saying.”

The manager added, “You take the league game by game. One week you could win, and the next lose. It’s a case of not getting too high after the victories and not getting too low after the defeats. Trying to improve after each game is the key thing that we’ll be working with.

“We got a bad start in the first half, but I thought the boys settled into the game well after that. There was a lot of possession and control of the ball, although maybe there was disappointment that there wasn’t enough penetration up front. The goal was a big turning point in the game for Derry. But the boys kept their nerve and the goal gave us a bit of breathing space to run out winners.”

New rules have now been introduced to try and make Gaelic football more attractive. Whether or not that succeeded in this first round of the league will be debated, and the expectation is that the revamped rules will take time to settle.
Tyrone will be satisfied with the way things went in this victory, and Malachy O’Rourke maintains that the new rules will evolve as the competition progresses.

“I was part of the committee that made the rules, and we just felt that the goalkeeper in his own defence getting the ball led to a lot of possession play. When the goalkeeper passes the half-way line, there is a lot of risk, and from our viewpoint, we just try and play as best we can.

“There are certain things that don’t look that normal from what we’ve been watching. But at this time of year, the game isn’t going to be that free-flowing with the weather conditions and everything. There was some good football, and as the ground dries up, there will be more kick-passing.

“As the year goes on, there will be more space for forwards to operate on. Teams will get back, but I think the game will open up. There is always the option of players being in front of you, which wasn’t the case last year.

“There are more one versus one contests, which is what people want.”

Tyrone played several challenge matches prior to the game against Derry, and Malachy O’Rourke was quick to praise their discipline, the defensive tackling, and the way that they avoided conceding unnecessary frees.

He is expecting to give the Errigal Ciaran contingent a break after their club season ended disappointingly with defeat in the All-Ireland Club Final against Cuala of Dublin six days previously.

“We’ll be chatting to them and hoping to get them integrated into the squad over the next few weeks,” he added.

“They have been playing different rules as well, and it’s a matter of getting them in, getting them used to the new rules, and playing and training with the lads.”