Dooher pleased with display after ‘nervy’ opening

THERE’S nothing like a rout to get the confidence coursing through the veins but joint-manager Brian Dooher wasn’t entirely impressed by Tyrone’s 3-15 to 0-10 victory over Clare at a sparsely attended O’Neill’s Healy Park on Sunday.

Tyrone got their group stage campaign up and running at the second time of asking – and with 14 points separating the sides at the final whistle, statistically it was the most convincing victory of the Logan-Dooher years across whatever it is you’re offering, be it league, championship or the McKenna Cup.

The Red Hands made short enough work of the Banner County when the game became stretched at the business end, but the first-half – Niall Devlin’s eye-catching contribution of 2-2 aside –made for nervy enough viewing, as Dooher acknowledged after the game.

“If we are honest, it was probably a very nervous performance, a lot of it.

“There wasn’t that cohesion, but we chipped over enough scores, Niall Devlin kept us in it in the first half, took enough scores to keep us at that distance that we could push on in the second half. In the second half, we gradually settled into the game, took it step by step, and chipped over the scores at the end-up that we needed.”

Victory tees up a blockbuster showdown against Cork at a neutral venue in the third and final round of fixtures in a fortnight’s time. The important thing is that Tyrone are still in contention, and they can still feasibly finish top of the table depending on how events unfold across the group on the final day.

“We came here today and we needed two points, and thankfully we got them, to make sure we’re still alive going into the Cork game.”

While it was a bipolar showing from the Red Hands, they’ll take confidence from the way they cruised across the finish line yesterday. They popped over points almost at their leisure in the closing stages, and Brian Dooher hopes that it will act as the cataylst for a rejuvenation of fortunes as the really heavy stuff kicks into gear.

“The score-board started ticking in the second half, and once it starts ticking, you’re away.

“It gives everybody confidence, and brings teams out of their shell to an extent, and space opens up a bit.

“But they worked hard for that, some hard runs, some good runs, some great passes, and there were some good moves and finishes at the end-up.”

An upset yesterday would’ve spelt the end of Tyrone’s championship hopes for another year due to the head-to-head rule. Defeat was an unthinkable proposition and after a sluggish start, the Red Hands stepped it up a notch and there was no way back for Clare, in what was the first ever championship meeting between the two counties.

“You’re at the business end of the season, it’s either do or die. It was one of those games that if we hadn’t come out of here today, we were gone.

“The boys thankfully, their backs were to the wall, and thankfully they responded in the right way, particularly in the second half.

“The first half was probably ropey enough, we were hesitant and a bit nervous.

It was maybe understandable too, but once they got that wee bit of a push and a bit of belief in themselves, they pushed on.”

Asked if yesterday’s win could help bring a bit of consistency into Tyrone’s performances, Brian added: It’s hard to know, we can only take one game at a time, and we’ll approach the next game the same way, wherever it is, get ready for Cork.”

“We need a bit of consi stency, we need to get a back-to-back win to put us in any sort of position to move forward.”