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Pressure on
Nobody would have expected Tyrone to be looking anxiously over their shoulders just past the halfway stage of their Division Two campaign, but that’s the cold harsh reality of their current predicament. Unless they sweep the board in the remaining three matches then their promotion dreams will be extinguished, and even then a maximum points return is no guarantee they will go up. For now they will take any sort of win over basement strugglers Offaly on Saturday just to ease away from the drop zone.
Failing to make the extra man count
In three of their four league games to date (Kildare, Derry, Louth) Tyrone have failed to take any kind of advantage of an opposition player being either black or red carded. On each occasion the indiscretion presented the Red Hands with an opportunity to press on and seize the momentum but frustratingly that hasn’t been the case. Laboured approach work with the emphasis on retaining possession rather than going for the jugular has hamstrung them repeatedly. Only in the second period against Cavan was there anything approaching the pace and intensity that you’d expect from a Tyrone team.
Ulster’s top teams set a high bar
If Tyrone needed any reminder of the scale of the task that awaits them in the upcoming Ulster Championship then it was provided at the Athletic Grounds at the weekend. Both Armagh and Donegal sit in Tyrone’s half of the draw and Malachy O’Rourke’s charges would need to beat both just to reach the provincial final. On current form guides that would appear a big ask and Donegal in particular look the stand-out team in the country right now. Let’s keep in mind though that no meaningful silverware is handed out in late February.
Clean sweep for hurlers
It was three wins from three for the three county hurling teams at the weekend, with the seniors, under-20s and Minors all successful in their respective competitions. Stephen McGarry has drafted some of the under-20s into his senior set up. They rounded off their Ulster League programme with a victory over Donegal at Garvaghey and while they suffered the odd setback on the road, nonetheless it was a productive campaign for the most part. As for the seniors they head out west to tackle Roscommon in the National League, buoyed by a gritty success against Fermanagh.
