Gallagher and Crozier hoping to be in the mix again

UNDER the guidance of Martin Gallagher and Darren Crozier, the Tyrone Juniors came oh so close to winning the SuperCupNI the last time it took place in 2019.

Tyrone were knocked out of the main competition 5-4 on penalties in the semi-finals by eventual winners Rangers.

It had been an exceptional campaign and that very same group of players are hoping to go all the way this time around in the Premier section.

Gallagher and Crozier are once again masterminding the Red Hands’ bid for glory, and with Right To Dream missing this year’s tournament due to logistical reasons, many believe the under-18 competition is wide open.

Gallagher would concur with that school of thought and he’s hoping that his class of 2022 can do the county proud. With 15 of the 18 players who went so close last time out returning to the north coast, Tyrone might just fancy their chances.

“We’re there to try and win it,” said Gallagher.

“That said it’s tournament football and one bad result, one mistake, can change the best laid plans. It’s a tough competition with five games in five days.

“The players must be fit and by the time you get to Thursday or Friday you could be left with 12 or 13 players. It’s hard and like any tournament you need a wee bit of luck along the way.

“With Right To Dream out of the picture the competition is wide open and it’s there for the winning. We were the top performing county side the last time the tournament was held but that doesn’t mean we’ll be top this time. However we’ll try our best and see where it takes us.”

The county under-18s open their campaign against Plymouth Argyle at The Heights, Coleraine on the Monday before taking on County Londonderry at Seahaven, Portstewart on Tuesday evening.

Their final qualifying game is against San Francisco Glens back at the Heights on Wednesday.
Gallagher’s side-kick Darren Crozier said it would be great to have something meaningful to play for following that final game.

“In 2019 it was fantastic to have something to play for in the final days,” he said.

“It gets the whole camp buzzing and, of course, we’d like to do it again but it doesn’t always work out like that.”

Following a series of trials and the final selection of their squad, both Gallagher and Crozier admitted that they had a number of issues to iron out in the early weeks.

In fact, it’s only in the last three or four weeks that things have really started to come together.

“Most of the games at the SuperCup are played on grass and most of these players are playing on 3G and 4G surfaces week in week out,” said Gallagher.

“In the early weeks players were struggling with their touch and control.

“It was a bit of a shock to start with; they weren’t playing the way we wanted them to play.

“Three years is a long time and in that period they were playing with different clubs and in different ways.

“We put in a lot of hard work over the past 11 or 12 weeks to get them to where we want them to be. It’s only in the last three or four weeks that we are beginning to see the fruits of our labour.”