Logan: Tyrone have a lot of ‘tidying up’ to do after Derry draw

TYRONE joint manager Fergal Logan admits that there is a lot of ‘tidying up’ required in his side’s game after they coughed up a six point second half lead in drawing with Derry on Wednesday night.

The Red Hands had to settle for a 0-10 apiece draw at wind-swept Owenbeg with Lachlan Murray hoisting over the equaliser for the hosts six minutes into stoppage time.

The result was sufficient for both teams to progress to the semi-finals of the Dr McKenna Cup, with Tyrone due to travel to Breffni Park to tackle Cavan this Saturday night. However Fergal Logan acknowledged that his team allowed the match to slip from their grasp.

“ We were six points ahead at one time. Nobody wants to lose a lead like that. The breeze was a bit of a factor but you have to hand it to Derry they raised ther game and hurt us on the counter-attack picking off some good scores. They hit a few wides and we landed a few short. But it’s early in the year and there is definitely tidying up to be done.”

Logan felt that the competitive nature of the contest meant it was a productive early season exercise in terms of honing Tyrone’s preparations for the year ahead. He was also pleased with some aspects of their game, especially in the first half when they built up a 0-7 to 0-3 interval lead.

“ It was a good hard physical game. Both teams went at it toe to toe. I suppose Derry set the template by dropping back in the first half. It took a while for us to get to grips with that again. We did rightly in the first half and built a decent lead up. Maybe with the breeze we should have got more out of it. But we didn’t.

“ There was some good moves. There was one great point which Cathal (McShane) took off the left foot when we moved up the field swiftly. We have got a few players blended in this past couple of weeks and now we have Saturday night to bring some more in maybe. We are glad of another game.”

Logan stated that whatever happens in the McKenna Cup, Tyrone’s priority right now is building momentum towards the National League which gets underway at the end of this month.

“ The first game of the league is the critical one, even in club football in your first game out you want to win it. Everything is geared to that at the moment. We couldn’t critcise the boys for the effort they are putting in off and on the field and at training, so lets hope that continues to bear fruit. We would have love to have won that tonight but it’s not fatal and we are up and at it again on Saturday night.

“ Cavan took Armagh on and beat them tonight so we are grateful to get our boys more football. We have had a few tussles with them at under-21 level so would know each other well. We have a quick turnaround so we will look forward to it.”