McGarry upbeat despite London loss

THE pressure will be on the Tyrone hurlers to improve their standing in the Christy Ring Cup after a defeat to London in Sunday’s opening round clash has set them up for another tough outing next weekend.

A number of key players were missing from the Red Hand line-up for their home tie, but they will now hope to have the likes of Seamus Sweeney, Joe McToal and Sean Og Grogan back on board for next weekend’s crucial tie against Derry.

Team manager, Stephen McGarry was pleased with the efforts made by the players despite yesterday’s defeat. He knows what’s required now, and the importance of playing at this higher level.

“London were very fresh and top class players. If you step off them half a yard then they will hurt you and unfortunately we stood off them and they managed to deliver that,” he said afterwards.

“We have had a lot of sore bodies after the league campaign. We missed a lot of our experienced players like Sean Og Grogan, James McCann, Joe McToal, and then we lost Oran McKee very early in the game. It’s a lot to lose, a lot of leadership, but the rest of the players did the best that they could and tried right to the very end.

“They looked fresh coming into this game and right through their spine they’ve elite level inter-county players. They seem to have put in a real shift this year. Unfortunately for us, we just picked up a few injuries in the National League and didn’t get them back.”

But there’s no time to contemplate as they prepare for the meeting with neighbours Derry next weekend. It’s back to Owenbeg for the second time in three weeks against opponents who won the league and will be fancying their chances of also gaining success in the Christy Ring Cup.

“Any time you’re playing against Derry it’s going to be tough and we’ll be going into that game as underdogs,” added Stephen McGarry.

“But that’s the level we’re aspiring to play at. The more you play these big teams, like Derry and London, the more it will help us.

“It’s just a case now of trying to get the bodies repaired and rocking into next weekend. It’s a tough schedule. But this is the first game and we’ll only improve from here.

“We want to win every game that we play in and we’ll never change that, so long as there’s an opportunity to win a game, we’ll be trying to do that, injuries or not.”