Sludden satisfied with Tyrone’s opening day draw

A DAY of draws in Division One of the National League means that Tyrone can take plenty of positives from a share of the spoils in their derby clash against Monaghan on Sunday in Omagh.

The 0-9 each stalemate sets the Red Hands up perfectly for the second of their high profile Ulster meetings against a resurgent Armagh this weekend. Their performance also represented the perfect tonic following a difficult pre-season.

Among those players making a comeback for the first time in 2022 at Healy Park was Dromore’s Niall Sludden. He was well aware of the uncompromising nature of the proceedings, and the importance of the result in giving the Red Hands the platform to improve as the season progresses.

“We would love to have got two points, but to get a point is great. At least you’re off the mark, but now we just have to focus on the next game, recover and get on with it again next week,” he said.

“It was great to get back out to Healy Park and you could hear the Tyrone crowd there too. It was a real ding-dong Ulster battle. We’ve had many battles with Monaghan over the years, and there are things we did well on and things that we have got to improve on.

“We’ll have to step it up because we’re in Division One and you have to show yourself there.

“Obviously Monaghan had a few more games than us, but we went away this last couple of weeks and trained very hard, so we knew we could go to the end. I think we showed out there in difficult conditions that we could last the pace.

“If we had come out of here with no points, we probably would have been deflated a bit. It’s a game that could have gone either way, so it’s just great to get a point on the board. We can build on that and get back to training this week for another tough test.

“Down through the years, once we have lost a couple of matches early on, it really puts you under pressure.”

There was little between the teams throughout this tussle at a wet and blustery Healy Park. Tyrone fielded 10 of the team which had won the Sam Maguire last September, and they’ll be relishing more close tussles as the competition progresses.

Next up are Armagh and Niall Sludden is in no doubt about what will be expected in that one, especially after the Orchard county got their campaign off to a whirlwind start be defeating Dublin at Croke Park on Saturday evening.

“The beauty of the league is that every game is so tight. You’ve got to enjoy it and it’s great to be back at it,” he added.

“Hopefully this game will stand to us, but we saw Armagh last night and I’m sure the whole country saw them (against Dublin). They were hugely impressive.

“We’re looking forward to that game, we’ll work hard and hopefully see where we’re at. We always have something to improve and we worked really hard to become All-Ireland champions.

“But it’s 2022 now and every game we have to back that up.”