‘These moments are to be treasured’- says U20 coach McNulty

AFTER a wonderful couple of days for Tyrone underage football, with two teams sealing both Ulster and All-Ireland Championship titles, it’s hard not to be giddy about the future prospects at senior level.

Respected coach Diarmaid McNulty is one man who has been at the hub of several notable Championship victories in recent seasons with both school and county, and formed a key part of Paul Devlin’s backroom team as Tyrone sealed a third All-Ireland Under-20 title in four years when they successfully retained the Clarke Cup with a 5-16 to 0-17 victory over Louth last Wednesday at the Athletic Grounds.

Coming on the back of the Minors provincial triumph just a few days earlier, there’s no doubt that the Red Hand county is riding the crest of a wave at the moment, with a frightening conveyor belt of talent continuing to be churned out.

Gortin native McNulty cautioned though that such triumphs should never be taken for granted and he praised the collective effort involved in maintaining such a high standard of excellence.

“ These moments are to be treasured. It’s hard hard work. It’s all down to the club, the parents, who buy them their first pair of football boots- all those things matter. You can see we had some crowd of Tyrone people came to support us and we were glad just to put on a show.

“ That’s the third Tyrone team who have gone back-to-back. We did it in ’91/92 and 2000/2001 and they had some special special players, and now these lads have joined them in that achievement. It’s also three All-Irelands in four years so we are doing things right clearly and we just want to keep delivering.”

Despite the eye-catching final scoreline last Wednesday, McNulty felt it spokes volumes for the capabilities of this Tyrone under-20 side that they only really reached the heights they are capable of in sporadic spells of the game.

“ We scored 5-16 and probably didn’t play to our full potential which is a scary thing for that team. We work a lot at shooting and being very ruthless when you create goal chances. We had hammered home that all year and that proved the case again. Kerry said that about us after the semi-final. We knew it was important to take the goal chances when they came along.”

McNulty added that their undoubted fire-power, spearheaded by the likes of Noah Grimes and Eoin McElholm, made them a harrowing prospect for any opposition defence to try and quell.

“ I won’t lie I had a feeling that we could score a lot of goals in the final. I was told to keep that one quiet but I had total faith in the boys. When you try to go man on man across the board against our forward line there isn’t a defence in Ireland which is going to keep them quiet.

“ Donegal tried and Derry tried but we found ways and when we came out here tonight we were only going to go one way and that was gung-ho.

“ Our transition was unbelievable and our heads up football was class. It’s just a privilege to be part of this group and to coach them. I am just delighted for them all because they have put in some shift all year.”

The Omagh CBS schoolteacher stressed that all the plaudits shouldn’t just go to the attack, with every line of the pitch pitching in with vital contributions when called upon.

“Joey Clarke cleared one off the line and Conan (McGarvey) made a great save in the first half so everyone weighed in. You talk about moments and surviving those moments. It’s about rising to the challenge in those key moments and doing the right thing. A lot of men stood up when counted.

“ To hit 5-16 in an All-Ireland Final is a special scoreline. It’s nice to see a group of boys get their just rewards for what has been a long hard tough season with a lot of ups and downs.

“ The big thing is we knew we had the talent but sometimes talent doesn’t get there. You have to be an absolute dog in terms of workrate and just really focus on the details. Hopefully these lads will now make the step onto senior football, a lot of them with two All-Ireland U20 medals in their back pocket at county level.

“ You are sending winners into a senior team which is already full of winners. So that’s an exciting thing for Tyrone all round.”