Tyrone hurlers face crunch clash against Armagh

A NICKEY Rackard campaign which has already seen Tyrone win their opening two games reaches a critical stage with yet another crunch clash against their keenest rivals from Armagh on Saturday afternoon.

Pairc Eire Og in Carrickmore is once again the venue for this latest meeting between the counties. It’s Tyrone who have held the upper hand so far, winning the National League game between them in February and then repeating the dose in the
league final at Owenbeg a few weeks ago.

But Michael McShane and his players will know that there can be no room for complacency here as they bid to maintain the momentum of a good championship run so far. Both teams are targeting a place in the Croke Park Final and will known just how important this game is towards achieving that aim.

Armagh lost out heavily to Roscommon in their opening match and suffered a five point loss against Donegal last weekend. So, a victory for them is an absolute essential against Tyrone and, as a result, the home team will be ready for a tough assignment.

Selector, Stephen McGarry, has been pleased with the progress so far after the wins over Warwickshire and Fermanagh on Easter Sunday. But they will be anxious to maintain that against the Orchard county.

“We have played Armagh numerous times and everybody knows each other. We roll into that game off another two points on our journey to try to get to Croke Park,” said the Ballycastle clubman.

“Our unbeaten run continues and that’s the key thing.

“ It takes a real good time to try to win all different types of games. Last week we were away to Warwickshire and we hit 7-19. Then we had to grind out a result against a good Fermanagh team.

“It takes all different sorts of performances, and we’re as happy with that performance against Fermanagh as we were with the performance last week.

“I thought our defenders were very, very good. We didn’t give away a lot from play. Most of Fermanagh scores came from soft frees and that’s something that we’ll work on for the Armagh game.

“Fermanagh played a wee bit more defensively, they dropped a sweeper or two sweepers, the same as they had done against Donegal.”

Tyrone, of course, reached the Nickey Rackard Final last year, only to lose to a strong Mayo team at Croke Park. The incentive to return there and perhaps go one better is a major motivating factor, and the evidence presented so far indicates that they are certainly capable.

But they will have to be on top form to defeat an Armagh side in the last chance saloon for making progress in the competition after their opening two losses.

For Tyrone, the tough outing against Fermanagh is sure to stand to them as they prepare for another home match. They also face a tough run in with an away tie against Roscommon followed by a home tie with Donegal in May.

At the moment, though, there is a general sense of satisfaction with how things are progressing.

“The boys worked hard on the training field, they came here and worked hard again and managed to come away with a result against a very good team,” added Stephen McGarry about the Fermanagh tie.

“We’re delighted because it’s another two points and roll on to next week.

“I can fault our boys for workrate and effort. They had to go and grind a result out and with the conditions on the field, it was never going to be pretty.”