Dooher reflects on 'nervous' Red Hands display

BRIAN Dooher’s relief was palpable as he reflected on a convincing win over Clare which keeps Tyrone very much alive in the All-Ireland series.

But the 14 points winning margin was somewhat flattering for a side that only managed to assume control of the contest in the closing 15 minutes.

The Munster men travelled to O’Neills Healy Park with the objective of making life difficult for the home side, and they did that for much of the game.

“We came here today and we needed two points, and thankfully we got them, to make sure we’re still alive going in to the Cork game,” said Dooher.

“If we were honest, it was probably a very nervous performance, a lot of it.

“There wasn’t that cohesion, but we chipped enough scores, Niall Devlin kept us in it in the first half, took enough scores to keep us at that distance that we could push on in the second half.

“In the second half, we gradually settled in to the game, took it step by step, and chipped over the scores at the end-up that we needed.”

Dooher has been joined on the sideline for the past two games by co-manager Feargal Logan, back following his recent illness, is hoping that Sunday’s victory will inspire confidence in the players and help them discover the measure of consistency they have been searching for throughout the season.

“Who knows? It’s hard to know, we can only take one game at a time, and we’ll approach the next game the same way, wherever it is, get ready for Cork.

“We need a bit of consistency, we need to get a back-to-back win to put us in any sort of position to move forward.”

Prior to the closing stages, it was defenders who came up with the vital scores that kept Clare at arms length.

Devlin paid tribute to corner back Niall Devlin, who hit two goals and two points in the first half, and centre back Mattie Donnelly, who fired over four superb points.

“Between the lines, they popped up at the right places at the right times, and to be fair, you can’t fault their finishing.

“Mattie really pushed on in the second-half when we needed to go on the front-foot, he really pushed on and got a couple of great scores.”

Victory over Clare was crucial for a side coming off a disappointing reversal at he hands of Donegal at Ballybofey, keeping them in the shake-up for the knock-out stage of the race for the Sam Maguire Cup.

“You’re at the business end of the season, it’s either do or die. It was one of those games that if we hadn’t come out of here today, we were gone.

“The boys thankfully, their backs were to the wall, and thankfully they responded in the right way, particularly in the second half.

“The first half was probably ropey enough, we were hesitant and a bit nervous.

“It was maybe understandable too, but once they got that wee bit of a push and a bit of belief in themselves, they pushed on.”

“The score-board started ticking in the second half, and once it starts ticking, you’re away.

“It gives everybody confidence, and brings teams out of their shell to an extent, and space opens up a bit.

“But they worked hard for that, some hard runs, some good runs, some great passes, and there were some good moves and finishes at the end-up.”

Dooher is hoping that Mickey O’Neill, who shipped a heavy knock in the closing stages of Sunday’s game, will be fit to face Cork in another crunch tie on Saturday week.

“Mickey's made of stern stuff, he took a big bang, thankfully he alright, he'll live to fight another day anyway.”

And the Tyrone management had no hesitation in introducing All-Ireland winning U20 star Shea O’Hare for his senior debut.

The Ardboe lad, who was voted Player of the Championship following the Eirgrid series, settled into the game with confidence after joining the action in the 56th minute.

“He has a bright future, he didn't look out of place. If anything he really pushed that game on, he gave us a bit more momentum and put us more on the front-foot which is what we needed, that driving force.

“He did really well and he did that repeatedly in the U20 campaign for Tyrone, he didn't win U20 Footballer of the Year for nothing.”

The addition of four members of the U20 sside to the senior squad steps uplevels of competition and injects some exciting talent into the set-up.

“It adds to it, there's a few other boys in along with him, equally competent so they'll be pushing for a place next week.”

Meanwhile, Seanie O’Donnell is hoping for a high octane performance against a Cork side on a high following a weekend win over Donegal.

“We want to start building on that now and bring it in to the next game against Cork. They had a really strong performance against Donegal, so now we’re all focused on that,” he said.

He stressed the importance of sustaining high levels of intensity right to the end, as evidenced by Tyrone’s strong finish against Clare.

“We kept chipping the scores over in the second half, and you can’t take the foot off. As soon as you take the foot of, you’re in bother, teams start to get back on you.

“We knew after the Donegal game, the first time, we maybe built up a lead and started to take the foot off it a bit, and teams push back in.

“So we knew we just couldn’t afford to do that any more, and we tried to push on and get more scores, as many scores as we can and finish games out.

“We didn’t take the foot off in the last fifteen minutes and it really helped us, boys chipping away at scores.

“That’s another plus we can take out of it, but there are many negatives too.

“We’ll take today and tomorrow to get ourselves right, to re-set.”

The strength of the extended squad is a vital component of the Red Hand plan, with players capable of coming off the bench and making an impact.

“That’s a given, you’re going to need 20 players to win a game, especially nowadays when teams run the bench, and the influence a bench can have.

“We had massive energy coming on there, Petey (Harte) and even Shae O’Hare coming in there and fitting in, it’s a credit for him.

“But that’s what we expect from the bench, the boys coming off the bench we want energy from them, and they provided that today.

“So that’s a plus to take to the Cork game as well, it’s good to get boys coming off the bench and giving boys that haven’t played much this year some game time.

“Now it’s just a case of keeping the heads down and everybody just fighting for a place.”

Wing forward O’Donnell believes it’s important to build on the positive aspects of Sunday’s display while shining a light on those that didn’t go so well for the Red Hands as they prepare for a massive test against Cork.

“As we saw, the first half of that game and even parts of the second, we have a lot to work on as well.

“That’s one game we have won, so it’s about building on that, getting back at it and getting back on the training ground and get a performance against Cork.

“We’re not going to get away with just a half performance. It’s something we can look at, but two weeks is a short gap to nit-pick everything, so we just have to look at that, really focus on it in training and get back at it now.”

The quality of Cork’s performance against Donegal made it clear that they are a team on the rise and will be extremely difficult opponents in the concluding group game.

“It was a brilliant performance, I just saw a few highlights of it, and the way they took the goals was brilliant.

“We have our work cut out for us, but we’ll look forward to it."