Red Hands turn attention to National League

by Francis Mooney

THE pre-season tinkering is over, and it gets serious for Tyrone this weekend as the National Football League gets under way with a Division Two opener against Kildare.

The Lilywhites are on the rise, and they’ll travel to O’Neills Healy Park with a genuine belief that they can get the better of the Red Hands.

The first objective for Malachy O’Rourke is to guide his side back to Division One, and a positive start to the campaign is vital for a strong promotion challenge.

A few new faces could feature in Sunday’s clash following impressive showings in the Dr McKenna Cup, but manager O’Rourke will want to field his strongest possible side, backboned by experienced players.

Following a few seasons of struggle, Kildare footballers have grown in stature, and are well on their way back to where they want to be, having followed up promotion with triumph in the Tailteann Cup last year.

Now they are keen to build on the progress made, and the home side will need a top level performance to get off the mark early.

“Kildare are a young, fresh team as well, that have had a couple of good victories in the O’Byrne Cup, and they’ll be coming up wanting the two points as well, so it will be a really good challenge for us, but hopefully we’re ready for it,” said O’Rourke.

“That’s what we’d like to do, but I suppose every team wants to get off to a winning start.”

Last season, Tyrone and Kildare were two divisions apart, but a combination of relegation and promotion means they will compete at the same level this year.

“There’s no divisions between us now, that’s’ the bottom line, you can’t go on the past, you just have to look at reality in front of your face,” O’Rourke insisted.

“Both of us are starting off with no points in Division Two, and it’s up to the both of us to put our best foot forward and try to get two points, which would be a great start to the league.

“We know exactly what’s in front of us, and that’s what we’re preparing for.”

The Dr McKenna Cup provided Tyrone with three competitive games, and despite losing out at semi-final stage, O’Rourke felt it was a worthwhile exercise in terms of looking at new players and getting his team prepared for league action.

“We got a lot out of the McKenna Cup, and now it’s a case of assessing where we are and really making sure that the boys are fully focused, getting ten days work now before that game and be ready for the challenge.

“A lot of fellows have put up their hands, different fellows have done well in different games.”

And while some players will lose out in the selection process for the league squad, they will continue to compete for inclusion at a later date.

“We don’t necessarily have to lose any, they’ll hopefully stay in the system, particularly the younger lads, who will get a chance to keep on developing, and they’ll be able to come back in, depending on how things go.

“It’s certainly going to be a tough job cutting the panel, btu that’s part of the process.”

Niall Devlin and Ruairi Canavan picked up injuries in the early stages over the McKenna Cup victory over Down at Plunkett Park, and are unlikely to feature against Kildare this weekend.

“The Kildare game probably will come a bit early for them, and there’s a good chance that they will miss it.

“The two lads have put in a tremendous effort and the two of them were playing really well, so it’s disappointing for them, obviously, and disappointing for ourselves.

“But that’s the way football goes, and that’s what we have the panel for, it gives other fellows a chance to come in and make their mark.”

But O’Rourke is hopeful that others who have been recovering from injury, including Darragh Canavan, Eoin McElholm and Brian Kennedy, will be available.

“Darragh and a number of the boys are continually training, we would hope to have a lot of them back on the pitch this week.

“At this stage we don’t know what way boys will be, but we certainly hope that we’ll have a strong hand going in to the first league game, but unfortunately we picked up a few injuries over the past couple of weeks, and those boys won’t be available.

“So we’ll just have to assess what we have this week, and go forward with that.”
The need for a strong start is all the more pressing, given that a trip to Celtic Park a week later will see the Red Hands come up against a strong Derry side.
And that’s followed by another Ulster derby against Cavan at Omagh, ahead of three meetings with Leinster sides, Louth, at Ardee, Roscommon at Omagh and Meath at Croke Park, before the campaign wraps up with a home clash with Cork.
Tyrone will have four home games, two away, and one (Meath at Croke Park) at a neutral venue.
“We just have to get ourselves ready, we have a lot of quality there, the boys are working really hard, but that guarantees you nothing," O'Rourke added.
“It’s about doing the business on the field, so Kildare is the only game we can think about at the minute.
“We have to try and be ready for it, and it would be great to get two points there and get off to a good start, but that’s the challenge ahead.”
The Tyrone boss will place his faith in a number of young hopefuls in his plan to strengthen the squad and bring the county back to the pinnacle of Gaelic football, and he’s confidence that many of them have what it takes.
“They’re a great bunch of young lads, they’re working very hard, but their feet are firmly on the ground.
“They have had great success coming through, but it moves on to another level now, and they need time to develop in every way.
“The training has been going well, we have picked up a few injuries we have also had a few injuries carried on from the club season, but we just hope we’re ready come the first game of the league.”
And while he’s taking nothing for granted, O’Rourke is confident that the Red Hands can be a force in the season ahead.
“You look forward to it with optimism, but at the same time, you’re always realistic and you realise that nothing is handed to you.
“You have to go out and earn it, and the boys know that, it’s a matter first of all of being focused on what we’re about and going out and trying to put in a really good quality performance and work really hard for each other.
“And if we do that, we feel that we can be a match for anybody, but I suppose that’s the challenge ahead of us.”