Tyrone-Armagh clash ‘down to who wants to win the most’

Jim O’Sullivan

Being able to meet the challenge of having their team "fresh" against Armagh is one thing, selector Fr Gerard McAleer agreed yesterday. But they also need to perform more effectively at the heart of their defence than they did against Dublin in Saturday's replay.

"Certainly there are things to be concerned about''.

The full-back line proved to be shaky and that is always a serious concern even more so in the case of playing against Armagh because they have two 'lethal' forwards in Ronan Clarke and Steven McDonnell.

"I suppose one of the ways of dealing with that is to try and cut off the supply of ball. In the first half against Dublin our defending was magnificent, but in the second half it was only fair and there were times when we looked very jittery at the back. Ciaran Whelan again dominated again. He is a fabulous footballer, we allowed him catch clean kick-outs. In the first half we won about 50% of our own kick-outs, but I think we got something like three out of eleven in the second half.

"Clearly, that's something we are going to have to address between now and Sunday.''

Fr. McAleer was thrilled with forward Owen Mulligan's return to form: "His goal in the drawn game was a moment of magic and an important turning-point for him. I spoke to him immediately coming off the field on Saturday (after he scored 1-7) and he said with a smile on his face, 'I needed that'!"

Stephen O'Neill, the team's leading forward all year, believes Tyrone can learn from Joe Kernan's team, commenting: "They have taken it to a different level, the way they prepare for games. A lot of teams could take a look at how professional they are. They seem to prepare for everything and they always keep their discipline."

And, like Fr. McAleer, he doesn't view Sunday's game as a 'grudge' meeting either. "It will all be down to who wants to win it the most."