Red Hands star O’Neill wary of Oak Leaf test
O’Neill, who hit 1-3 in his first outing in over three months, said: “I don’t think there will be any dirt or anything like that – just a hard, tough Ulster championship game.
“Derry are a team with a lot of experience. They have a lot of boys there that have been around for a few years and they have a good manager who is looking to lay down a marker.
“They have big aspirations of winning an Ulster and an All-Ireland. It’s definitely going to be a lot tougher and we’re going to have to raise our game against them.’’
Reflecting on Sunday’s game, O’Neill admitted to a sense of relief that the All-Ireland champions had enough scores on the board to survive a late recovery from Armagh, agreeing with manager Mickey Harte’s comment that they had lost their focus after going eight points clear early in the second half.
“We took our foot off the pedal. We stopped doing maybe what we were told to, but in fairness to Armagh they came back well. They made it very hard for us in the last minutes. I know we are more experienced than them at the minute, but we expected a tough game. They are missing some players from last year but they have brought some good young players through.”
O’Neill admitted he found it almost as hard to cope with the heat as it was to adapt to the pace of the game on his first return to the team since the opening League game against Dublin in Croke Park. On that occasion he turned in a brilliant display, having been described by Harte in advance as “a man with a mission” – being so dissatisfied with his display in the All-Ireland final against Kerry that he refused to accept his medal.
He injured his kneecap in the League game and had the added misfortune to aggravate the injury a few weeks later when he slipped on ice on his way to training. However, he never doubted that he would make a full recovery, except that it would take time.
“It was frustrating, but these things happen. I was happy to get on with it as best as I could and I had plenty of time for the championship. All the while I was doing the work to build it up again and I was happy enough to know it would be strong enough to go back again,’’ he added.
Having returned to squad about three weeks ago (following an intensive rehab course which included cycling and swimming), he says that he felt he was going ‘all right’ coming up to Sunday’s game. “I felt ready for it.’’
Not unexpectedly, he scored the game’s first goal, which came late in the first half and did a lot to settle Tyrone after a shaky start.
And, he was involved in their second goal, which was scored by corner-back Conor Gormley five minutes into the second half.
Armagh will be in action two weeks after them – when the first round of the qualifiers will be played – and thinking back to Tyrone got reinvigorated their challenge last year after losing to Down in a replay, he agrees that a lot will depend on who they end up playing.
“If they can get the right draw and get a few wins under their belt they could get a good run in the championship.”
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