Revenge over Rebels would be sweet, says Mulligan

MICKEY HARTE’S struggling Tyrone side will not be lacking for motivation when they meet Cork in round four of the Allianz NFL in Omagh next weekend, according to Owen Mulligan.

The Munster champions had five points to spare the last time the sides met in the 2009 All-Ireland semi-final, but it was a scoreline that didn’t come close to reflecting their dominance that day.

Daniel Goulding’s eighth-minute goal was the launchpad for Cork’s success back in August and even the dismissal of Alan O’Connor five minutes before the break failed to knock Conor Counihan’s side from their stride.

“We all know what happened at Croke Park, they gave us a right going over,” said Mulligan who was limited to two points from frees. “We’ll all be up for the game as I’m sure they will be so we will see how it goes.”

Though revenge would undoubtedly be sweet, it would be of secondary importance to a Tyrone team that is still searching for its first point of the league campaign after three straight defeats and sits alone at the bottom of the table.

Derry, Mayo and Monaghan have all lowered their colours thus far and that last reversal has left the 2008 All-Ireland champions in danger of slipping from the top flight for the first time since the 1990s.

However, Harte was bullish about his side’s chances of evading such a fate after the latest loss to Monaghan in Inniskeen on Sunday and Mulligan is of much the same opinion.

“It’s a relegation battle now,” said the forward who recently won an All-Ireland club title with Cookstown. Tyrone will have to dig deep but no better team that Tyrone to do that.”

Both men will be aware that they could very easily be sitting pretty right now had one or two balls bounced their way. While Derry beat them by half a dozen points, Mayo and Monaghan had just the one to spare.

That sense of misfortune was palpable two days ago after a game which began to turn against them close to half-time when the normally reliable Conor Gormley was stripped of possession by Thomas Freeman who then scored the game’s only goal.

“The goal was a bit of a killer but it was unfortunate,” said Mulligan. “It wasn’t like Conor and he will bounce back from that and I’m sure the team will as well, in training on Tuesday night.

“People will point the finger at Conor Gormley but, at the end of the day, he had nobody to kick the ball out to so we all have to put our hands up. We were a bit unlucky. We played well first-half but just didn’t click in the second-half.”

It won’t get any easier after Cork’s visit Saturday. Galway, Kerry and Dublin will complete Tyrone’s league schedule but the Ulster side does at least have the comfort of knowing that three of their last four games will be at home.

Even more welcome is the news that two of their most influential players, Brian Dooher and Sean Cavanagh, are on the verge of returning to action with the county side after their respective injuries.

Cavanagh played a league game for his club two weekends ago and was close to making the panel for the Monaghan tie while Dooher may be back in harness in the next couple of weeks. Add in Joe McMahon who missed the last defeat through suspension and a handful of U21s – Kyle Coney among them – who were on duty at the younger grade last Saturday, and Harte’s options look set to mushroom in the weeks ahead.

“They are very big players and we need all the players we can get but that isn’t to take away from anyone else on the panel,” said Mulligan. “They all battled hard. It’s going well so far but we just need points on the board.”