McMenamin happy to avoid scenic route

WINNING back-to-back Ulster titles was satisfying in its own right for Ryan ‘Ricey’ McMenamin and Tyrone last Sunday, but so too was the fact they have managed to avoid the back door.

Much has been made of how Kerry have focused on pursuing the traditional route this year given the age of some of their main men and much the same can be said of Mickey Harte’s squad.

“We are happy enough to have avoided the back door,” said McMenamin. “Seeing the way the back door went this year, you have a lot of big teams out including Derry and Armagh. You have Cork and Dublin coming up.

“Really, you want to take a step back from there and let them boys battle it out. We’ll just see how it goes from the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals are two weeks away so we are happy enough, we have enough time to prepare for that.”

Tyrone would have been drawn with Kieran McGeeney’s resurgent Kildare side in this weekend’s round four qualifier had they lost out to Monaghan in Clones on Sunday.

The prospect of such an appointment was very much alive after a tight opening quarter last weekend but Tyrone subsequently strangled the life out of Seamus McEnaney’s side in much the same manner as they had Down in the last four.

It was a startlingly one-sided affair given the superlative form shown by Monaghan in earlier victories over Armagh and Fermanagh and ‘Ricey’ admitted to being as surprised as anybody by the ease of the win.

Mickey Harte had a slightly different take, however, and pointed to a last 15 minutes when Monaghan lost heart and Tyrone scored 1-4 to two points as evidence of a somewhat lopsided scoreline.

In reality, Monaghan’s mission had, in all probability, been fatally compromised as far back as the cusp of half-time when Tyrone goalkeeper Pascal McConnell made the second of two crucial saves.

Monaghan would have taken the tunnel on level terms had Damien Freeman found the net at that point. Instead, a scoreless drought that had already passed the 16th minute stretched on for another 24.

“Packie made two good saves,” said McMenamin, “especially the one before half-time. We could have been going in level or we could have been going in a few points down but big Packie pulled us out of a tight hole. I am sure that isn’t going to be the last time either. You need good keepers and thankfully we are blessed in Tyrone because we have three good keepers pushing each other on.”

McConnell was, in fact, one of the few Tyrone players to truly stand out after a display that was made remarkable by the collective effort rather than any individual brilliance.

It was a performance made possible by the experience Harte’s players have amassed playing alongside each other but it is that same longevity which has planted seeds of doubt over Tyrone in some quarters.

Monaghan may have fielded almost as many players aged 30 or over on Sunday – four as against five – but half a dozen of McEnaney’s starting 15 were younger than the two 24-year old ‘babies’ on the winning side.

It will be interesting to see if Tyrone can transport their suffocating tactics to the wide open spaces of Croke Park early next month but, whatever happens, McMenamin rejects the notion that there is no young blood seeping through.

“You probably won’t know (how good Tyrone are) until we meet some of the big teams but I’d say the squad is probably stronger. You have Dermot Carlin, Martin Swift, men standing up to the plate.

“A boy from my own club, Cathal McCarron, came in and did superb. You have the four minors coming in and Peter Harte. We have a lot of good young footballers coming on. The young boys are always slagging me but we’ll only find out how good we are in our next game. Whoever we get coming through the backdoor is going to be tough.”