Harte blasts ‘overplayed’ criticism of veteran stars

MICKEY HARTE has blasted continuing commentary surrounding the age profile of the Tyrone team, attributing their loss to Donegal in last week’s Ulster semi-final to inaccuracy rather than old legs.

While acknowledging that the likes of Brian Dooher, Brian McGuigan, Conor Gormley, Ryan McMenamin, Kevin Hughes, Sean Cavanagh and Stephen O’Neill had provided lengthy service to the county, Harte dismissed the age focus as “overplayed”.

Harte argues Tyrone could’ve had Donegal dead and buried by half time but for poor shooting and a strong finish by the Tír Conaill men.

“A lot has been made of the age profile of this Tyrone team, but I believe that is overplayed,” said Harte yesterday. “Some players that have been around longer than others but there are lots of younger players on our team.

“I am a bit disappointed that all the focus always goes onto those who have a few more years of playing behind them. It is a wee bit unfair and, if you took a snapshot of our team after 30 minutes on Sunday, how the players performed would have been good enough to win many games.

“The so-called ‘older’ players performed very well and if we had taken our chances we could have had the game won. It wasn’t legs, it was inaccuracy that was our undoing.

“If we had taken those opportunities nobody would be talking about the ages of our players, they would be talking up the value of having old heads.

“I think a more measure response would recognise that a blend of experience and youth is an essential ingredient for most successful teams.

“I just think there is too much emphasis placed on the age profile of players and a more objective observation based on performance would give everyone a more accurate picture of an individual’s contribution to the team.”

Picture: MICKEY HARTE: Blamed poor finishing for the loss.