Harte has been here before

It was hardly an auspicious beginning.

The venue, as it will be today, was Dr Hyde Park. The year was 2003 and Roscommon the opponents. Somehow Mickey Harte’s Tyrone let slip a comfortable lead and two ranking points against a side reduced to 14 men after just 16 minutes.

Not that many took much notice at the time. Tyrone may have been reigning league champions but they were just one more team operating under new management and with a body of promising youngsters from which to build.

There were far more engrossing stories elsewhere that weekend.

Mick O’Dwyer launched his latest odyssey, in Laois, with a defeat of Meath at O’Moore Park; All-Ireland champions Armagh took on the Dubs at Croke Park; and Cork opened the league’s curtains with an eight-point defeat of Kerry at Páirc Uí Rinn the evening before.

And yet, by the season’s end, Tyrone’s was the only story in town after they retained their league title, conquered Ulster and claimed a first All-Ireland for their kin with that never-to-be-forgotten September defeat of the Kingdom.

Two more All-Irelands and three Ulster crowns would follow — a remarkable haul for a county with such a modest tradition — but most astonishing of all has been the durability of so many of the players who accompanied Harte on those first steps.

Six of the team that saw action against Donegal in their last game were on the premises at ‘The Hyde’ for that one-point defeat in 2003. Sean Cavanagh’s long-term shoulder injury prevented that number from climbing to seven.

It is nothing short of remarkable that so many players have not just survived but thrived on the inter-county stage for such a period of time and that is only emphasised further when a comparison is made with those sides in action that same weekend nine years ago.

Dublin still lean on four of those who served that opening February weekend nine years ago, Cork and Kerry three apiece. Laois, who emerged at roughly the same time as Tyrone, have just the one while Armagh, their long-time rivals in-chief, have none at all.

Such stability has clearly served Tyrone well but, post-2008, the team was past its plateau and the manager kept faith for the most part with his tried and trusted troops.

That has changed this season after a raft of winter retirements and an untimely pod of long-term injuries to other key personnel. Suddenly, Tyrone found themselves without men like Brian Dooher, Philip Jordan, Sean Cavanagh and Kevin Hughes.

The response has been impressive.

Younger faces such as Conor Clarke’s, Mattie Donnelly’s and Mark Donnelly’s have been drafted into the starting 15 and the side travels to Roscommon today with 13 wins and only two defeats this season.

Those losses — to Kildare in the Division 2 final and Donegal in an Ulster semi — are indicative of the levelat which they still findthemselves but the team’s evolution and progress has been more than acceptable to date.

“It is encouraging,” said Harte earlier this week, “especially with the number of injuries and retirements we have had.

“Getting back to Division 1 of the league was a major achievement for a team in transition and we were very content with that.

“We were also able to win the McKenna Cup as well. Not all teams take that competition as seriously as we do but that was a very good start for us and we continued to make great progress up until the Division 2 league final. We have hit a few potholes since then but I have been happy with it, by and large.”

The drafting of new personnel may be somewhat belated but Harte has proven himself to be a dab hand at it now that the wheels have been set in motion and transitioning a team whilst winning matches is a juggling act very few managers can manage.

Tyrone will no doubt recall that the starting line for their last All-Ireland success was identical to the one they find themselves at now — a round two qualifier — but that it was at this same juncture that they were evicted by Laois in 2006.

They are unlikely to suffer defeat today against a Roscommon side that has been refreshed by an even greater infiltration of youth this last five years, but how far Tyrone can trek through the summer while rediscovering themselves as a team remains to be seen.