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.