‘Keeping faith in the Tyrone defensive efforts

By Barry O’Donnell

TYRONE U20 goalkeeper Oisin Watson has praised the defensive lines in front of him for making his life a lot more comfortable in the side’s run to Saturday’s All-Ireland U20 final clash with Kerry in Croke Park.

The Fintona man underlined his value to the squad with a number of vital saves in the second half of their semi-final victory over Kildare a fortnight ago in Kingspan Breffni Park, at a stage in the contest when the Lilywhites were threatening a dramatic late fightback.

The Red Hands back unit has been watertight and well-organised for the bulk of this campaign, that meanness especially visible in those hard-fought Ulster knockout tussles on the road against Derry and Donegal.

Watson provides an assured presence between the sticks but he bats away any plaudits for his performance against Kildare, stating that in the main Tyrone’s backs have helped stop his net from being breached too often.

Donnelly hails a brilliant comeback ahead of another final

“In fairness, our defence has been brilliant in front of me,” he said. “The full-back line, the wing backs, you couldn’t fault them the effort they put in getting up and down the pitch.

“I had a couple of saves to make against Kildare in the closing moments but I hadn’t much in any of the previous games maybe aside from the Down match. But our coaches Cathal McCarron and Benny Gallen have us well prepared.”

Tyrone have not had things easy enroute to yet another All-Ireland final but Oisin feels that opposition sides were always going to up their game this season as they fought tooth and nail to knock the reigning two times champions off their perch.

“We have had a target on our back this past few years with winning the All-Ireland so we are used to that pressure. Paul (Devlin) said back in November that every team would be looking to take us down and we expected that.”

The Red Hands endured an indifferent group phase of the competition, losing away fixtures to both Cavan and Armagh, but Watson revealed that the management never lost faith in the squad.

“We have done plenty of work since those losses. Paul (Devlin), Cathal (McCarron), Connor (O’Donnell), Stevie (O’Neill), they just got us to knuckle down and get our heads together. They got us to realise we are a lot better team than we produced in a couple of those early games.

“We came in after the Armagh loss and said there was no point feeling sorry for ourselves. We were still in the Championship despite two defeats.

“Although we are still young the squad have already played plenty of football and built up experience from being successful. So there was no sense of panic. We were determined not to let our season end against Derry (Ulster quarter-final) and thankfully it has worked out well since.”

Tyrone success

Watson did reveal that when things looked bleak their manager Paul Devlin did underline to the panel the superb track record that Tyrone have built-up in this particular competition down the years.

“Normally Paul doesn’t refer back to the past two or three years and all Tyrone’s success. But sometimes you have to do that. You have to appreciate the history that the county has and how important it is to try and maintain that record in terms of winning Ulster and All-Irelands. We want to carry that on.

“Every team at this level are going to be good. You can’t go into matches with the wrong approach thinking you are going to wipe the floor with them. You always have to be tuned in no matter what.”

Tyrone match ups with Kerry at underage level over the past decade are a fairly regular occurrence and Oisin hopes that the experience that his side have garnered in big games will stand to them heading to Croke Park on Saturday for the All-Ireland Final with the Kingdom.

“The likes of Conal Sheehy, Conor Devlin the captain, Conor O’Neill, Ruairi McCullagh, it’s great to see him back out, they all started last year while we still have Shea (McDermott) who was a super sub last year.

In fairness a lot of the boys starting now were part of the set-up last year, even if on the bench for much of it. So it’s good to be able to call on that heading into another All-Ireland Final.

“We played Kerry last year in the semi-final and the minors would have played them in the final so a lot of the boys would be familiar with each other. We got the better in both of those games but we know it will be tough again. We will just give it our best.”