By Barry O’Donnell

DELIGHTED Tyrone defender Michael McKernan stressed that the presence of experienced campaigners was a key element to any successful team after the Red Hands squeezed past Mayo at a packed Healy Park on Sunday afternoon.

Much has been said in recent years about the emergence of an exciting batch of young talent in the county, on the back of several All-Ireland underage triumphs, but it’s still hard to underestimate the role of those at the other end of the age spectrum either.

That was evident yesterday with Darren McCurry coming off the bench in the second half to nail half-a-dozen points, some straight out of the top drawer, while it was his Edendork team-mate Niall Morgan who struck over the winning two point free right at the death.

Tyrone can now look forward to a fortnight’s gap before they take their place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals at Croke Park, and McKernan was fulsome in his praise of the elder statesmen in the set-up for helping to steer them across the winning line.

“We still have the likes of Mattie and Dazzler there. It doesn’t matter what age you are. If you have something that can add to the team to make it better then everyone will listen to you.

“Anytime I was near him (McCurry) he just said give me the ball. We know the quality he has. He got some great scores to help get us over the line.

“Obviously Darragh (Canavan) came on there in the last few minutes which was great to see as well. You want boys of that class coming back into the fold.”

Looking back on the game as a whole the Coalisland defender said that this latest collision with Mayo was always going to be decided by narrow margins, and it went the host’s way with Morgan’s dramatic score in the 69th minute.

“It was very close and the test we expected off Mayo. It came down to the wire. Luckily enough we got the free at the end and Niall put it over the bar.

“It was between Niall and Ethan who was going to take it and Ethan was off the pitch at that stage so we are lucky to have a few men who can step up.

“We have a good blend of youth and experience and as the year goes on you see the younger boys starting to come through. They are really showing what they are worth and this win should bring them on further.

“The league was a bit up and down. We fought well against Armagh but ultimately didn’t win. Thankfully the last two performances against Roscommon and now today we have been able to dig it out.”

And McKernan acknowledged that it was a bonus to get the extra week now to recuperate after such a stamina sapping seventy minutes of Championship football.

“It’s hard playing week on week so that extra time now to the next game is vital for us. It will give all the lads that bit more time to recover and to refocus. We will just wait to see now who comes through next week and prepare for that match at Croke Park.”