Sink or swim for Tyrone

By Niall Gartland

TYRONE are in a rather curious position heading into the championship. After a medicore league campaign where they looked no more than a mid-ranking Division Two team (the table didn’t lie), few are expecting Malachy O’Rourke’s side to emerge from the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds with the spoils of victory this Sunday afternoon. Indeed, some are even anticipating a tanking.

At the same time, would it really be the shock of the century if they toss the form guide on its head? Surely we can expect some sort of backlash? And didn’t Tyrone lose by a single point in last year’s Ulster Championship semi-final encounter against Armagh?

Pundits and fans can only go on the here and now, and performances haven’t been great this year.

Two wins from seven in Division Two tells its own story. On their last day out, they lost by a couple of points to Cork at O’Neill’s Healy Park, Mattie Donnelly’s personal contribution of six points an isolated bright spot from a Tyrone perspective.

If you spool the tape back to Tyrone’s All-Ireland success of 2021, you’ll see how much things have changed in the meantime. Ronan McNamee, Niall Sludden, Conor Meyler and Peter Harte have retired. Conor McKenna is back in Australia.

Padraig Hampsey and Kieran McGeary have yet to feature this year (it’ll be interesting to see whether McGeary makes his playing return against Armagh having played so well in 2025). Michael McKernan and Niall Morgan haven’t hit their usual heights.

Padraig Hampsey and Kieran McGeary have yet to feature this year (it’ll be interesting to see whether McGeary makes his playing return against Armagh having played so well in 2025). Michael McKernan and Niall Morgan haven’t hit their usual heights.

A major topic of discussion among the Tyrone faithful is the physicality of the team. There’s a feeling that there isn’t enough heft in the engine room, though to be fair Ben McDonnell did well assisting Brian Kennedy and Conn Kilpatrick in their aforementioned defeat to Cork. The defence was alarmingly porous for long stretches of that game – Rory Brennan is another miss – though Peter Teague is working his way back to match fitness which is a boost ahead of the championship.

Up front, Ethan Jordan has shown very well in his debut season at senior intercounty level, though in general a lack of two pointers is worrying. To be fair, again citing that Cork match, they showed an increased willingness to actually go for points from beyond the arc but the shots tailed wide on repeated occasion.

There’s been a fair bit of chit chat about whether all is good within the camp itself, though that comes with the territory when things aren’t going well. We can only really judge on what we see with our own eyes, and Malachy O’Rourke and co don’t need told that performances haven’t been good enough.

It is a bit of a pickle: Tyrone are producing plenty of good footballers and have won three of the last four All-Ireland U-20 titles. A few of those players have taken the big step up, but perhaps not as many as were expected (e.g. 2024 All-Ireland U-20 footballer of the year Shea O’Hare is no longer part of the set up). Still, you can’t discount Tyrone entirely from making a mark in this year’s championship.

They’re mercurial at the best of times and there’s serious pride at stake in Sunday’s battle royale with the neighbours. They’ve been written off by all and sundry and that’s not a bad way to go into a game – but they’ll really need to up the ante big time if they’re to pull off an upset.