By Niall Gartland

BRIAN Dooher says it’s now time for everyone in the Tyrone camp – management included – to dissect where exactly things are going wrong after yesterday’s bruising Ulster Championship defeat to a ravenous Derry side.

The only silver lining from a Tyrone perspective is that they’ll have a second bite of the cherry in the qualifiers, but unless they improve and fast, the 2022 season could prove a short-lived and forgettable defence of their All-Ireland crown.

It was pointed out to Dooher that last year’s hammering to Kerry in Killarney was the catalyst for a remarkable turnaround, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and there’s no guarantee that Tyrone will bounce back from yesterday’s defeat.

“A lot of people read into these things too much. It’s alright, when you look back and things go well afterwards, you say it’s a turning point. Really, was it? It’s hard to know. It fits the story, but in reality I wouldn’t put that big an emphasis on it.

“It’s something we have to look at ourselves individually and collectively and see where we want to go, what our ambition is. That’s the harsh reality of it.

“A few home truths maybe. Everyone has to look at it and say ‘what do I want here and what am I gonna do?’. Management as well as players, because we’re all in this together.”

He continued: “Can we do something to rectify it, that’s the big question. We have to sit down and look at ourselves, what we can do better because that’s not good enough.

“Where do we go from here? You have to ask yourself, re-evaluate things and prepare for the next match, whoever that may be.

“All’s not lost provided you take the lessons and learn from them, because the same thing’s not gonna be good enough. It’s gonna get the same result.”

Tyrone never really got going yesterday, but the 26th minute sending off of Brian Kennedy was still a major hammerblow to their chances of assuming any semblance of control of the contest and they never looked like recovering in the second-half.

“The pace wasn’t what we would have wanted, it was stop-start, we wanted to get going. But the sending off definitely had a big influence on the game, we were chasing it from there onwards, and then the goal afterwards, they were big moments that we never really recovered from.

“Even in the first 10 or 15 minutes it was toing and froing, but it was Derry that dominated the rest of the game.”

Tyrone finished the game with 13 men as Conor McKenna was also sent to the line in the closing stages, and Dooher says it’s disappointing that their discipline was found wanting.

“Definitely, we try to be disciplined but it’s disappointing whenever people are sent off because nowadays, with the organisation and the way teams are set up, you need all your players on the field. It’s definitely tough when you haven’t got them.”

Tyrone’s strength-in-depth has come into question with seven players leaving the panel in recent months. Dooher said it ‘definitely’ isn’t the reason why Tyrone lost yesterday.

“I think our own boys are coming on well enough. We set up in the second half and we gave the ball away too many times, unforced. We tried things that weren’t on. Rather than any individual coming on and making a difference.

“Surely they’re good players that did leave but by no way is that the reason we lost today. It’s definitely not the reason, I wish it was.

“We had enough good enough players on there, we just didn’t do what we needed to do. We made errors. You have to give credit to Derry, they forced a lot of those errors and forced you into making those decisions. That’s what we need to look back at, can we do things differently when we’re under pressure?”