By Barry O’Donnell

OTHER players must step up and fill the void in the absence of suspended captain Aidy Kelly this Saturday at Dr Hyde Park, Tyrone senior hurling manager Stephen McGarry insists.

Kelly received a straight red card in the opening stages of last weekend’s hard-fought clash against Fermanagh in Enniskillen, yet despite their numerical disadvantage, the Red Hands still prevailed at Brewster Park by four points.

Substitute Turlough Mullin twice hit the back of the net in the second half as Tyrone took the spoils 2-18 to 1-17, and McGarry maintains that there had to be collective responsibility to chip in with scores across the pitch, especially with Kelly suspended for the tough trip to Roscommon.

“We have Roscommon down there next, obviously another really tough fixture. But we are enjoying it. You could see the younger players beginning to express themselves at this level.

“Roscommon is going to be a huge challenge especially when we are missing our captain Aidy Kelly but we will go down and give it everything.

“It will be time for somebody else to step up. You can’t be relying on one player and for too long over this last couple of years we have been over-reliant on Aidy for scores. So it’s up to others to take this opportunity now.”

McGarry was pleased with the attitude and application displayed by his troops in securing the second league win of their Division Three campaign last weekend and how they coped with adversity when seeing their talisman sent to the line.

“We always knew it was going to be a big test coming down into Brewster Park, Fermanagh’s backyard. They would have been looking at the fixtures and really be targeting this game.

“I thought both teams played well. In the second half we dug in really well and managed to get the result.

“It was disappointing to lose Aidy so early in the game. He has been a fantastic hurler for Tyrone for years. But we just had to reshape and shuffle the decks a bit. I thought the boys really stuck to the plan in the second half.

“We did a lot of good things in that 15, 20-minute period which before half time we weren’t doing. We managed to get on top then, which was pleasing.”

Yet despite racking up a fairly decent scoring tally in Enniskillen, the manager insisted that Tyrone had to develop a more clinical edge in their attacking play if they were to enjoy more success in the coming weeks.

“I don’t think we were as clinical in front of goal as we should have been. We passed up five or six really good opportunities throughout the game.

“Obviously we were delighted to get the goals when we did but we still have a bit of work to do in terms of our efficiency in front of the posts. We’ll be doing that now going forward.”

Tyrone currently sit in fifth spot in the seven-team Division Three standings, with four points secured from their two outings to date. Saturday though will be their stiffest test to date against Roscommon who sit joint top alongside Donegal, both enjoying a 100 per cent winning return from their three games.