By Barry O’Donnell

UPBEAT Tyrone defender Joey Clarke feels that the brace of hard earned back-to-back one point Championship victories the side have now secured hopefully indicates that they have turned the corner after a difficult season.

The 2025 All-Ireland winning Under-20 captain cut a contented figure out on the Healy Park pitch at the final whistle on Sunday, after Tyrone followed up their slender road success against Roscommon, with a similarly fraught but ultimately successful afternoon when faced with another stern Connacht challenge in the shape of Mayo.

Those two successive wins have booked the team’s passage straight into the All-Ireland quarter-finals the weekend after next and thankfully avoided them being pitched into a brutal looking Round 3 draw in the coming days.

After a troubling league campaign and a first round Ulster Championship exit at the hands of Armagh, Clarke hopes that it is all now coming together nicely for Tyrone.

“We are getting lads back every week. We are gelling as a team and it’s slowly building, as there have been a lot of new lads come in. We were close against Armagh but it wasn’t enough so we want to keep building and bring that now to Croke Park after back to back wins.”

It was the seasoned Edendork duo-Darren McCurry and Niall Morgan- who stole the headlines on Sunday, Dazzler slotting over six top-notch points when introduced as a second half sub, and Morgan nailing that vital go ahead two pointer from a placed ball just before the hooter.

Clarke states that the presence of such proven campaigners within the fold is a real bonus for lads like himself still learning the ropes in top flight inter-county football.

“I am loving playing with these lads. When I was younger, around ten years ago, I would have looked up to a lot of them and what they were achieving. They are very welcoming and make you feel at home, not just myself but the other newer fellas on the panel.

“Them boys have guided us throughout the whole year. Whenever you need them they step up. Fair play to them they got us over the line when it really mattered. That sort of know-how really helps when the match comes down to the wire.”

The Donaghmore defender also gave special mention to fellow club-mate and another relative rookie Ronan Cassidy, who hit four points in the first half, at a stage when Tyrone were spluttering as an attacking force.

“Cass has been doing that for our club team for a few years now so it’s no surprise to myself. To see him really push on now is class. He has everything in his locker.”

Joey admits that the biggest plus point for Tyrone, apart from the victory at the weekend, is the fact it now buys them an extra week to recuperate and refocus, as they get braced for a trip to Croke Park to face one of the Rd 3 winners.

“We wanted to back up the performance from three weeks ago against Roscommon. We did that today although it wasn’t easy. Now we just want to keep going.

“We have had two tough games in a row and we want to keep building now heading down to Croke Park. We will just see how far we can go but it does help get boys back from injury alright the extra week.

“You are into knockout football now so whoever you get will fancy themselves. You just have to go out and trust the boys around you.”

The shock defeats suffered by Ulster’s heavy hitters Armagh and Donegal last weekend underlined how open and fiercely competitive the ‘quest for Sam’ is going to be in the coming few weeks. Clarke agrees that very little appears to separate any of the top teams.

“There is just a kick of the ball in most games and it seems to come down to the wire in the last five minutes. It can take that one key score at the end, especially with the new two pointer rule which we managed to get thankfully on this occasion.”