O’Rourke: We’re up for the challenge

By Niall Gartland

TYRONE have found themselves dragged into a battle for Division One survival, and Malachy O’Rourke says there’s “no point in crying” about the situation.

The Red Hands really could have done with a win against Kerry last Sunday, but it didn’t happen and it will take a huge effort to climb towards safety in their remaining three matches, starting with Sunday’s trip to table-toppers Galway.

O’Rourke acknowledges that staying up is by no means assured for his side, but he says that it isn’t for a lack of trying and that they’re up for the challenge.

“That’s what it looks like at the minute, there’s no hiding from that. We’ve got ourselves in a tough situation, but the boys are working hard and we are doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

“We have to convert it into points if we want to avoid relegation.

“We’ve three games left and we’ll still be expecting to pick up points. That’s up to us.

“There is no point in crying about it – we have to galvanise the troops and make sure we are ready for the challenges ahead.”

Tyrone had put themselves in a really strong position heading into the home straight against Kerry but they handed the initiative to their opponents and paid the price in a 3-13 to 2-13 defeat.

“It’s been a tough campaign to date, and while there’s still time to turn things around, they have a gruelling itinerary with Galway, Donegal and Dublin awaiting in the final three rounds.

O’Rourke said: “They’re all tough – that’s what we’ve found. The first few days we were out we didn’t have the Errigal lads and we had a few fellas injured as well.

“We’re working hard, the boys are putting in a big shift behind the scenes. It’s hard to get the victories. With 10 minutes to go we thought we were in a good position but Kerry were able to rein us in and get the win.

“We know Galway next week is going to be a tough challenge again and it’s great in some ways because you find out areas you need to improve but at the same time it’s a cruel environment.

“It leaves us in a relegation battle and it’s going to be tough to get out of it but we just have to keep the heads down, stick together and see if we can get enough points in the last three games.”