McCallan: Red Hand project still on course

By Niall Gartland

FORMER Tyrone footballer Seamus McCallan is optimistic that the county’s senior intercounty team will benefit in the long run from their defeat to Kerry in last Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

The Carrickmore man affirms that it’s still been a very good year for Tyrone – particularly when you consider the county’s underage success at both minor and u-20 level – and that Malachy O’Rourke’s senior team will ultimately learn from their six-point defeat to the Kingdom.

“When I look back on it now, I think we’ve had a good year. We won the All-Ireland Minor and U-20 titles, which is a brilliant achievement, so I think we’re in good shape going forward,” he said.

“It’s been Malachy’s first season in charge of the seniors and we’ve had some good days out, though in Kerry I think we met a team that’s a wee bit ahead of us in terms of their development. I think the bigger picture is that the experience of playing in a game like that will help us down the line.”

McCallan believes that Kerry brought an intensity to proceedings that Tyrone struggled to combat on a swelteringly hot day at GAA headquarters.

He also thinks that Jack O’Connor’s side got their match-up rights, and Tyrone paid the price as they bowed out of the race for Sam at the penultimate staging post.

“I think Kerry got things right in terms of match-ups, and big Joe O’Connor in the middle of the park was immense.

“Look, it’s easy to be wise after the event, but I think they brought an intensity and a certain zip in the tackle. At times they surrounded us when we were in possession, something Tyrone have been traditionally famous for, and they looked like a team that really wanted to put us back in our box.”

Up front David Clifford ran riot with a personal tally of 1-9 and Tyrone were arguably fortunate that Kerry didn’t add to his first-half goal. McCallan says it was just one of those days where Tyrone were second best and that they could have no real complaints.

“Paudie Hampsey had Clifford in his pocket for the first 10 or 15 minutes, but then Clifford cut inside a couple of times, got a couple of points, and there was an ominous feel about things.

“He got his goal and it could have been worse for us as (Niall) Morgan came to our rescue a number of times.

“Down the other end a few of our forwards struggled to get away from their men and didn’t play with the same freedom that they normally would. We did have our chances in the second half but our shot selection wasn’t great and all-in-all you have to say the best team won.”