Tyrone senior football team manager Malachy O'Rourke. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
Tyrone manager Malachy O'Rourke was 'disappointed' not to triumph at Tuam Stadium after producing a fine Allianz Football League Division One display against Galway.
The spoils were eventually decided following a splendid Shane Walsh two pointer from a free into the teeth of a strong breeze in the west.
In the opening period Tyrone impressed against Galway, who were backed by the wind initially. “You have to be smart in it, a team that wants to shoot from a bit further out for two-pointers, you have to be quick to press out on them and be mindful of that, set up your defence a bit different," O'Rourke says.
"We’re coming to terms with it. A number of lads have come back into the panel after being away for a couple of years, there’s a number of U20s introduced into the panel, the Errigal lads are only back, so you can’t expect it to be a real cohesive unit after a couple of games.
"We’re working hard, we think we’re getting better and that was probably our best performance."
O'Rourke acknowledges that valuable lessons have been learned in recent matches against Kerry and Galway. “You’re playing good teams and with someone like David Clifford up there that can happen," O'Rourke says.
"We went into the last minute of the game today still up by two points, so we did a lot of things right, we just have to keep going and learning.
"It’s a steep learning curve. It’s a good point to get in a way."
Tyrone's remaining matches against Donegal and Dublin will be demanding. “That’s what we expect and that’s what we want, you have to go into these games to find out about yourself," O'Rourke responds.
"You find out a lot about players, who’s going to survive later on in the year, what changes we have to make. That’s okay, we accept that.
"Obviously, you like to get results, we desperately want to stay in Division One, we know that’s not going to be easy.
"That was a step in the right direction today even though we only got one point, now we’ll turn our attention to the next one."
