SEAN CAVANAGH is back to lead Tyrone as they bid to fire their promotion push with a third straight win.
The Red Hand skipper makes his first start of the season at O’Moore Park, where Laois will target a second Ulster scalp to back up their win at the Athletic Grounds. The Leinster men are always difficult to handle on their own ground, but Mickey Harte’s side will travel with confidence that they can extend a winning run to 10 games, having come through the O Fiaich and McKenna Cups and NFL Division Two unbeaten to date.
The results speak for themselves, but manager Harte is seeking a greater consistency within games to complement his side’s ability to come out on the winning side on an ongoing basis. They do have full points from two outings, but they have wavered and looked particularly shaky in the closing stages of their last game, when they allowed Galway to come back from eight points behind to almost snatch victory at Pearse Stadium.
“It’s about getting that consistency into our game that we need to have in it to be as effective as we need to be. That’s the challenge for us,” Harte said.
“I think the team, when they play to the best of their ability, they play with a lot of confidence. But we also know that there’s patches of our play that, if you were up against some of the top sides in the country, they would have you written off at the times when we’re not playing well.”
Laois have been a mixed bag and Harte just doesn’t know what to expect from the unpredictable Leinster men. On the opening day, they slumped to a heavy home defeat at the hands of Galway, but bounced back to shock Armagh with a one-point win at the Athletic Grounds, displaying steel and substance in the process.
“You can’t depend on any other result to judge the quality of team you are going to meet. You have to take each game as it comes and give total respect to every opposition. If you don’t do that, you won’t go far," he added.
“We will treat Laois with the same respect we treat every other team in the division and we want to do our best to get the two points which will push us on, hopefully, to promotion.”
The Tyrone boss is hoping the three-week break in the league programme will not affect his side’s momentum. They have been in constant action on a weekly basis since mid-December, with seven games in the O Fiaich and McKenna cups providing his players with an abundance of competitive action and a nine-game winning run.
“It is the same for everybody. We will have to restart again, but it will be nicer to do that with four points on the board than none. That gives us more incentive to push on in the league,” he said.
Donie Kingston and Paul Cahillane shot down the Orchard men last time out, and the Tyrone defence will be without the experienced Ronan McNamee, ruled out by injury. Rookie corner-back Hugh Pat McGeary steps in for his first start and could face a difficult afternoon against a talented Laois attack.
But Harte is delighted to have his captain Cavanagh back in the side: “It’s a great boost to have someone like Sean coming in to any game at any time. The more game time he gets under his belt, the better for us all,” he said.
A third win on the trot would set Tyrone up perfectly for a push for the Division Two final and a quick return to the top tier. Harte expects this weekend’s round of games to create a separation of sorts, with promotion contenders set to pull clear of those destined for a struggle to avoid relegation.
“I think there’ll be a sort of a split at that stage. You would know after three games who’s going to be contenders for the final, and you’ll know who maybe has to watch the other side of the table to see where they go," he said.
“So I think we will know at that stage, but I just hope that we’ll know that we’re in the top half of the table.”
