FOUR wins from four games in the League, and against Derry, four points from play for himself, yet Tyrone's Richie Donnelly still insists there's room for improvement.
The Trillick lad pointed to another slow start and some wayward finishing as areas to look at as Mickey Harte's men plan for their trip to take on Meath in Division Two next Sunday.
Donnelly acknowledged that "there were a lot more positives in that performance" as Tyrone recorded a nine-point victory over the Oak Leafers last Saturday night.
The response to falling four points to two behind early on was what pleased Harte, recalled Donnelly, with Tyrone going in at half-time 10-6 up: "Obviously we hadn't started well or finished well in the previous games – we didn't start well but we reacted well to the circumstances we were in, pushed on, and never really looked like slowing down towards the end which is a good sign going forward.
"Obviously he wasn't happy with the start but he was happy with how we reacted and he just wanted more of the same, to push on in the first 10 minutes of the second half, really bring the game to them and see where it took us. Thankfully that put us in a good position going into the last 10 or 15 minutes."
Indeed Tyrone effectively had the game won by the 50th minute, when skipper Sean Cavanagh netted the first of their two goals, and Donnelly acknowledged that the Red Hands are aiming to score more majors:
"Goals are going to be very important going down the line, into the later stages of the League. That's something that we still have a lot of work to do on and hopefully we'll improve going forward."
Putting the ball over the bar won't be forgotten either, especially as Tyrone clocked up 14 wides to Derry's six on Saturday, which brought a worried look to Richie's face:
"That just shows you, that's nowhere near good enough at this level and for this group. There's a lot of work to be done on that moving forward."
His own accuracy was very good, though, registering only one wide along with his four points, three of them superb scores.
That performance earned him a second `man of the match' against Derry, and he'd certainly settle for that again on May 22 when the Oak Leafers host Tyrone in the Ulster SFC quarter-final. However, he was quick to say:
"Ach, I would surely, but it's not going to be as easy as that. The 22nd of May is a long way away yet. It's going to be a tough challenge again and this match will have no bearing on the 22nd of May whatsoever. It's a new challenge and a new day."
Of more immediate concern is the game in Pairc Tailteann, of which he said: "Going down to Meath is going to be as tough as it gets. But we're looking forward to it and hopefully we'll improve even more."
Yet even after collecting maximum points so far, he said: "We're not thinking League Final at all, we're thinking of how we can prepare for Meath, going down to Navan".
