MICKEY HARTE was left to rue the one that got away after watching Niall Grimley’s late goal for Armagh deny the already-promoted Red Hands a sixth straight win at Healy Park on Saturday night.
The awful weather conditions played a major part in the “dogfight” that transpired in Omagh, but Harte was quick to give credit to an Armagh team who were “fighting for their lives” as they grabbed that late, late draw to bolster their own survival hopes.
“We’d be disappointed that we conceded the goal,” said Harte.
“We know a team that needs a goal is going to pump in that kind of high ball, and we’d dealt with a couple of them before that. I suppose, the more they come in, the gamble always is that one of them is going to work. You have to put everything in context tonight. The conditions were horrible - you couldn’t ask people to play precision football on a night like that.
“They were all out there doing their best, the overhead and underfoot conditions were difficult, with bits of surface water lying on the ground, and there was obviously a team who wanted to fight for their lives out there.
“That all made it a challenge for our boys and, given the fact that we’re already in a [Division Two] final, to rise yourself to that challenge, it’s a big ask. But I think they did a very good job and probably should have closed the game out. But Armagh had the desire to get something out of the game and they deserved it because they hung in there and fought all the way.”
Tyrone had to deal with the loss of Peter Harte after just five minutes with a shoulder injury, and the Red Hands face an anxious wait to discover the full extent of the damage: “He got it right from the throw-in and the medics reckon it might be the AC joint, but he was very sore and he couldn’t carry the arm, so I don’t know," Harte said.
“Depending on how severe it is, it could be anything from two weeks to a month so we’ll have to wait and see how that progresses.”
