TYRONE’S ability to get scores from every corner of the pitch is an under-rated asset of theirs believes full-back Ronan McNamee.
The Red Hands had 12 different scorers in their Ulster semi-final win over Donegal and 11 names on the scoresheet against both Down and Derry.
That level of consistency with regards the spread of scorers has instead mostly been cast beneath the shadow of having no marquee scoring forward.
They had been criticised for the style of their attacking play and, in some quarters, for not committing fully to the attack.
They don’t seem to mind that so much internally. Why would they? When you’re averaging 23 points a game, it probably doesn’t matter much what those on the outside are saying.
McNamee questioned the setup of Westmeath for their Leinster championship clash with Dublin, where the underdogs conceded 4-29 after adopting a gung-ho approach.
“You’re going to need to rack up scores but nothing’s really changed. You worry about defending first and then you break as much as you can at pace.
“Whether it works out or not, the other teams tend to set up well too. You could go out one day and score 1-22, the next day you might score 10 points and it could win you a game, depending on how the opposition are set up.
“There are teams that are going out like Westmeath against Dublin, going man-for-man, why would you want to do that? What benefit is that to any person, let alone any team?
“We’ll worry about not conceding as much and then if you’re getting into the position to score like the Donegal game, Kieran McGeary, Petie Harte, Mattie Donnelly, Padraig Hampsey, all well capable of kicking points.
“They all play crucial roles for their clubs. Padraig Hampsey might wear 2 or 4 on his back for Tyrone but if you go to a Coalisland game, he’s playing middle of the field and lording it.
“Just because you have him in corner-back wearing a county jersey doesn’t mean you’re not capable of splitting the posts when you get up there.
“If you’re committing to the attack, you’re confident if the ball comes to anybody in a shooting position, you’ll be able to score.”
Much of the criticism they’ve faced was fuelled by last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat by Mayo, in which they produced a lifeless attacking display and lost by 0-13 to 0-12.
The game finished with a host of missed chances for Tyrone and McNamee feels their failure to nab an equaliser led to a skewed analysis of not only that performance, but the team’s overall attacking qualities.
“Year on year you’re going to improve. Last year if we’d played on another couple of minutes, we would have got an equaliser.
“It was like we were the only team playing that day that wanted to win the game but we just couldn’t put the ball over the bar.
“It was the same against Mayo in the League [this year], where they beat us by a point.
“In the last 10 minutes, we had 10 attacks, they had one, and their attack was the winning point. Ours was seven wides and three misplaced passes.
“The three championship games we’ve played this year, we’ve been racking up scores, but it’s just by chance it didn’t happen for us before.
“Last year we could have scored 1-22 against Mayo but we didn’t, and it cost us in the end up. Fingers crossed that we can keep racking up the scores and not freeze again. Everybody’s well capable of kicking points.
“Against Donegal we scored one goal but created five or six chances – if you’d taken them, you probably would be asking me a different question.
“Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion. They have to write or say something about Tyrone. They’ll not put you up and pat you on the back.”
