Football

Proud night for Pomeroy as Burns and McGeary brothers help Tyrone to 15-point win over Saffrons

Tyrone's Frank Burns strides away from Antrim's Paddy McAleer in this Dr McKenna Cup clash at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Picture Declan Roughan..
Tyrone's Frank Burns strides away from Antrim's Paddy McAleer in this Dr McKenna Cup clash at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Picture Declan Roughan.. Tyrone's Frank Burns strides away from Antrim's Paddy McAleer in this Dr McKenna Cup clash at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Picture Declan Roughan..

ON a proud and historic night for Pomeroy Plunkett’s, four of its finest lined out for Tyrone, by far their largest representation in 101 years of gaelic games in the parish.

And to make it all the more remarkable for a club that prides itself in its family atmosphere, two sets of brothers faced Antrim in Wednesday’s Dr McKenna Cup opener.

Frank Burns turned in a man of the match performance up front, while his brother Brendan made a solid debut at the back, alongside the McGeary siblings, Kieran and Hugh Pat.

A high-scoring season opener for the Red Hands saw them make a confident first defence of the trophy they have won for the past six seasons.

A 15-point win over the Saffrons at Armagh’s Athletic Grounds made it a losing start for new Antrim manager Lenny Harbinson, and a confident first defence of the trophy Tyrone have won for each of the past six seasons.

A 4-20 to 2-11 victory sets Mickey Harte’s outfit up nicely for a seventh straight title, with group games against St Mary’s and Cavan still to come.

“It was definitely a big occasion for Pomeroy. Over the years there have been Pomeroy men playing in the team, maybe one at a time, but four of us, especially two brothers, it's a proud moment for us definitely," said Frank Burns.

But he accepted that all four will have to work hard and fight to keep their places as competition hots up in the weeks ahead, leading into Nati0nal League and Championship.

“That's always been the case. It's very hard to get into this team and if you get in, you try your best to stay there. But if you want to be up there you're going to need that competition as the year goes on as it's going to get more and more difficult."

A 1-4 tally, all from play, underlined the vast potential Burns brings to the side. The second half goal came with a touch of good fortune, bus some of his points were simply sublime, arrowed between the posts from long range.

"I got a few scores but I won't get ahead of myself, it's only the first game of the McKenna Cup. I'll just try to keep it going.

"I'm delighted to pick up man of the match in our first game. It's about getting a bit of ring rust off and working on the basics and simple things like that.”

Expectations of a move towards a more attacking strategy this season were given some credence by Tyrone’s eagerness to commit men to the offensive and shift the ball quickly to the front men.

The influence of new forwards coach Stephen O’Neill could be seen as they picked off an impressive 4-20 tally to get the season off to a positive and high-scoring start.

"I suppose it was a good team performance coming after Christmas and the New Year. We gelled well together, we're just taking it a game at a time. We've got over Antrim and we'll look forward to the next one," Burns added.

Midfielder Padraig McNulty grabbed the first goal as the Red Hands built up a 1-10 to 0-4 interval lead, and there were further second half strikes from Connor McAliskey, back in the side after missing last season with a cruciate injury, Burns and Niall Sludden.

Burns remarked: “It can be easy at times when you have a bit of a lead to come out and sit back, but at half-time we said we’re not going to do that, we’re going to push up and try to push on, which we did, so we’re happy enough with that.”