DISCIPLINARY lessons will need to have been learned, says Michael McKernan, for Tyrone to beat Armagh for the first time in three attempts this year in Sunday’s All-Ireland Qualifier at the Athletic Grounds.
Armagh came out on top in the McKenna Cup at Healy Park and did so again when their Cathedral City home was the scene of the infamous Division One melee that saw four Tyrone players red-carded alongside Armagh’s Greg McCabe.
But poor discipline has continued to cost the Red Hands since. Conor McKenna was sent off in the Ulster Championship preliminary round win over Fermanagh and midfielder Brian Kennedy saw red in the quarter-final loss to Derry. Composure will be crucial if Tyrone are to prevail in the pressure-cooker atmosphere in Armagh on Sunday.
“Throughout the League the discipline was maybe not where it was last year, with the red cards,” said McKernan.
“Even basic skills, tackling and stuff like that, giving the ball away… We maybe weren't holding ourselves to the high standards that we were last year. We had a red card against Fermanagh and we had a red card against Derry so that's one of the major things that we're looking at.
“It's maybe showing a lack of focus as well as discipline, that's one of the main things that we're looking at and trying to improve on.”
If Tyrone needed a ‘wake-up’ call they got it loud and clear when Derry hammered them by 11 points in a one-sided quarter-final at Healy Park.
“In the Fermanagh game we weren't at the level (of last year) but we got through it thankfully,” he McKernan.
“Then Derry… Derry just taught us a lesson that day. But look, we've had five or six weeks of hard training.
“We've reviewed our season to date and we've looked at the discipline aspect, just probably the basic skills and concentration within games.
“Yeah, there's been a lot to work on over the last few weeks and hopefully we'll get back up to the level we were at last year.”
And if there is a time to get back to the level that saw them burst from the pack to win the Sam Maguire last year, it has to be Sunday against their rivals from across the Blackwater. McKernan says the Athletic Grounds is never an easy place to get a result.
“Armagh is not a nice place for any team to go to,” he said.
“Their fans get behind them and the last game will be in the back of our minds probably.
“We've played them twice this year and they've beat us twice so we know the challenge that we're faced by but it's something to look forward to, for us, for Tyrone fans and Armagh fans.”
Tyrone began this season without several of the players who helped to drive the county to the All-Ireland last year and in the wake of the Derry defeat management duo Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher have bolstered their squad with talented youngsters from Tyrone’s successful U20 side.
“The boys who stepped away all had personal reasons,” said McKernan.
“A lot of them were getting married or moving into homes. They have been great servants to Tyrone over the last number of years.
“I think there's still a strong panel and there have been new boys brought in at the start of this year. “We have brought in some U20s now that have strengthened it even more. They're pushing on. We had the U17s (Ulster champions) at the weekend and the U20s who won Ulster and All-Ireland this year, so look, those boys (over winter) were leaving, they had their time and it was just their time to move on.
“There are new boys coming through and they're pushing it on now.”
