IT'S less than two years since Kieran McGeary soared to Gaelic football’s highest heights with an All-Ireland title, an Allstar and a Player of the Year award.
Since then, injuries and a loss of form have pushed him down Tyrone’s pecking order and out of the team.
But he’s back, and a first Championship start of the season last week brought him out of the shadows and into the searing heat of a Red Hand revival.
McGeary’s solid showing against Donegal has all but secured a primary role for the Pomeroy man in Saturday’s quarter-final clash with champions Kerry.
“Luckily I got a chance, but there’s no promises at any time, and we’ll see what happens the next day. We have a big game coming up,” he said.
“That’s the aim, to play. I suppose it’s every player’s aim. The more game time the better.
“I’m happy with the day, happy that we got over the line, which is the main thing.”
That McGeary’s re-integration into the team aligned with Tyrone’s best performance since the 2021 All-Ireland final is probably no coincidence. But the challenge intensifies as the Championship progresses and the Kingdom will pose the stiffest imaginable test this weekend.
He feels Tyrone are still some way off the level that they need to reach in order to be considered genuine title contenders.
“A few things clicked, but we have loads to work on, loads to improve on for the next day, but promising signs. It’s knock-out now. If you don’t perform, you don’t go through.
“We have made one step to the next round, and there’s no promises in this game. We’ll just have to dig deep the next day too.”
But Croke Park brings the best out of Red Hand teams, as Kerry have discovered to their cost on a number of occasions over the past 20 years.
“Every team loves Croke Park. When you get there, it’s always nice to play in Headquarters,” he added. “That’s where you want to play and we’re looking forward to it.”
McGeary contended that Tyrone’s preliminary quarter-final victory at Ballybofey was not as comfortable as the 1-18 to 0-13 score-line suggested, with Donegal having a late goal disallowed for a square ball infringement.
“Look, that game could have gone either way. There were some crazy moments. That ball that dropped in the net at the end... I know it was a square ball, but if that had been allowed, I don’t know what would have happened in the last 10 minutes.
“It wasn’t home and hosed or it wasn’t as clean as it maybe looked, but it was promising, which is good.”
