TYRONE U21 manager Feargal Logan believes promotion to the senior squad is imminent for some of his rising stars.
The Red Hands fell short in the defence of their Ulster and All-Ireland titles, losing to Monaghan in last week’s provincial final, but Logan feels a handful of players have done enough to earn a call-up from Mickey Harte.
In the immediate aftermath of last season’s All-Ireland triumph, Conor Meyler, Mark Bradley and Lee Brennan were elevated to the senior set-up and others could follow in similar fashion this year.
“The longer you are in the shop window, the better chance you have of getting the call and these guys did get in the shop window a bit over these past few weeks,” said Logan.
“It’s a pity it has been cut short on them, but some of them are well capable and well able and I hope they move on and do it for Tyrone, whatever the circumstances.”
Since his appointment to the U21 post more than two years ago, along with Brian Dooher and Peter Canavan, Logan has defined the purpose of his role as a means of developing players capable of playing senior football for Tyrone.
A first All-Ireland triumph since 2001 accelerated that process and, while silverware eluded the county this year, he believes the process remains effective: “That’s always been a focus, but it’s still nice to bring some product to the table and we thought we would bring another Ulster title to Tyrone,” he said.
“But we came up short, so we just have to go back to the drawing board and these young lads now get on with their clubs. Now, these guys will get out with the seniors and go with their clubs and develop as footballers.”
Several members of this year’s squad are eligible again next year. Indeed, two players who started the Ulster final against Monaghan are still schoolboys - full-back Michael McKernan and full-forward Ryan Coleman.
“We have more schoolboys on the panel than we ever had, so there’s plenty of time. Some of them are very young and have plenty more years to come,” said Logan.
“They got the big-match experience, they got the pain of defeat, which sends you one of two ways, so hopefully they will react well and get stuck in and move forward with their club and their county, for the county’s sake too.”
Logan admitted that, as defending champions, Tyrone were vulnerable and represented a massive scalp for an aspiring Farney side who had no difficulty in generating motivation for a big challenge at the Athletic Grounds.
“It’s the age-old story. Once you’re up there on a pedestal, you’re a big target. They went at it hard, it was a nip and tuck first-half, a point in it at half-time,” he said.
“Maybe the phase just after half-time, we didn’t go so good and we paid the price and ran out of time at the end. You take your hat off to Monaghan. We went toe to toe and it was an entertaining game of football, but we just came out the wrong side of it at the last minute.
"But we can’t complain, that’s life. We lost a game of football and we just have to get on with it.”
