TYRONE’S appetite for success grows bigger every year, says experienced defender Ronan McNabb, so don’t expect them to fade away because of one Dr McKenna Cup defeat.
Dromore clubman McNabb faced the media in the wake of his side’s loss to Cavan on Sunday and says their first McKenna Cup loss in five years will be an early season “kick up the backside” for the side.
“Every year you come in, especially with a man like Mickey Harte over you, there’s always a great bite to win everything,” he said.
“I see it every year, boys get hungrier every year, and I know myself, I’ll be 27 in April, your inter-county career is pretty short and you’re thinking, you have to win this and you have to win that. So I think every year you’re as hungry, if not hungrier, as the years go on.
“You have boys like Sean Cavanagh who are busting themselves every year, boys like Mattie Donnelly, who have two Allstars, and they’re as hungry as ever. It’s always important to have a player like Sean Cavanagh in the ranks, he has done it all.
“When he was 25, he was GAA Player of the Year and he had three All-Irelands under his belt, so to have a man of that experience and that ability it can only be good. And I think there’s a couple of years left in him yet, if he wants to push himself. Sean’s a great man and everybody’s delighted that he’s back.”
Tyrone’s 25-game winning run in the Dr McKenna Cup came to an end after they were out-fought by a hungry Cavan side out to impress new manager Mattie McGleenan. Dromore clubman McNabb admitted that Tyrone’s off-colour display at Kingspan Breffni Park shows that the players have “piles of work to do”.
The five in-a-row champions will need to improve on what they showed against Mattie McGleenan’s Breffni men or miss out on the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 2008.
“We’re disappointed, but it gives us piles to focus on now in the week in training, leading on now to the next game [against Ulster University on Saturday],” said McNabb.
“We know we have piles of work to do. We were missing a few men, but there was no excuse out there, Cavan put up a good show and were probably the hungrier team. We have a lot to learn over the next few weeks.
“They’re a very good team, they have been pushing on in Ulster, and we had to take them in the replay last year in the Ulster semi-final. Cavan are building nicely, and with a new manager it gives them a new incentive, a new hunger and desire, they have to prove themselves to Mattie.”
Jordanstown’s one point victory over Donegal on Sunday means that Tyrone need to win by a minimum of four points to leapfrog them in Section C next Saturday. A Donegal victory over Cavan in the other game could set up a shoot-out for top spot in the final group game but Tyrone are now at the mercy of other results.
“It’s out of our hands,” said McNabb.
“But we’ll go out to make improvements in the next two games, we’ll be going out to try and win those games, as we always do, and just hope for the best. It would be great if we could get through to the semi-final, but if we don’t we’ll just get stuck into training and prepare for the League as best we can.
“We have a lot of injuries and a few boys away with the colleges, but it’s great to see boys the likes of Cahir McCullagh and Declan McClure coming in. They are playing well in club football every week and they deserved the chance. Some of them did very well, so there’s a lot to build on over the next few weeks.”
A McKenna Cup semi-final and final would be good preparation ahead of Tyrone’s return to Division One, so manager Mickey Harte will want to see his side force their way into the last four. However, it seems he’ll have to do so without Connor McAliskey, Rory Brennan, Michael Cassidy and Ronan O’Neill all of whom picked up injuries last Sunday.
McAliskey was awaiting the results of a scan on Monday which will tell him whether or not he will miss the entire 2017 season. Fears the 26-year-old has suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee remained high as he underwent an MRI scan at the Ulster Clinic in Belfast.
The Clonoe clubman was stretchered off after colliding with an opponent in the second-half of last Sunday’s defeat at Kingspan Breffni Park. He was taken to Cavan General Hospital, from where he was released late on Sunday evening, before being seen by the Tyrone GAA doctor on Monday morning.
Allstar midfielder Mattie Donnelly may also miss both remaining Section C games after he received a straight red card for allegedly striking Cavan forward Seanie Johnston: “It’s disappointing, but injuries give someone else a chance the next day, and hopefully we can get a few more boys back,” said McNabb.
“Everybody has to go out and prove themselves to Mickey, as they always do, so we’ll look forward to the next game and to a better performance. Since I have been in the panel since 2010, we have been successful in the McKenna Cup, and going out here today, obviously we wanted to win, but Cavan have won the game and were the better team on the day, so we have to hold our hands up and say we weren’t good enough.
“But it’s a long season ahead, and it gives us a great incentive now to improve. Last year we went through McKenna Cup, O’Fiaich Cup and National League and we won nearly every game.
“To get an early defeat gives you that kick up the back-side to maybe not be as complacent the next day, or knock that wee but of complacency out, if there was any, which I don’t think there was.
“Sometimes when you’re integrating new boys in, maybe there’s a wee bit of nerves but it can only be a positive in my eyes, because you can only learn from your defeats.”
TYRONE'S 25-GAME WINNING STREAK
2016
Final: Tyrone 1-22 Derry 1-17 (AET); Semi-final: Tyrone 1-13 Fermanagh 0-9; R3: Tyrone 2-9 Antrim 0-6; R2: Tyrone 1-16 Derry 4-6; R1: Tyrone 3-17 QUB 0-11
2015
Final: Tyrone 1-13 Cavan 0-10; Semi-final: Tyrone 3-10 Armagh 1-8; R3: Tyrone 1-11 Antrim 0-7; R2: Tyrone 1-12 St Mary’s 0-3; R1: Tyrone 1-12 Armagh 1-10
2014
Final: Tyrone 1-15 Cavan 0-11; Semi-final: Tyrone 2-13 Derry 1-13; R3: Tyrone 5-16 Armagh 0-7; R2: Tyrone 3-19 QUB 1-8; R1: Tyrone 0-13 Donegal 1-7
2013
Final: Tyrone 4-11 Monaghan 1-10; Semi-final: Tyrone 2-9 Fermanagh 0-7; R3: Tyrone 1-18 UU 0-9; R2: Tyrone 2-13 Antrim 1-10; R1: Tyrone 1-14 Derry 0-15
2012
Final: Tyrone 1-14 Derry 2-8; Semi-final: Tyrone 2-12 Fermanagh 1-4; R3: Tyrone 0-13 Fermanagh 1-7; R2: Tyrone 1-12 Antrim 0-10; R1: Tyrone 1-13 QUB 1-5
