THERE are probably easier ways to break yourself back in after seven months away than being asked to shackle Michael Murphy on the first day out, but such was Padraig Hampsey’s lot at Healy Park on Saturday night.
An unfortunate slip allowed Murphy in for the first point of the evening just 10 seconds in, and after that Hampsey went toe-to-toe with the Glenswilly ace – an onerous task at the best of times, let alone when Donegal’s talisman is on top form.
It wasn’t an ideal start for the new Tyrone management team of Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher, or for their new captain as the Red Hands lost out to Donegal in Omagh.
After an even and enjoyable first half that ended 0-10 apiece, a second yellow card for Michael O’Neill five minutes after the break left them facing an uphill battle as the Tir Chonaill assumed control.
But Hampsey wasn’t too downbeat having faced into the unknown following so long on the sidelines.
“The lads put in a good shift there - chasing the game with a man down was pretty tough, we’re only on the road three or four weeks, just trying to get things going,” said the Coalisland stalwart.
“Going into the break we were happy enough at a draw, against the wind. But Donegal are a well experienced team, they’ve been on the road this last number of years, that team’s been playing collectively over the last couple of years, we’re only getting together. “We battled away but we didn’t get the result.
“It was a long enough break, we were doing our own individual training over lockdown but collectively we’ve only been together the last couple of weeks. We’re happy enough with the way things are going in training - it’s a marathon not a sprint, so we’ll look to the next game against Armagh.
“Armagh’s a great team, they’ve been going well over the last number of years. They’ve the two O’Neills [Oisin and Rian], plenty of good forwards, so it’ll be a tough task but we’re looking forward to it.”
With the Orchard returning to top flight football with a bang, seeing off Ulster rivals Monaghan at Brewster Park on Sunday, tails will be up as they prepare to welcome their neighbours to the Athletic Grounds on Saturday night.
Defeat to Donegal, meanwhile, has ramped up the pressure on the Red Hands – with Logan admitting the margin for error has narrowed looking into the rest of their Division One North campaign.
“It's a short League,” he said.
“Everybody has got to get up and at it quickly and we don't want to lose again.”
One issue in the wake of Saturday’s defeat to Donegal was the 12 wides Tyrone kicked and, with the likes of 2019 Allstar Cathal McShane still on the comeback trail from injury, they cannot afford to be so profligate this weekend.
However, Hampsey insist it is only to be expected that there might be a bit of rustiness in front of the posts after so long without competitive action – not to the mention the swirling breeze blowing across Healy Park.
And the Red Hand captain was also quick to lavish praise on new boy Paul Donaghy, the Dungannon Clarke’s man who bagged 0-10 on a remarkable inter-county debut.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a concern, there’s a couple of new forwards in there, lads we have full belief in. On another day they’ll be going over the bar,” said Hampsey of Tyrone’s wide count.
“There’s positives to take there, the likes of young Donaghy making his debut, he stepped up to the plate and did well. We know up front we have work to do on our conversion rate and that’s something we’ll focus in on on Tuesday night.”
