Fintan O’Toole
When he set about constructing his first great Tyrone team, Mickey Harte had a clear policy in mind when it came to the league. It was a competition that was to be afforded respect and treated as a springboard for the summer championship days, rather than a competition that could be viewed with a casual indifference.
In 2003, Tyrone’s breakthrough Sam Maguire success was preceded by a league triumph the previous spring. Harte would have seen a direct correlation between the two victories as Tyrone discovered the winning habit early in the year and maintained it. The approach altered from the apathetic attitude towards the league that existed in other counties and in hurling Harte would have found a man who spoke from the same script.
In 2003 Brian Cody also claimed a league and championship double with Kilkenny, a feat he also achieved in 2002, 2006 and 2009. Kerry achieved something similar in 2004, 2006 and 2009 in football. Other established counties sat up and took notice as they sought to end championship droughts. It’s worth nothing that Liam Sheedy won a league title in 2008 with Tipperary and reached the 2009 final before lifting Liam McCarthy in 2010 while Conor Counihan garnered a Division 2 title in 2009 and Division 1 crown in 2010 before ending Cork’s two decades of separation from Sam Maguire in 2010.
For Harte, a figure who originally championed the virtues of the league, there is now a need to return to that level of league success if he is to rehabilitate Tyrone into a genuine championship force. Tomorrow they face Kildare in Croke Park but it is a Division 2 clash that is the curtain-raiser to the main Division 1 show between Kerry and Dublin. For the second spring in succession Tyrone are stuck in Division 2 and after years being an established Division 1 team, it must sting to a certain extent that they are now in the second tier.
Promotion should be a key objective for the Red Hands over the next few months. They have form and momentum behind them after winning the Dr McKenna Cup last weekend. That is important considering that big names like Hughes, Dooher, Gourley, McGinley, McGuigan and Jordan have all shuffled off into retirement over the winter. It will be the likes of Joe McMahon, Cathal McCarron and Colm Kavanagh that need to emerge as real leaders in the team while the early evidence suggests that Peter Harte, Matthew Donnelly and Ronan O’Neill are poised to translate explosive underage form onto the senior stage.
Tyrone will be the favourites to advance from this division and their opponents in Croke Park tomorrow night will be of a similar mindset. Kildare have been clearly hamstrung by critical refereeing decisions going against them in championship ties in recent summers but into the fifth year of the Kieran McGeeney era, there is a need to get some silverware on the sideboard to reflect the substantial progress that has been made.
An injury-free year for Daryl Flynn and Mikey Conway would go a long way towards assisting Kildare in that regard. The continuing transfer saga over Seanie Johnston continues to rumble on but of more important will be whether youngsters Tommy Moolick and Fionn Dowling can step up to be mainstays in attack. Qualifying for the O’Byrne Cup final indicates their focused early season attitude and they should be the front-runners along with Tyrone.
The greatest challenge to that duo is likely to come from Derry. There were flashes of progress during the first year of the charismatic John Brennan’s reign in charge. Only scoring difference saw Derry miss out on promotion last year and hopes of improving their scoring totals could be helped immeasurably by the return of the mercurial Paddy Bradley from injury and the potential flourishing of Cailean O’Boyle in the full-forward role. As the league progresses Brennan will hope to welcome back old faces from injury like Eoin Bradley and Gerard O’Kane, along with John McCamley who cut the best dash of the new recruits in the Dr McKenna Cup.
For Galway and Meath, avoiding the instability that marred their campaigns last spring will be welcomed. Galway finished rock bottom of Division 1 while Meath were desperately lucky to avoid the drop from Division 2. The installation of Alan Mulholland, a man with All-Ireland minor and U21 titles to his management CV, as manager is a shrewd one by Galway rather than opting to ensnare a Messiah figure from outside the county borders.
Patience will be required in his team’s development considering Micheal Meehan’s continued injury struggles and the uncertainty over the future of talisman Padraic Joyce. Amongst the sea of promising young faces, the development of Colin Forde in defence, Fiontain Ó Curraoin and Tomas Flynn in midfield, and Mark Hehir in attack will be noteworthy.
In Meath it is a similar story with Seamus ‘Banty’ McEnaney hoping that there will be no tales of discontent plaguing their preparations. Graham Geraghty’s double-jobbing as a selector and player will be interesting, as will the potential emergence of Ciaran Lenehan and Paddy Gilsenan. Finishing in the upper echelons of the table would be a satisfactory outcome for the county.
The spectre of relegation looks likely to loom large for the two new teams in the division, Louth and Westmeath. The standard of opposition they will face will be considerably higher than what they were accustomed to in Division 3 last season. Louth boss Peter Fitzpatrick has made a couple of clever acquisitions to his management setup in former Donegal All-Ireland winning boss Brian McEniff and former Dublin All-Ireland winning goalkeeper John O’Leary, but will need Paddy Keenan and Darren Clarke to lead the way on the pitch if they are to survive.
Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan faces a difficult task with injuries and emigration having robbed him of several key talents while his Garrycastle contingent will be employed elsewhere ahead of the upcoming All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final. For both teams, Sunday’s opener in Haggardstown when they meet will be a critical encounter in shaping the direction their spring will take.
Promoted (in no particular order): Tyrone, Kildare
Relegated (in no particular order): Louth, Westmeath
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/7dd81gaZJBY/post.aspx
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