Preview: Tyrone v Derry
Preview: Tyrone v Derry
Preview: Tyrone v Derry
Saturday, February 28
Allianz Football League Division ITyrone v Derry, Healy Park, Omagh, 7pm (Setanta)
Tyrone and Derry meet in an all-Ulster Division I clash at Healy Park on Saturday night, three weeks on from their last outings in the top tier.
Both these two began with opening round defeats at the end of January - Tyrone losing heavily to Monaghan and Derry losing out to Donegal. In the last round of fixtures, Tyrone got their campaign back on track with an excellent 1-11 to 1-7 victory away to Mayo, but Derry suffered a second successive defeat to Kerry, and prop up the table as the only county yet to get a point on the board in the top tier.
Both Mickey Harte and Brian McIver have named their sides for this one. The Tyrone side, unsurprisingly, is unchanged from the one that defeated Mayo, with Seán Cavanagh continuing at full-forward with Darren McCurry and Cathal McShane either side of him.
Meanwhile, reports that Joe McMahon and Dermot Carlin have left the Tyrone panel appear to be wide of the mark. The experienced duo were thought to have been part of a group of six released by Harte last month, but that does not appear to be the case, with Harte looking to manage their football schedules carefully with a view to having them at his disposal during the summer. They are unlikely to feature much in the remainder of the league, however.
For Derry, McIver has made eight changes in a bid to halt his side's slide in the top tier. Eoin McNicholl, Brian Óg McAlary, Brian Óg McGilligan, Daniel McKinless, Barry McGoldrick, Dermot McBride, Carlos McWilliams and Eoin Bradley have all come into the side from the one that was beaten 1-17 to 0-13 at home by the All-Ireland champions three weeks ago.
Of those new starters for Derry, perhaps the most significant one is Eoin Bradley, who will make his first start for his county since returning to the panel after a spell playing soccer in the Irish League with Coleraine.
Thomas Mallon, John O'Kane, Conor McAtamney, Ciaran McFaul, Terence O'Brien and Daniel Heavron all miss out, while captain Mark Lynch is suspended and Gerard O'Kane is currently on a break from the panel, due to the strain of driving from his home in Glenullin every day to his job in Belfast. Although it has not yet been confirmed when O'Kane will return to the panel, it is likely that he will still play a part in Derry's 2015 season.
The absence of O'Kane and Lynch this weekend is obviously a blow for McIver, who is also still without the Slaughtneil duo of Patsy Bradley and Chrissy McKaigue, both of whom are busy preparing for their club's All-Ireland club final against Corofin at Croke Park on St Patrick's Day. McIver, speaking recently, tried to view the absences in as positive a light as possible. "The fact that certain players are out means that the door will open to others and as always we know that they will give their best," he said.
For Harte, his aim is consistency and he says Tyrone are on their guard against complacency following their win over Mayo.
"That is a big challenge because it's always easier to raise your game after a poor one than it is to keep it at a high level when you have a decent game," he said. "It's an Ulster derby, it's a local derby, it's all of these things that make for a very level playing field. So we know we must be on our guard. We must be better than we were against Mayo if we're going to be sure of a victory and that's a big challenge for us."
Last year's league meeting between the two sides finished level, Derry 1-15 Tyrone 2-12.
TYRONE: Niall Morgan; Aidan McCrory, Ronan McNamee, Cathal McCarron; Ronan McNabb, Justin McMahon, Peter Harte; Colm Cavanagh, Padraig McNulty; Tiernan McCann, Mattie Donnelly, Peter Hughes; Darren McCurry, Sean Cavanagh, Cathal McShane.
DERRY: Eoin McNicholl; Oisin Duffy, Niall Holly, Dermot McBride; Brian Og McAlary, Kevin Johnston, Sean Leo McGoldrick; Mark Craig, Brian Og McGilligan; Carlus McWilliams, Benny Heron, Enda Lynn; Daniel McKinless, Eoin Bradley, Barry McGoldrick.
Preview: Arthur Sullivan
