MCCURRY SUPPLIED RED HOT
Tyrone ace Darren delighted with Red Hand providers who give him ammo to shoot down opposition
DARREN MCCURRY has praised the Tyrone supply line who fed him the ammunition to bring down Cavan’s reign as Ulster champions.
The Dazzler was too hot to handle for a Breffni defence that was left light-headed by his movement, trickery and accuracy.
His 10-point haul, half of them from play, helped Tyrone sweep aside the Ulster champions and set up a semi-final date with Donegal at Brewster Park next Sunday.
The Edendork man dismisses the significance fo his personal triumph, insisting his supply line was the key at Healy Park.
“I think our kick-passing was up to scratch and we created a lot of chances and there was a lot of movement,” he said. “Definitely, we’ve been working hard on that in training.
“There’s some great footballers in the panel. Everyone just had to give the best account of themselves and everyone is fighting for positions.
“It’s the Championship and we’re just glad to get over the line.”
And he believes there’s much more to come from Tyrone in terms of the offensive threat that they now carry.
Ex-all-star full forward
Cathal Mcshane came off the bench to end an 18month injury nightmare, kicking three second half points, while Conor MCKenna and Darragh Canavan are expected to recover from knocks in time for next week’s last four clash.
“Cathal Mcshane (below) has had a hard time with injury and stuff and he’s put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes,” said Mccurry. “It’s good to have him back for Tyrone and for the team. He gave a good account of himself and did very well.”
Tyrone had some demons to cast out amid the continuing reverberations from their six-goal League semi-final mauling by
Kerry, but Mccurry reckons that just a few tweaks were required to address the failings that were so ruthlessly punished in Killarney.
“We didn’t do ourselves justice against Kerry, but there were only a couple of slight things that we had to get in check and we did that. “Around the middle we put in lot of hard work and put the pressure on the kick and got the results.”
Mccurry’s accuracy from play and dead balls was key to keeping the Red
Hands ahead in a closely fought opening half hour, during which
Cavan edged in front twice. But it was a comfortable second half as they resolve of the champions was broken by Brian Kennedy’s 40th minute goal.
“There was an edge to Cavan, especially in the first half and we definitely couldn’t take anything for granted.
“They were not Ulster champions for nothing. The League is the League and the Championship is different and Cavan are a Championship team.
“We knew coming into this game that it was going to be a massive battle.
“But I think we managed the game pretty well and controlled it definitely in the second half.
“I didn’t even know the goal had gone in because I was lying on the ground. But yeah, definitely when it went in, it was a big score and gave us that bit of a cushion.
“It meant that we could sit back and control the game a bit more and Cavan had to push out and try and take the ball off us. It just
gave us a bit of breathing space.”