DEFENDING IS THE KEY FOR HANDS
BRIAN DOOHER has admitted that finding the right balance between a desire to attack and a duty to defend is a work in progress for a Tyrone team searching for its identity.
The arrival of the double All-ireland winning captain as joint manager along with Feargal Logan heralded a shift to a more offensive approach from the Red Hands this year, but they were ruthlessly exposed in
Killarney as Kerry put six goals past the Red Hands in the League semifinal.
Those flaws have been addressed, and a more secure set-up saw them coast past defending champions Cavan in their Ulster Championship opener.
For all the Red Hands’ attacking power, the importance of protection for the defence will be a defining principle as they move on to Sunday’s semi-final clash with Donegal.
“I think we just had to get that balance between defence and attack and get it right,” said Dooher (inset)
“And you know what, it will be a different balance for different teams on different days.”
It’s a fine line that separates sufficient cover and potential exposure at the back, and Dooher wants to maintain an attacking threat at all times while not taking unnecessary risks.
He said: “We weren’t going to go with six forwards up the field. We still kept our attacking shape up there so that whenever we had the ball we had an outlet. I think that’s important too.”
The heavy defeat to Kerry was an eye-opener for the new managers and a harsh lesson on a steep learning curve.
The key solution was to address the supply of ball to the opposition attack and cut it out at source.
Dooher said: “Whenever you concede what we conceded in the last game of the League, there definitely was a lot of work to do.
“But I think we weren’t as bad as we were that day in Killarney, and we aren’t world-beaters now either.
“We’re somewhere in between, and we have work to do.
“The defenders tightened up, but it was the pressure out the field, it was the tackle out the field that made the difference.”