WE CAN DOO THIS

Darragh admits the Red Hands deserved rocket from boss Bri ahead of Kerry test

DARRAGH CANAVAN says Brian Dooher’s half-time dressing down against Mayo sparked the “Tyrone-like tackling and aggression” they must take to Killarney this Sunday.

Tyrone were floundering at the break, trailing by three points and playing poorly.

Darragh’s father Peter, speaking on RTE beforehand, had pointed to their lack of speed and intent on the counter as a major flaw in their game.

He also said “the method, intensity and aggression” wasn’t there in the recent one-point defeat by Galway in Omagh.

It looked like more of the same against Mayo from a team that has just six starters playing from the 2021 All-ireland triumph.

But Dooher’s (right) half-time team talk and the introduction of Darren Mccurry – who hit 0-8 – were factors in a turnaround victory.

Older Canavan brother Darragh – who hit 1-4, including 1-3 from play – felt there was more to it than that though. He said: “We tackled in numbers and didn’t give them time on the ball and when we got it up front we took our chances. I think that was a big difference in our play in the second half.

“The tackling was a lot more Tyrone-like and we just need to go out and do it for the full game next time. Kerry in Killarney isn’t going to be easy. It never is down there but if we bring enough aggression and work rate to the game we won’t be far away.”

It may not be the best time to be going to Fitzgerald Stadium – a venue Kerry hadn’t lost a Championship game at in 28 years until

Mayo turned them over in last summer’s

All-ireland series.

The Kingdom will be hurting badly after shipping

3-18 in a 10-point hammering by

Dublin at Croke

Park.

Jack O’connor will demand a response and so will the ever expectant Kerry crowd.

It will be a serious test

for a Tyrone side currently without experienced heads like Conor Meyler, Matty Donnelly, Frank Burns, Kieran Mcgeary, Michael O’neill and Cathal Mcshane.

But they do have a decent record in Division One football against Kerry in recent times. After taking a couple of

hammerings in Killarney under Mickey Harte, Tyrone won on their last trip in 2022, although the Kingdom had already qualified for a League final.

In home league encounters, Tyrone have won their last three against Kerry.

But they also have the memory of last year’s 12-point All-ireland quarter-final defeat, where the game was over with 25 minutes still left on the clock – and an even worse loss in the 2021 League semi in Killarney, when Kerry hit six goals in a 16-point victory.

However, the win over Mayo leaves the Red Hands just one win away from safety.

“There was a lot more intensity in the tackle in the second half,” added Canavan of that display.

“Dooher had given us a bit of a dressing down at half-time which was deserved and I don’t think that did us any harm either. It was a much better second half. The first half wasn’t near good enough and we have a lot of work to do as regards that.”