Harte targets six victories in January

SIX competitive games in the dismal month of January is the target for Tyrone as they build towards a league campaign that could define their season.

A Dr McKenna Cup semi-final against Fermanagh on Sunday keeps the holders on track not only to retain the trophy, but to get things right for the NFL opener against Galway in just over a fortnight.,

Various combinations of ice, wind, rain and fog failed to halt the Red Hand march through Section A, which they won at a canter with three straight victories.

The latest, a 21-point rout of Cavan, was the most comfortable of them all, but Peter Harte feels it was no less valuable in terms of giving players opportunities to work on important aspects of their roles.

“It’s about yourself. At the weekend we played St Mary’s, and there were probably a few things that we needed to work on. We probably did a wee bit better,” he said. “Mickey hasn’t changed in his 17 years, or whatever it is. He wants to play as many games in January as he can.

“We always take the McKenna Cup seriously, and getting to a semi-final on Sunday gives us another chance to work on things, to be competitive, and get another game before Galway in the National League.”

There are clear signs that Tyrone will sharpen their attacking edge in 2018, and Harte sees other aspects of their game that must be developed if they are to challenge Dublin’s dominance.

“We had a couple of very good scores, and the two goals at the end typified it. There was good kick passing, good movement off the ball,” Harte said.

“As we saw last year, you need to be working on that, you need to get very good at it, because the top teams are. So that’s what we trying to do, is catch those teams ahead of us.”