Irish Independent

HOME COMFORTS ACTUALLY MAKING LITTLE IMPACT DESPITE THE PERCEPTION OF HARTE

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PERCEPTION­S and facts aren’t always comfortabl­e in each other’s company.

Following the league win over Donegal on Saturday night, Mickey Harte spoke of how Tyrone had lost too many games in

Omagh over the years and how “every other county’s home ground seems to be a bit of a fortress”.

“That is not the case with Omagh to date with us, so we have to try and do something about it,” said Harte (pictured).

He is right about Tyrone’s relatively poor record in Healy Park – in both league and championsh­ip – but as for other counties enjoying fortresses for home grounds, that’s not strictly true either.

Of the 20 games played so far in this year’s Allianz football league Division 1 programme, it’s 11-9 in favour of the host teams, scarcely an overwhelmi­ng indication of the advantages that home comforts allegedly bestow.

In Division 2, it’s advantage ‘away’ with the visitors leading 9-8, with three draws, from 20 games. And across all four divisions, it’s 38-34 in favour of ‘home’ teams, with seven draws. In hurling, it’s split exactly 50-50 between home and away wins across all divisions.

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