Change good for a Harte

MICKEY HARTE looked and sounded like a man who had the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders as he took on his TV punditry role last Sunday.

Sometimes you hold onto something you love as if your life depended on it to the point that it becomes almost like ike an addiction.

It’s only when you give it up that you realise there’s a life outside of it and you can flourish and blossom in so many other ways.

It’s like being released from a strait jacket and Harte looked a relieved man on the BBC (above), as if new life was flowing through his veins after leaving the Tyrone hotseat he occupied for 18 years.

He spoke with a new-found freedom that comes with not being compromised and it was great to see him being outspoken and insightful.

Mickey can sit back now and enjoy the fruits of his incredible success – and we’ll all get to see a whole new side of him.

I WAS surprised by the variety of attacking options Donegal unleashed on Armagh.

Their fast handpassing dazzled but it was the long-range precision foot-passing that dismantled the Orchard defence.

Donegal used the mark superbly and had 12 different scorers. Their defence and midfield yielded 1-7 from play, an exceptional return.

The never-say-die commitment of their Ulster final opponents Cavan is admirable but I take Donegal to win by eight to 10 points.