Following a disappointing season for Tyrone senior footballers, manager Mickey Harte has voiced his intention to stay at the helm for at least another year.
Tyrone were eliminated from this year’s championship on Sunday with a 0-13 to 0-10 defeat against Ulster rivals Armagh, making this Tyrone’s earliest exit in the hunt for Sam under Harte’s tenure.
“There is another year, under my current contract, and I intend to honour that,” said a subdued Harte, outside the Tyrone dressing room following the match.
“As you can imagine, it’s not very pleasant in there. It’s not a good day when you go out of the championship, your second chance is used up. We can’t argue about it. Armagh came and played well and dominated the game.”
The sending off of Mattie Donnelly for a second yellow card on the half our mark was always going to make life difficult for Mickey Harte’s side. To their credit, however, Tyrone clawed back a four point half-time deficit to level the match twice in the second half before Armagh’s extra man eventually made the difference.
Mattie Donnelly gets his marching orders from referee Cormac Reilly. ©INPHO/Presseye/Andrew Paton
While Harte fended off questions about his own immediate future, other elder statesmen in the Tyrone team have come under scrutiny with many speculating veterans like Conor Gormley and Stephen O’Neill will hang up their boots.
“These men have given a lot to Tyrone and obviously they’ll take their time to decide what they want to do. It’s only right to give them that time and really nobody would be making any great decisions today.
“But in due course, everybody will look at their position and see if they have the heart, desire and will to give it another go. That’ll be something that’ll have to happen, in the weeks and months to come, and we’ll see where that takes us by next January.”
Tyrone are is a strong footballing county and they will undoubtedly return to the top table of the football championship in the year’s to come but with many calling out for an overhaul of an ageing squad, it may be a new Tyrone we see emerge in the coming seasons.
Hat-tip to Sky Sports GAA.
Main image via ©INPHO/Presseye/Andrew Paton
