The All Ireland semi-finals will take place this weekend – Dublin v Monaghan and Kerry v Derry. When we bowed out meekly almost a fortnight ago at the hands of Kerry, it didn’t feel like a huge surprise. In fact, it may rank as one of the easier Championship exits, I can remember. The second half was tough to watch but there was no question that we were beaten by the better team on the day.
Where does 2023 rank? Certainly not as bad as 2022, ahead of which, I felt we could aim for another All Ireland title before panel departures rendered us a much lesser sum of parts. Throughout 2023, Tyrone looked like a team in transition. While Armagh have strangely generated all the hype, Derry have delivered back-to-back Ulster titles and will look to go further this weekend. Tyrone are clearly no longer top dogs in Ulster. Full credit to Monaghan who have also had a great season to date.
At minor and U20 level, Tyrone had a more modest season than in recent times, bowing out in Ulster semi-finals and Ulster quarter-finals respectively. The future remains bright with Ulster success at minor level in 2021 and 2022 and an All Ireland championship at U20 level in 2022. It is vital to plan for the future and build a new team. It is hoped that we can retain the services of a small core of senior players now above 30 – Niall Morgan, Ronan McNamee, Peter Harte and Mattie Donnelly. Their experience will be vital in nurturing the younger members of the panel especially if we see a change of management ahead of 2024. Senior players like Conor Meyler and Pádraig Hampsey will continue to drive standards.
A big positive from 2023 was staying in Division 1. The importance of the league may be diluted next year but there is no chance of us winding up in the Tailteann Cup any time soon like some other former giants of the game like Down and Meath. Other huge plusses are the arrival of Cormac Quinn and Ruairí Canavan at senior level and the significant improvement of Darragh Canavan.
Our championship campaign was underwhelming. We played six games and lost three of them. I still feel like we left a proper Ulster campaign behind us with a poor second half against Monaghan. Wins over Armagh and Donegal were encouraging and returning to Croke Park felt like a little progress was made. It would have been a very different narrative had John Heslin’s free gone over the bar for Westmeath in Breffni Park.
2024 will bring a lot of change. Ambitions have been reset and expectations must be adjusted. As the club league campaign hots up, there is a major opportunity for lads to put their hands up for selection. I hope the managerial situation is cleared up before club championship begins to give whoever is in charge the best chance of gathering the best panel possible.
Finally, best of luck to our Ulster rivals who have it all to do this weekend. While our local rivals may not have been too supportive of ourselves in recent decades, I won’t be actively cheering on Leinster and Munster opposition any time soon.
Unofficial Tyrone 