Former Tyrone star Kyle Coney says the Red Hands won’t lack confidence going into this year’s Championship campaign and believes an All-Ireland title is within reach of the current squad.
Their All-Ireland defence ended in disappointing fashion last year when they suffered back-to-defeat defeats to provincial rivals Derry and Armagh.
Earlier in the year, they were bottom of Division One after defeats to Roscommon, Galway and Mayo, but turned their season around in impressive fashion with a hat-trick of wins over Kerry, Monaghan and Armagh.
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Tyrone begin their quest to regain the Anglo-Celt Cup with a home quarter-final against Monaghan in Omagh on Sunday (4pm) and Coney says Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher’s side will be targeting silverware again this term.
“Having been involved in the senior squad for over 10 years, Tyrone never go out any year not seeing themselves as All-Ireland contenders,” said Coney.
“I couldn’t imagine it will be any different this year after winning one in 2021.
“They’ll believe they are genuine All-Ireland contenders. We’ve seen over the years that Kerry don’t like playing Tyrone, but Tyrone love playing Kerry. For some strange reason, they seem to raise their game when they see a Kerry jersey.
“The new format is in this year, but Tyrone will always want to win an Ulster title. They’ll want to get that first win in Ulster to rectify the wrongs of last year against Derry.”
Tyrone looked a long way from being touted as All-Ireland challengers back at the end of February when they suffered a 4-10 to 0-12 defeat to eventual Division One winners Mayo in Castlebar.
Coney reckons that loss prompted a few subtle tweaks to their defensive shape with Frank Burns operating as a sweeper for the closing rounds of the League campaign.
“If you look back at the Mayo game then at the Kerry game, there had been a tweak to the system,” added Coney.
“They started to drop a few more bodies back and protect their full-back line, which they hadn’t been doing. They conceded four goals against Mayo and, if you are to progress at all, you have to give protection to your full-back line.
“If they can find that balance between attack and defence that they had a few years ago, they’ll be hard to stop.
“Frank Burns is a player who can read a game exceptionally well and can cover space. That gives help to the likes of Michael McKernan and Padraig Hampsey - Ronan McNamee coming back is a big plus.
“I’ve also been impressed with Conn Kilpatrick this year, even in the McKenna Cup.
“They might need to put away a bit more up front to defeat the bigger guns in the Championship when the ground dries up a bit.
“Darragh Canavan seems to have found a new lease of life after a few injury problems and Cormac Quinn looks to be a real addition to the panel. Niall Devlin has impressed as well and is another option.”
Sunday’s Ulster quarter-final is the latest instalment of a rivalry that has been largely dominated by the Red Hands in recent years, especially in the Championship arena.
Under Malachy O’Rourke’s reign, Monaghan defeated the-then Ulster champions in the Ulster SFC quarter-final in Omagh in 2018, but lost to Tyrone in that year’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final in Croke Park.
Tyrone also defeated Monaghan in the 2021 Ulster final before going on to win their fourth All-Ireland SFC title and had eight points to spare when the sides clashed in round six of this year’s Allianz Football League.
Coney says that result should be kept in context as Monaghan had Killian Lavelle and Jack McCarron dismissed in Clones, but he expects his native county to prevail in Sunday’s rematch.
“With the two sendings off the last day, you can’t read a lot into that Monaghan performance,” stated the Ardboe clubman.
“Tyrone always turn up against Monaghan, especially in the Championship. They’ve had their number over the last number of years.
“I do think Tyrone will come out on the right side of the victory. Conor McManus coming back and scoring 1-7 against Mayo proves he is still capable of causing havoc.
“It is an Ulster Championship game and it won’t be easy. Tyrone and Monaghan are two of the top teams in the country and it will be a tight battle, but I do think Tyrone will have enough to win.”
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