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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Veteran Tyrone boss Mickey Harte claims he has the drive to lead county to All-Ireland glory

 Harte insists he has the energy and desire to push Tyrone on towards elusive All-Ireland glory over the next couple of years.

"Sure I do," he quipped.

Harte believes that the Red Hands haven't hit their glass ceiling after losing the All-Ireland final to Dublin last year, and falling at the semi-final hurdle to Kerry this time after coming through the qualifiers and Super 8s.

"Of course I do," the veteran boss stressed, when asked if Tyrone can return to the top of the pile. 

"I think this team is a work in progress, I think they'll continue to compete at a high level and I think they'll get better.

"And 'I've no reason not to think that because if you look at their history and record over the last few years it's been very consistent and consistently getting better each year.

"Sometimes just because you didn't get to the place you got last year it doesn't mean this team isn't better."

Kerry’s David Clifford celebrates scoring a point (©INPHO/James Crombie)

Harte continues to see the potential for greatness in this team, putting this disappointing loss after such a strong first-half performance down to Kerry's ability to change things up and Tyrone's failure to adapt accordingly.

He was also critical of ref Maurice Deegan over a number of frees awarded by the official for Kerry - and for only playing six minutes of injury time at the end.

The Red Hands supremo claims that Kerry can put it up to Dublin in the All-Ireland decider.

"Ah, of course they will, they're a very experienced team now, and even their young players are experienced at a high level," Harte said. 

"And Kerry is Kerry, they don't go to finals to lose them. So I think that Dublin will have their hands full with them and who's to say can they do it?
 
"Kerry are probably the ideal team to stop somebody else doing the five in a row, because they knew what that was like themselves. Maybe they'd like to inflict that on somebody else".

 

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