Mickey Harte is challenging Ronan O'Neill to fill the huge void left in the Tyrone attack by Stephen O'Neill.

Ronan, whose fledgling inter-county career has been disrupted by a cruciate ligament injury, is one of those Tyrone will be looking to in the wake of his legendary namesake's retirement from inter-county football.

When asked by the Belfast Telegraph if the Omagh St. Enda's forward can become one of the game's top forwards, Harte replied: "I've been telling him that for some time now. I believe he is one of those forwards and I think it's a cruel thing that his cruciate came at a time when it did, because I think he would be that kind of a forward just now.

"But that took a year out of his career, and took another year nearly to get over it. Very few players come through cruciate injuries unscathed in terms of getting back to the level that they might have been at."

"This is a big year for Ronan. If he stays injury-free he can prove that what he was doing at club level he can do at county level too."

The Tyrone manager also paid glowing tributes to both Stephen O'Neill and Martin Penrose, who announced their retirements within days of each other last month.

"The biggest tribute that I can pay him is that he always developed his game right throughout his career," he said of O'Neill.

"When he first came along, he had a wonderful left foot and he didn't use his right at all. But he took it upon himself to know that as the game developed and things got to a more difficult stage, that it wasn't enough to be a one-footed player in the modern game.

"Some of the scores he got with his so-called weaker foot would take your breath away. He had that determination to continue improving his own game. He hated losing and you would see it in his face when he didn't succeed that he knew he needed to do something more."

Commenting on Penrose, Harte said: "A wonderful player too. Probably came along a bit after Stevie, so I didn't have him as a minor but he was part of a very successful minor team as well. And then he took a little bit of a dip in form at a stage and he considered pulling away from county football.

"But eventually, with a wee bit of a chat to him, he discovered he had a lot more to offer and he added to his game as well. Marty used to be a player who would get the ball, threaten a score with his searing pace and that was all he expected of himself.

"Then he discovered he could be a very good tackler, and he became one of the best tacklers we had - and that's across the field, back forward, midfield, anywhere.

"He's a good lad, and I am glad he was there for some of the best and most successful days of our decade."

Tweet

Most Read Stories