O'Rourke takes relegation on the chin

March 24, 2025

Tyrone manager Malachy O'Rourke after his side's defeat to Kerry ©INPHO/Lorcan Doherty

Malachy O’Rourke was accentuating the positives after Tyrone beat Dublin, but were still relegated to Division 2 of the Allianz Football League for the first time in a decade.

Despite winning with surprising ease and amassing seven points, the Red Hands joined neighbours Derry in dropping out of the top flight.

“All we could do is make sure that we kept our side of the bargain and then it was out of our hands,” the Tyrone manager told the assembled media at O’Neills Healy Park.

“In fairness to the boys, they put in a great performance and we’ve seen that over the last number of weeks, we’ve been thinking we have been steadily getting better. It’s just unfortunate that the performance didn’t keep us up but that’s life, we just have to get on with it.”

O’Rourke added: “Everybody wants to stay in Division 1, it’s where the best eight teams in the country are on any given year usually.

“You are playing against a very high level of opposition – there is no doubt we wanted to stay in it. But having said that, Armagh and Dublin have done well coming out of Division 2, Donegal as well last year, so look that’s just the situation we are in now and we have to accept it. Hopefully it won’t do any big damage in the long run.”


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