Rivalries on hold as managers defend a province apart

At times Ulster football can seem detached from the rest of the country, but despite the apparent isolation, the criticism of some of the purists has been felt.

Yesterday the managers of Tyrone and Down were in Dublin to promote their provincial final in Clones on Sunday, and before long they were addressing some of the criticism.

Propping up their defence was the fact that five Ulster teams are still in hunt for the All-Ireland title, more than any other province. A couple of those are genuine contenders. Criticism passes, talent will out.

"There are five teams left from the province," said Down manager Paddy O'Rourke. "That's definitely a true reflection of Ulster football. I've no doubt that Ulster is the strongest football province. There are so many quality teams, and yet some people are so quick to knock the Ulster championship."

Mickey Harte carries the burden of managing a Tyrone team fancied to win Ulster, and also contest the All-Ireland. For him, though, the pressure from within is realistic.

"The expectation in Tyrone is very high. And has been for a decade or more. But we just want the team to go out and do the best they can for every game, and perform to the best of their ability.

"Of course when your near neighbours, such as Armagh, win it for the first time, and Derry and Donegal have done it in the last decade as well, then people will wonder why can't Tyrone do it. And that will always exist until the day we do it, whenever it may come."

Despite such optimism in Tyrone, Harte knows that beating a team like Down - no matter what the stage of their development - will never be straightforward. He too is aware of the many strengths of Ulster football.

"We do know that sometimes when you're playing a team that are such underdogs it can be hard to raise the game to the level you might need. But that's not the case with Down. So there is no question of anyone in Ulster not holding Down in high esteem."

For O'Rourke, however, most of the criticism of his team has gone unnoticed. He is concentrating on rebuilding a team whose confidence was rock bottom when he arrived this season, primarily because of Down's inability to win a championship match over the previous four years. But since retiring as a player he felt destined to take over the reins from Pete McGrath.

"I would never pay much attention to the criticism. I'm wise enough to know we still have a lot of work to do, and I don't know how long it will take to do it. But I believe with plenty of hard work we will get back to being one of the top teams in the country.

"I'm aware too that Tyrone are a year or two ahead of us. They have won a lot of underage titles, and two senior league titles, and have rightly earned the respect of a lot of teams. But I think we really will know where we are when we play against a real quality team like Tyrone at this level. We haven't had a test like this yet, and so a lot of questions about our boys will be answered on Sunday."

To beat Tyrone, O'Rourke knows his team has to beat one player - Peter Canavan - as much as one team. Harte doesn't play down the importance of his star forward.

"Peter still has that ambition to be the best that he can be. He did it at underage level and has fought hard to maintain it. And while he has got the rewards in terms of All Stars and that, he's never really got the true reward. Peter still believes Tyrone can win the big title, and I think that's what drives him on."

"The team as a whole is a hard working team, and don't rely on talent alone. We're not short of talented players, but talent alone doesn't make the man. It takes that bit extra. I think this year players have learned to work a bit harder to make the most of the talent they have got."

O'Rourke, meanwhile, has finalised his team for Sunday, making two changes from the team that beat Fermanagh in the semi-final. Aidan O'Prey is an indirect replacement for the injured defender Brendan Grant, while Ronan Sexton is also an indirect swap for Colm McCrickard in the forward line.

DOWN (SF v Tyrone): M McVeigh; J Clarke, B Burns, M Cole; J Lavery, A O'Prey, A Molloy; S Ward, G McCartan; L Doyle, M Walsh, B Coulter; R Sexton, D Gordon, R Murtagh.