Kevin Madden says he’s been blown away by the ferocity of the Tyrone Division One league.
The former Antrim star is no stranger to the Red Hand GAA community, having been a member of the county management team, but after experiencing the club scene for the first time as Clonoe manager, he admits it has been an eye-opener.
“This Tyrone league is something I have never experienced before, it’s unreal,” he said.
“Every week is a battle, every week is like a championship game.
“And it’s a credit to everyone involved in how Tyrone have retained the purpose of their league which is how it was always intended.”
Clonoe are back in senior football after spending a year in Division Two, but they’re finding the going tough in a highly competitive environment.
Victory at Ardboe at the weekend bagged them a couple of much-needed points in their battle to pull themselves out of the relegation zone.
“We know we’re not going to win 75 per cent of our games, we know we’re not going to win every week, but the important thing is that we give ourselves the chance, and we come with the right intent and intensity, and that we’re in a game going down the home strait,” said Madden.
The O’Rahilly’s took the game to their loughshore opponents right from the start, and to the manager’s delight, maintained that high level of intensity throughout a game that ended in a 2-6 to 0-7 victory.
“From the word go, we just looked like a team that were here to do one thing, and one thing only, and I think that we were well deserving winners.
“That’s where we’re trying to get to, that we’re trying to develop a consistency in our level of performance.
“That six point lead, it went five, but it never went to four, it never went to three or two, we always kicked it back to six.”
Defensive resilience lay at the heart of Clonoe’s high tempo approach, with countless turnovers frustrating the home side’s efforts to craft scoring opportunities.
“It was built on defence, in the sense that defence started with Danny McNulty in full forward. I don’t know how many turnovers he got in the second half, but he was chasing lost causes.
“It seemed as if Ardboe had three men to work the ball out, but somehow Danny would get a hand in and turn it over.
“And we’re trying to create that mentality that nobody is a forward, nobody is a defender, everybody is both, and I think tonight we got that right.”
And two first half goals gave the visitors a cushion that they were able to protect right to the end.
The first was a brilliantly executed and superbly finished Shea Coney effort, the second a result of an intercepted kick-out, with Connor McAliskey unselfishly laying off to Ryan Quinn for a simple finish to an empty net.
“I suppose that goes back to the training ground and us backing our work, and putting the Ardboe goalkeeper under pressure,” said Madden.
“I thought his kicking in the first half was excellent, but we only have to get lucky, or to get our tactics right once, and Connor McAliskey was so in tune.
“But it wasn’t just the interception. He had a one v one that eighty per cent of the time he would put in the net, but he had the presence of mind to fist it across to Ryan Quinn, to make an eight per cent chance into an unmissable one, and that’s the type of player you want in those positions.”
A derby championship opener against Coalisland is just a few weeks away, but Madden’s full focus is fixed on the pursuit of league points and the comfort of safety in the league.
“To be perfectly honest, and this isn’t me being coy, we’re not even thinking about Coalisland at the minute.
“The Coalisland game will take care of itself whenever the league is done and dusted.
“Of course it’s a massive, massive game. It’s one of the biggest fixtures in Tyrone, and it will be one for both communities to look forward to.”