PAUL Devlin and Dermot Carlin have endured their fair share of heartbreak through five seasons spent guiding Tyrone’s U20 footballers.
All-Ireland semi-final defeats in 2019 and 2020 left them floundering on a provincial plateau, frustrated and deflated first by Cork and then by the Dubs in a Covid-delayed tie.
But with that elusive breakthrough achieved, they face Kildare in tomorrow’s title decider at Carrick-on-Shannon.
“I’m delighted for Paul, he puts in so much time and commitment, and it’s a pleasure to work with him. He deserves everything he gets,” said assistant manager Carlin.
“We were unlucky in those other semi-finals that we got to.
“We played Cork a few years ago and Joe Oguz got a harsh red card, and against Dublin in the semi-final that was delayed because of Covid.
“I do believe that if we had played Dublin early on, when we were primed and ready to go, we could have done things.
“But it’s coming fast and thick at us now, we’re embracing it.”
Carlin feels a first success at this level since 2015 would provide a timely follow-up to last year’s Sam Maguire Cup triumph, and also lift spirits in the wake of Tyrone’s Ulster SFC defeat to Derry.
“It’s a super occasion to build on last year’s success with Tyrone seniors.
“Maybe heads in Tyrone were down after the game against Derry, but we told the lads that it’s up to us to bring them back up again.”
A six-day turnaround since the semi-final victory over Kerry has left Tyrone with little time to recover and prepare, and also presented challenges to the management team in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of opponents Kildare.
“There’s only six days of a turnaround, but the lads have done the work, they’ve done the hard training. It’s about focusing the minds and getting ready.
“Our motto all year has been, let’s focus on ourselves, let’s get ourselves right, let’s get ourselves playing the right sort of football, playing the way we can play.
“If we can do that, we’re a battle for everybody.
“The panel of players that we have, and in the in-house matches, those players are being tested all the time, and that’s what stands them in good stead for days like this.”
The Red Hands will be looking to hit the same levels of intensity that drove them to victory over Kerry in last Sunday’s semi-final.
Eight Ruairi Canavan scores and a late Conor Bogue goal saw them come from behind to get over the line with two points to spare at Portlaoise.
“The effort and the work-rate that the lads put in there in that game, the amount of energy that they gave, was brilliant,” said Carlin.
“Everybody put their shoulder to the wheel, it shows the effort that those lads have put in at training.”
The addition of treble All-Ireland winning attacker Owen Mulligan to the backroom team this year has proven a major asset.
And his coaching focus hasn’t all been about the creation and execution of scores.
“That’s the joy of having Mugsy in this year. Mugsy was telling the lads all along that tackling from the forwards is infectious, it rubs off on everybody else.
“If the defenders see the forwards putting in the tackles, then everybody follows.”
