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Mc Carron Will Benefit From Bradley “Experience”
Monday 07.02.2011
Part and parcel of the life of a county footballer is gaining experiences and learning from them. For a guy who is a relative novice in county football terms one good game does not make you an established county footballer and one below par performance does not necessarily mean your county career is doomed to failure.
Tyrone full back Cathal Mc Carron has been one of his team’s best performers during The Mc Kenna Cup looking assured and confident in the number three role. Against Derry however the Dromore man looked a lot less assured and struggled to cope with the movement and guile of Paddy Bradley. In fairness to Cathal he should not spend too much time beating himself up about his display. He is not the first full back to find Bradley a handful and he will not be the last.
Defenders often get slated for what supporters view as poor play. How often do you hear the phrase “He got a roasting!” uttered by spectators? Sometimes it is true but in many cases there is very little a defender can do when the quality of ball into the forwards is so good that it makes the forward’s job a whole lot easier. Occasionally a fullback might gamble to get out in front but if he fails to win the ball in such a situation the result can often be disastrous.
Tyrone’s game over the past number of years has been about collective hard work and perhaps against Derry we did not work as hard as normal. Or perhaps John Brennan’s side is slightly further along the road in terms of team and match preparation than we are. Whatever the reason, the Oak Leafers were allowed more time on the ball than they should have had, particularly in the first half, and as a result the quality of ball inside was good. Add that to the fact that you have one of the paciest, more elusive full forwards in the country as a target man and any full back is going to find himself in bother.
Cathal needs to chalk this one up as an experience to learn from and aim to get his revenge a little later in the year.
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