Beaten Ulster finalists Tyrone will embark on the new look all Ireland championship this Sunday when Jimmy McCloughans side face the Leinster champions Laois at Mullaghoran in Cavan.

The build up since that loss to Armagh has been in the main good, there’s been no major injury worries although at least one player has opted for a break after a long national league and minor championship run. Tyrone’s loss to Armagh though was certainly not as bad as some pundits have indicated since. All the talk has been of the Orchard counties dominance in that Clones tie, however in reflection several key issues dealt Tyrone a poor hand in the game.

Some poor defending at times, the inability to crack over crucial scores and the off loading of passes to the opposition proved costly for McCloughans charges and he has worked hard in the intervening weeks to rectify those problems.

Its expected too that Laois will be very hard to turn over, they came out of Leinster as champions much to the surprise of some, but not the players themselves who after a decent national league now face the prospect of this new formatted champions league style championship.

The jury remains out on the new style championship, Armagh manager and former Tyrone goalkeeper Hayley Boyle is yet to be convinced, Armagh last year were safely on route in the all Ireland series at this time last year, now they face the prospect of three more games before there’s talk of the quarter finals.

“ I am not sure if this will all work, we will have to wait and see how the whole thing develops, once teams get a couple of games up and running then we will be better placed to talk and see how its all going to pan out” admitted Boyle.

In terms of Tyrone who are in a group with Laois, Donegal and Sligo, there’s a positive air in the camp, a realistic feeling that they can advance from this section and indeed it could be a two horse race. There’s no draws in the new format so games will be decided on the day, its makes for a good exciting series of competitive games, Ladies President Geraldine Giles is hopeful the format will work,

“ I am hopeful yes, it offers teams a chance to play others who have in the past missed out at this stage in competition, It may take some tweaking but I feel it’s a good move for the association, its no threat to the provincial championships though despite what some may feel, they are a vital part of the season and will remain so”

Tyrone open then at the Cavan venue, the scene of the minors all Ireland loss to Dublin just a fortnight ago, manager McCloughan was there that day and was impressed with several of the minors he has in his senior squad, it’s a step up though to the all Ireland stage but the Fintona man feels Tyrone have the varied mix of youth and experience to give this group a real rattle
” I have said all year and I will repeat myself by saying it again, if we have everyone available and firing as one we can give any team a run for their money, we have a good draw, Sundays opponents will be the toughest and if we can manage to get something in that game , well we will be very much on course. That said we lost narrowly to Sligo in a charity match recently minus several regulars and we beat Donegal so overall I am hopeful that we can go on in the championship”

McCloughan will call on the experienced players on Sunday to lead from the off, Linda Donnelly remains a major injury worry though, she continues to suffer from a knee complaint, Sarah Connolly is unlikely to feature while the Tyrone boss is expected to make several switches from the Ulster final loss.

“ We caused ourselves problems against Armagh, I think the girls know that themselves now and they have had time to take that on board, the scoreline was not a fair reflection on the game at Clones but we can build on the positives for Sunday and the rest of the all Ireland series” Said the manager.

With club football at a standstill in the county, Tyrone’s management have had the players at their disposal for the past couple of weeks, there’s an air of quiet confidence at the moment but they must now turn that confidence into a result on Sunday against the Leinster kingpins. A loss would not end the campaign but a win would make life a lot more easier. Throw in time on Sunday is 3-30