06-05-2025
McCullagh, McElholm and Co. out to haunt Kingdom once more
Ruairi McCullagh tormented the Kerry defence in last year's All-Ireland U20 final, kicking five points in Tyrone's demolition of the Kingdom.
And he's back, along with strike partner Eoin McElholm, who fired over six scores in the 2024 decider, to take on the Munster champions again in Sunday's semi-final.
McCullagh believes the steadying hand and wise counsel of Tyrone's experienced manager Paul Devlin has forged mental strength within his players as they prepare for this weekend's rematch.
Now in his eighth season in the role, Devlin has led the Red Hands to five Ulster titles and two All-Irelands, guiding many players along a career path that has seen them become household names.
'He's an incredible man, the best you'll ever come across in terms of a person, and his record speaks for itself,' said McCullagh.
'I'm really delighted to have Paul and the rest of the boys. We have full faith in the whole management as a whole.
'The management has that installed in us. We all have that inner belief, I think it's a Tyrone thing.'
The manager is assisted by a group of accomplished coaches, including Diarmaid McNulty, who has played a major role in McCullagh's development as a top-class attacker, helping him win back-to-back MacRory and Hogan Cup medals with Omagh CBS.
'He's a great man to have as well, and success seems to follow him, so we're happy to have that.'
Eleven of the players who helped Tyrone to victory over the Kingdom in last year's final will be in action again this weekend, with another couple of the 2024 squad also involved, a measure of the strength of the Red Hand challenge for a third All-Ireland title in four years.
And McCullagh has renewed his strike partnership with Loughmacrory clubmate Eoin McElholm. The pair shared a 12-point haul in the spectacular victory over Kerry last season, and are racking up the scores again.
'It's great to have Eoin in there, with the seniors needing him as well, he's a key man for us.' Another Loughmacrory man, Eoin Donaghy, is struggling with injury and remains doubtful for this weekend's showdown.
'He's been so unlucky with injuries this year. He was down to start the semi-final against Derry. We've really done it for him to get him back for the All-Ireland semi-final, hopefully.
'We're going to need him. We're going to need everyone for the big push against Kerry.'
Kerry also have a number of survivors from last year's team, all of them relishing the opportunity to atone for last year's defeat, and they've shown their mettle in cruising to another Munster title, routing Cork in the Pairc Ui Chaoimh decider.
'We know they're a very good outfit, so we just have to prepare well, regroup and get ready for them.'
McCullagh's sparkling display in the Ulster final, which included a 0-9 tally, helped the holders get past Donegal in an extra-time thriller at Owenbeg.
'We don't really care about who scores, it's all about the team winning the game. So that's the only thing I care about,' he said.
The Red Hands went into the provincial decider on the rebound from an eight-point hammering at the hands of Donegal in the group stage, and this time they were ready.
'They thrashed us the first day, we couldn't get near them, but in the final we were far better prepared than them.
'And I felt like we deserved to win the game in the end.'
Tyrone had to be prepared to compromise on their attacking philosophy in order to survive in a dogged Ulster decider that frustrated the champions for the best part of an hour, before bursting into life in extra-time.
'It depends on your opposition. You can't just expect to go out and play your own style and win every week, because people are going to have tactics against you, so you have to adapt.
'We had a really good start to the injury time. We just pushed on from there and retained that lead.'
