O'Rourke laments "flat" Tyrone performance

Tyrone boss Malachy O’Rourke says his side “didn't really get to the pitch of the game” during yesterday’s All-Ireland SFC group stage defeat to Mayo in Omagh.

The Westerners came away from Healy Park with a 2-17 to 1-13 victory, denying the hosts back-to-back wins after having defeated neighbours Donegal in Ballybofey in the opening round seven days previous.

Speaking after the seven-point loss, O’Rourke lamented what he described as being a “flat” display from his side.

“We obviously knew that Mayo were coming really fresh. I suppose they had a longer break than us and they were coming, I suppose, hurting from their last performance,” he is quoted saying by BelfastLive.co.uk.

“In fairness, they wanted to put on a good performance for Kevin (McStay) as well, you know. And that was very important to them. They came to hit the ground running.

“We were hoping we would do the same thing, but it was just a flat performance. We didn't really get to the pitch of the game at all.

“In the second-half, we got back to a point, but again, we made too many mistakes and Mayo took over again and finished the game out well.”