O'Rourke pleased with 'disciplined' Tyrone display

Tyrone boss Malachy O'Rourke was content with his side's display as they opened their Division One campaign with a 2-13 to 1-9 victory against Derry at Healy Park.

The Red Hands impressed in the first half and held a 1-7 to 0-6 lead at the break after Michael McKernan's goal.

Derry fought back to lead in the second half with Conor Glass netting a fine goal before Peter Teague scored with a scrappy effort as Tyrone finished strongly in the final quarter.

And O'Rourke was pleased with the fight they showed to take home the two points.

"The first half we had a lot of possession, controlled the ball well, maybe at times we felt we could've had more penetration up front, but in general we're happy," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We were in a good position at half-time. The start of the second half, the goal was a big turning point in that it gave Derry a new lease of life, but again the boys didn't panic, we stuck together, worked a couple of good scores and then the goal gave us that bit of breathing space to run out winners."

Errigal players won't be rushed back'

O'Rourke also praised his side's adaptation to the new rule 'enhancements' as Tyrone did not receive any cards or 50-metre dissent fouls.

"That was pleasing. We've had a couple of challenge matches and we've concentrated on that in our own in-house games to get on top of that because it is a big punishment," he added.

"The boys were disciplined at the back, some great tackling and they didn't give away needless frees and no yellow cards, so I was pleased with that."

Tyrone's victory was made all the more impressive by the fact they were missing their Errigal Ciaran contingent including brother Darragh and Ruairi Canavan, after their run to the All-Ireland final.

O'Rourke confirmed that those players will not be rushed back and are likely to feature in the latter stages of the league campaign.

"We definitely want to give them a bit of a break. That couple of points tonight helps in that you aren't rushing them back in," he said.

"You could get short-term gain out of it, but long-term pain. We'll be chatting with them and seeing how they feel and, hopefully, get them integrated back over the next couple of weeks.

"We have a panel there that we want to get a look at as well. We'll be delighted when the boys do come back in, it is a matter of getting them up to speed with the new rules."