Qualifiers are not the end of the road - Mickey Harte

Kieran McGeeney may be in his sixth championship as Kildare manager but veteran forward Johnny Doyle doesn't see this as a make or break year for the team. The 35 year old started his 64th successive championship game for Kildare during their Leinster Senior Football championship quarter final win over Offaly and marked the occasion with six points but for all the improvements made under McGeeney, the Lilywhites are yet to lift significant silverware under his stewardship. Doyle and Kildare will resume their efforts to reach a Leinster final against Dublin at Croke Park on June 30. Meanwhile, Tyrone manager Mickey Harte intends to make the best of his lot now that his team are in the qualifiers. Tyrone were paired with All-Ireland champions Donegal in the Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter final and went down by six points. Harte now wants his team to regroup and put all their efforts into a lengthy run in the All-Ireland series. He is well aware that every game is possibly their last of the season so he feels the team must treat every game as they would an All-Ireland final. While Tyrone are getting ready for the qualifiers, Donegal are still on track for a third successive Ulster Senior Football final and ominously for everybody else, their captain Michael Murphy thinks that last year's success has made them even hungrier to again lift silverware this year. Whether a team can retain their desire for success is something that is often thrown at champions but Donegal surely put that notion to bed in beating Tyrone in their Ulster Championship opener, and now Murphy is driving that message home now. The Ulster champions of the last two years will have to get past Down on June 23 to get back to the provincial decider.