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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE:IF THIS weekend represents a sort of mid-term assessment in the Allianz National Football League, Tyrone are under more pressure than most to deliver the right result. As the only Division One team yet to record a victory, Saturday evening’s rematch of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final against Cork has fast turned into a crunch game, in more ways than one.

Cork beat Tyrone last August in the physical stakes as well as most other stakes – which essentially means they beat Tyrone at their own game. That meeting was also notable for the late exclusion of Tyrone’s Seán Cavanagh, which manager Mickey Harte later claimed in his autobiography was because “the roof simply caved in” on the 2008 footballer of the year.