Malachy O'Rourke insists that Tyrone have improved during his first year in charge despite their second half fade-out against Kerry in Saturday's semi-final.
Tyrone appeared in a strong position early in the second half, a flurry of scores from Darragh Canavan after the restart bringing it back to a one-point game with the Ulster side backed by the breeze for the remainder of the game.
However, there followed 22 scoreless minutes, as Kerry racked up an unanswered 0-09 to put the game to bed. Unlike in a similar Kerry burst against Armagh, where the champions were unable to win their own kickout, Tyrone did have opportunities during this spell but missed several point attempts and were turned over in attack on other occasions.
"It was disappointing the way it got away from us. I suppose at half-time we felt we were right in the game," O'Rourke told reporters afterwards.
"First half we played a lot of good football, we did well on both kick-outs.
"The downside was we gave away a wee bit of possession cheaply and Kerry put us under pressure times as well. Then, we were caught and we left ourselves a wee bit bare at the back.
"We didn't give Paidi (Pádraig Hampsey) enough cover at times and David Clifford, in particular, was very prominent in there.
"Having said that, at half-time we were still right in the game. There was a wee bit of a breeze out there and we had it in the second half.
"So we knew if we'd tidied up and got our defence a wee bit more compact, we were right in the game.
"I think we got back to a point. After that, when we got possession, we just weren't able to penetrate the Kerry defence. Our shot selection at times wasn't great.
"Kerry on the other hand were very good in possession. They could have had a few more goals in fairness and they didn't give away much ball and were able to increase the lead."
The Tyrone defence were relatively successful at limiting Kerry two-pointers, with David Clifford notching their only double midway through the first half, while Sean O'Shea was kept relatively peripheral.
However, that left them exposed inside, with David Clifford racking up 1-09 and Kerry creating a blizzard of goal chances.
"I suppose after the last day against Armagh, we felt that we wanted to try and nullify Paudie Clifford and Sean O'Shea as best we could.
"We were hoping that we'd be able to do that and be able to get back into a compact shape as well to make sure that the inside forwards and particularly David Clifford didn't get as much space as they did.
"But when you give the ball away, you're obviously scrambling back and it leaves that space.
"It's a tricky balancing act, particularly with teams that have got a number of good forwards. We did well in some areas but there's no doubt that we didn't give enough cover to our full back line."
O'Rourke cited Kerry's more compact defence and his own side's poor shot selection and less incisive movement as the cause of the scoring drought in the second half.
He did, however, admit that he felt his side were finding it hard to earn frees off referee Joe McQuillan after being informed of the stat that Tyrone were awarded one free in the opening 35 minutes.
"Again, you don't like complaining about referees and one thing or another. I thought we got a few frees towards the end.
"Until you look back you're always biased towards your own. But I did think that we were finding it hard to win frees, there's no doubt about that, at different times.
"Small things like that can make a difference as well. I didn't realise that that was the stat but it did seem like that alright."
Reflecting on his first season in the job, O'Rourke stressed that the side had made improvements.
The 2025 campaign had begun with relegation from Division 1, heavily mitigated by the fact that they amassed seven points in what was a bizarrely congested league table.
The championship has seen a first semi-final appearance since their smash-and-grab All-Ireland victory in 2021, with wins away to Donegal and Dublin proving the highlights.
"I'd take a lot of positives out of it. We've had four championship victories. We've gone to Ballybofey and won. We've gone to Croke Park and beaten Dublin as well. The boys have put in a lot of effort and we have improved.
"To get into the last four, you're going to be playing the top teams and Kerry are obviously one of the top teams. So any weaknesses you have will be exposed more than in other games.
"So there's been a lot of positives but at the same time a game like that shows the level you have to get to if you want to be challenging for the top honours."
Tyrone's future looks healthy after their recent bonanza at Under-20 level but O'Rourke expressed the hope that the elder statesmen of the team - Peter Harte and Mattie Donnelly among them - would stick around for another year.
"Yeah, you'd love if they would. Those lads are brilliant ambassadors for Tyrone and the example they showed all the rest of the boys is second to none.
"There's been no talk of retirement. I would love if they would be there to help guide (the younger players). There's a big gap there between the Under-20s and the seniors.
"It's a big transition so the more experienced fellas that are around to guide them, so much the better."
Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship semi-finals between Meath v Donegal on Sunday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow live blogs on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentaries on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 10.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
