Football

Patient Tyrone star Aidan McCrory looks ahead to Donegal Ulster semi-final clash

Tyrone's Aidan McCrory expects nothing other than a very close contest against Donegal
Tyrone's Aidan McCrory expects nothing other than a very close contest against Donegal Tyrone's Aidan McCrory expects nothing other than a very close contest against Donegal

AIDAN McCrory was into his fourth season before he scored in the League for Tyrone.

His breakthrough came against Monaghan in the first game of the 2015 Division Two campaign when he joined the attack from deep in defence and – to the delight of team-mates and fans - stroked over a point.

Since that score, a genuine collectors’ item, McCrory has bagged goals against Derry and Dublin, but is still waiting to raise a flag in the Championship.

At Celtic Park against Derry last month he found himself clean through on goal but was denied by a Ben McKinless save, but he could break his duck against Donegal in Clones on Sunday.

That's the way Tyrone play.

“Whenever we have the ball, our aim is to score and we do what we have to do to try and get that,” the Errigal Ciaran clubman explained.

“Sometimes there’s space there for whoever gets up the pitch and gets on the ball. There’s nothing really instructed about it, it’s just the way that the game-flow happens. I’d be happy enough to carry the ball up the pitch and lay it off for someone else to tap it into the back of the net.”

Tyrone’s lack of goal-scoring form – just three ‘majors’ in eight League and Championship games this year - has been held up as a concern, but 22 points in that Ulster quarter-final against Derry was an excellent return for the side.

“We have created chances for goals,” said McCrory.

“We know ourselves that we maybe have had chances that we didn’t take.

“You would prefer to have goals, but you can’t be going for goals the whole time.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t work out for you and if you win the game with points you’ll be happy enough as well.”

McCrory first featured for the Red Hands in the Dr McKenna Cup and League in 2011 and is now into the sixth Championship campaign of a career that has coincided with the sea-change in Gaelic Football tactics.

Attacking wasn’t part of his brief in the early days. Manager Mickey Harte sent his clubmate out to do what he did best – defend - and McCrory quickly established a reputation as a limpet-like man-marker in the Red Hand rearguard.

After nailing down a place in the senior team as an ever-present in the unbeaten Division Two run in 2012, McCrory’s first two Championship games showcased a changing of the guard in Ulster football.

Armagh, for so long Tyrone’s arch-rivals in Ulster but now a fading force, were seen off by three points in the quarter-final but then the Red Hands ran into a Donegal side that was rewriting the rules under Jim McGuinness.

Donegal managed only 12 points but their defence restricted Tyrone to just 10 and the Tir Chonaill men went on to capture Ulster and then the Sam Maguire.

A year later, McCrory’s third game in Ulster was another meeting with Donegal - and another loss - and a third defeat followed in 2015 before Tyrone finally took a measure of revenge with a 0-13 to 0-11 success in last year’s provincial decider.

McCrory captured his first Championship medal that day and it immediately took pride of place ahead of the McKenna Cup and League honours he had already secured.

He’d like another to go with it this year but two serious challenges await starting with Sunday’s semi-final against the familiar foes from the north-west.

Since last year, the ‘men from the hills’ have said farewell to several of the battle-hardened veterans from the 2012 campaign so Tyrone will see no more from the likes of Eamonn McGee, Neil Gallagher or Colm McFadden.

Tyrone have more experience, but Donegal have the exuberance of youth after an influx of youngsters from their Ulster-winning U21 side.

“There’s been a lot said about the younger boys, especially the boys from the U21 squad,” said McCrory.

“Their U21 squad did very well and a lot of those boys played the whole League in Division One.

“So, if you’re talking about experience, you could flip it to last year and say that Donegal had a slightly more experienced team last year (but lost).

“Experience doesn’t always work in your favour. A bit of youth and vibrancy can give you something new. They can be a bit fearless, or maybe bring something you’re not prepared for.”

The personnel has changed, but Donegal are very much a force to be reckoned with and manager Rory Gallagher, now in his second year in charge, covets his first Ulster title. His side go into Sunday’s semi-final clash with the memory of a double-scores win over Tyrone in Division One fresh in their minds.

“We’ll try to learn from losing that game as best we can,” said McCrory.

“They were the better team on the night and we have no complaints about anything that happened. Donegal beat us and beat us well.

“But we have another game to play now, so we can’t dwell on that.”

On Sunday he’ll have a few familiar faces beside him in the Tyrone defence after Justin McMahon and Cathal McCarron returned to fitness. McCrory has had his own injury problems this year and in his absence the likes of Padraig Hampsey has come in and settled quickly.

“If you look through the League, we probably had different boys missing at different stages,” he said.

“I didn’t play a few of the games, Justy didn’t play a few of the games, Ronan McNabb would have missed a few games, so boys have filled in there.

“We have a couple of really good boys there that maybe haven’t had a lot of game time, they were very unlucky to not get that game time.

“This is an opportunity for them. You’re sorry for the boys that are missing out, but at the same time, everyone there is there because they’re fit for it, and that’s what they want to be playing, so it’s an opportunity for someone to step up to it.”

Tyrone saw off a brief Derry fightback to win by 11 points at Celtic Park, but McCrory knows better will be required to win on Sunday in Clones.

“We waited so long for the Derry game from the end of the League - it had been six or seven weeks and we had been playing club football,” he explained.

“Now we’re back in the mood of playing county games every few weeks and that smaller gap definitely helps you get back in tune with what you’re used to doing.

“Donegal have been one of the better teams in the country for the last number of years.

“But we’re just worrying more about what we can improve on from the last day. We had a good enough win, but at the same time it’s not going to be good enough when we come up against Donegal.

“I think it will be close for most of the game, I think there won’t be much in it.

“At times it could be like last year, but both teams have new players playing, new things happening and I think they’ll be trying to adapt to those new players and see how things go.”