THREE time All-Ireland medallist Enda McGinley is convinced Tyrone will not allow Monaghan to boss them around like they did in last year’s Ulster Championship.
Monaghan ended their poor record against the Red Hands in 2014 when they recorded a one-point victory over their bogey team. It was Monaghan’s first win over the O’Neill County in 25 years.
The foundation for Monaghan’s victory stemmed from the manner in which they dominated the physical duels.
Encouraged by the fight which Tyrone showed against Donegal earlier in the summer, former Allstar McGinley reckons Mickey Harte’s men will provide Monaghan with a much stiffer challenge.
“ In last year’s Championship defeats to Monaghan and Armagh the team was uncharacteristically flat. That was probably the biggest disappointment,” said McGinley.
Pointing to Tyrone’s display in Ballybofey, the Errigal Ciaran clubman said:
“In terms of competitiveness the team has shown a willingness to match the opposition’s application.
“The biggest thing that Tyrone people took from the Donegal game was the amount of heart, aggression, spirit and fight which the team showed. During the rest of the qualifiers, they have kept that. Even though they haven’t played particularly well, especially in some of the earlier rounds, they have been fairly consistent in their levels of effort and application.”
While McGinley had detected improvement in Tyrone’s application, he still sounded a word of caution. Noting Tyrone’s tendency to blow hot and cold in the National League, he believes the players need to learn to ignore praise.
“You found that when they were being really written off before the Mayo and Dublin games, they really produced a performance in which they showed a lot of fight.
“During the National League there tended to be one good, lively, energetic performance. But the pats on the back seemed to soften them up a wee bit and they’d be flat in the next game. They weren’t being consistent.”
After a routine win over Sligo last weekend, McGinley said Saturday’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Monaghan will be a very different type of contest.
“In the qualifiers we haven’t played a side that will bring the type of competitiveness which Monaghan will bring. That is going to be the big test,” he said.
Apart from their ability to match the physical challenge of Saturday’s encounter, McGinley reckons that Tyrone have made further improvements to their game.
He believes the watershed came during the second half of Tyrone’s qualifier game against Tipperary.
“That was the first time we really started to see the whole team as an attacking force. It’s not just the forwards, it’s the whole team now. Rory Brennan and Aidan McRory were both very prominent in getting forward the last day. Tiernan McCann is going well and Petey Harte is in great form. There are a lot of good attacking options.”
After watching Tyrone struggle to develop the fluid attacking play which used to be their hallmark, McGinley believes the introduction of new players has helped the Red Hands enormously.
In Mark Bradley, McGinley believes Mickey Harte has found a player who can match the demands of the modern game.
“Because football has become so tactical, I now think you have to be a more intelligent player than ever before, and Bradley is a smart player,” said McGinley, who is clearly a big fan of the Killyclogher forward.
Now retired from club football, McGinley was able to appreciate Bradley’s talent when his club was pitted against Killyclogher in this year’s club championship. Killyclogher won.
“After it, our county boys were saying that Bradley was unreal. The players say his movement is just so smart. It’s so clever.
“Because of his physical stature, he has had to develop that game to a very high level. But his movement is unreal.
“He is very athletic. He is very balanced. He has that sheer quality that you can’t teach. In terms of intelligence, Bradley is top notch.”
Given that Tyrone will be coming up against a Monaghan defence that held Donegal to just 10 points, McGinley said that Tyrone will benefit from Bradley’s clever running.
“The key to breaking defensive lines is this strong diagonal run. The likes of Bradley has been a key to that. Rory Brennan has helped too. They have come in and grasped the nettle.”
