PAUL Donaghy admits he probably did give up on the idea of representing Tyrone at senior level and says that has made him even more determined to savour every moment of his involvement with the Red Hands this season.
At 22, the Dungannon Clarke's clubman could hardly be deemed too old for the rigours of elite county football, but having been overlooked for the senior step-up having played at minor and underage level, he knuckled down and concentrated on club duties.
He was richly rewarded in that respect, helping to guide the Clarke's to their first Tyrone senior title in 64 years last September.
His starring role for his club then earned him a place on the Tyrone panel under the new management team of Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher, fulfilling an ambition he had nurtured since seeing the former Tyrone skipper hoist the Sam Maguire aloft at Croke Park.
"It is something that, yeah, when you are young and you are going to Croke Park and you are watching Tyrone teams win All-Irelands and things like that, you are thinking 'I would love to be out there someday'. Whenever you come playing for Tyrone underage and you get to 22, and you have a good club championship you are thinking it is never going to happen for me and you sort of go off the idea," said Donaghy.
"Once Feargal and Brian did call me I was thinking 'here is the chance' and I was going to go and give it everything."
He seized that chance with both hands on his first competitive outing for the Red Hands, grabbing 0-10 of his side's 0-16 in their Allianz Football League Division One defeat to Donegal.
However, he looks back on the game with mixed emotions and although things couldn't have gone much better for him on a personal level, ultimately the result proved a sobering experience.
“It was a mixed day because obviously, you were going to be happy getting to make your debut, and getting to start on your debut anyway," he said.
“So you are in great form and then to play well and score is great as well, and then when you end up not getting the result you know, you come back down to earth very quickly, once you see that it was a massive disappointment for us not to win that game.”
That first run out in a Tyrone jersey was a long time coming and despite still harbouring those childhood dreams, watching his peers pull on the white and red jersey before him did leave him wondering if he would ever get the nod.
Now that he has, however, he feels he has become more appreciative of the opportunity afforded to him.
"You are getting to an age where a lot of boys you might have played underage with have been called into the panel and you haven’t, you are thinking maybe this is never going to happen. And then you are just grateful if it ever does because it is a great honour and a great opportunity and you are really enjoying it," he said.
"You are just trying to make every moment count. It is not making up for lost time or anything, it is more just that when you are there… everybody talks about how fast a career can go by you so you just want to make the most out of it while you are there."
Much like Donaghy's debut itself, Tyrone's League campaign was something of a mixed bag. They followed up that defeat to Donegal with a win over Armagh and an entertaining draw with Monaghan before a chastening defeat in the Division One semi-final to Kerry in Killarney.
Having played a starring role at club level in 2020, Donaghy was struck by the step up in quality and commitment required at county level.
“The first thing is probably like the fact that at county level there is so many more quality players," he said.
“You maybe find yourself getting on less ball. It’s difficult. You have to try and make it count, even more every time you get the ball, and you are trying to blend that with good decision making and team play, but you are also trying to show you can be direct, and you can score and you can make big plays for the team.
“It is difficult like that to get the balance between those things.”
Getting those things right on the day require intense preparation too and the Dungannon clubman says he is willing to put in the hard yards on the training ground.
"It does take a lot of time out of your week and you really have to manage your days around it, around making sure that you're ready for training. But I guess if you're enjoying it, you're more than willing to do it," he said.
That 6-16 to 1-13 defeat to Kerry will have sharpened minds even more as they look to dethrone last year's surprise Ulster champions Cavan in Omagh on Saturday.
Feargal Logan has spoken of the benefits of having an extended break since their trip to the Kingdom and Donaghy believes they have used that time wisely to prepare to face the Breffnimen.
"There is a thing whenever you lose it makes you really go through it more forensically, try and identify where things go wrong whereas if we had won or had a better result we might not have been as hard on ourselves, we might not develop as much so it maybe does put us in a better place."
