WHEN Martin McElhinney dropped his head and drove a low shot past Tyrone 'keeper Michael O’Neill, he looked like a player who knew exactly where the ball was going.
But the modest Donegal forward told a different story when he was asked to comment on the crucial score he grabbed in last Sunday’s preliminary round game in Ballybofey.
“The 'keeper made a good save off (Odhrán) Mac Niallais. I was just lucky. It fell at my foot. I closed my eyes and belted it. It was hit and hope and it went in,” said the St Michael’s clubman.
Selected by the RTÉ panel as the official man of the match, the 26-year-old was outstanding during the first half, when he scored 1-2. McElhinney and Michael Murphy produced stellar performances against Tyrone when the sides met at the same venue in the League.
While Justin McMahon was able to quell the influence of Murphy on Sunday, the Red Hands failed to find an antidote for McElhinney. A talented underage footballer, McElhinney served notice of this talent when he scored two goals in the 2006 Ulster minor football final.
While he has taken longer than some of his team-mates to cement a place in the first team, McElhinney is now a vital cog in Rory Gallagher’s artillery. While he has previously featured in provincial and All-Ireland finals, the centre half-forward described Sunday’s game in Mac Cumhaill Park as “probably the hardest Ulster Championship battle I was ever involved with”.
He added: “It was hard from the word go. It’s good now that we can concentrate on Armagh in four weeks’ time.
“I know we were heavy favourites coming in here, but none of us thought that. You can see out there the bite that both teams had. It was just good to come out on the right side of it.”
When McElhinney’s preparations for the match are taken into consideration, it’s not surprising that he faded in the second half. An injury left him sidelined from mid-April until a week before the match.
“I haven’t trained since the last League game,” he said.
“I was just delighted to get in. Last Tuesday, I was involved with the training and I was just delighted to get back in. I would say I tired a good bit in the second half. It just wasn’t in the legs. It was good to get it over me and get back now to training.”
Asked if he was nervous about having to test himself against players who would have enjoyed a perfect preparation, McElhinney replied: “Obviously, it is always nerve-wracking.
“You always to feel that you have prepared as best you can. When you are not able to do that, you are always a bit worried about your performance. In fairness, I did everything I could do to get back.
“When I got back in, I just said to myself that I would work my socks off in the first half and get on as much ball as I could. It doesn’t matter about individuals. As long as we get the right side of the result, we are delighted.”
