Dr McKenna Cup Section C: Tyrone v Donegal (tonight, 8pm, Healy Park)
AMIDST a tug of war with Monaghan to form the pre-eminent rivalry in Ulster football over the past five years with Donegal, plenty of tension has developed between Tyrone and their visitors tonight.
This will be as low key a meeting as we’ve seen since Dermot Molloy found the net in injury-time in that Ulster semi-final in 2011. Since then, the battles have been fierce, spreading even through the ranks to meetings at minor and under-21 level.
Were Tyrone to field their under-21s in Healy Park tonight then there might be a return to animosity. A tumultuous end to the counties’ Ulster under-21 meeting in Celtic Park last year was in keeping with a feisty second half, and a follow on from their minor meeting the year previous.
But it’s not so much any niggle that Donegal have to concern themselves with tonight as the rather daunting prospect for their youngsters of facing a much more experienced Tyrone side.
It’s one thing being at home in Ballybofey and taking on the Ulster University side that snatched an opening day win or an experimental Cavan team that only really put their shoe to the floor in the last 20 minutes.
It’s a different prospect heading into Healy Park against a Tyrone side that tends not to take any contest too lightly, and which is likely to be strengthened from the side that comfortably overcame St. Mary’s on Sunday.
Mattie Donnelly returns at midfield after serving a one-match ban following his red card against Cavan, replacing Colm Cavanagh, while Tiernan McCann is due to start at centre-back after his late withdrawal at the weekend.
Darren McCurry and Ronan O’Neill get starts in a revamped attack, while Sean Cavanagh and Niall Sludden are both included on a strong bench. Niall Morgan returns between the sticks in place of Mickey O’Neill as the goalkeepers continue their early-season rotation.
Tyrone’s sloppy first half performance was forgiven as they squeezed an eventual 13-point margin of victory puts them in a strong position to qualify, most likely as the best runner-up.
Their scoring average (1.34) is considerably stronger than that of Fermanagh (1.17), Down (1.16) and Derry (1.00). Armagh’s stronger scoring average of 1.53 will have no impact if Tyrone beat Donegal, because the Orchard will either top section A and qualify automatically, or finish with fewer points than the Red Hands.
That is all, of course, assuming that Tyrone will emerge victorious from this game. Donegal’s fledglings made a decent account of themselves against a physically superior Cavan side on Sunday, at times backing up a blistering pace on the counter-attack that was evident against Ulster University.
In terms of preparation for their upcoming under-21 Championship campaign, they could not have been better schooled than across these three games.
The one concern that Declan Bonner might have had would be handing a visual advantage to the Tyrone side that they will face in the Ulster Championship exactly eight weeks from tonight.
But his absentee list will see to that. Of the nine players that missed the defeat by Cavan, only Eoghan Bán Gallagher is certain to return. Niall Friel and Cristian Bonner should be available, but Conor Morrison (exams) and Brendan McCole (injury) join a long list of missing faces.
And regardless, it will be hard for Feargal Logan to replicate the intensity of preparation Donegal will have had through this unusual McKenna Cup venture.
So even though there remain subplots, the crux of it is that Tyrone should have a relatively comfortable evening, and that should see them into yet another semi-final.
TEAM NEWS
Tyrone: N Morgan; P Hampsey, Justin McMahon, C McCarron; R McNabb, T McCann, J Monroe; M Donnelly, P McNulty; D McClure, R O’Neill, N McKenna; D McCurry, C McCullagh, R McHugh
Donegal: TBA
