Football

Connor McAliskey: Tyrone must step up to the plate

7/1/2018 Tyrones connor mc aliskey    pic seamus loughran.
7/1/2018 Tyrones connor mc aliskey pic seamus loughran. 7/1/2018 Tyrones connor mc aliskey pic seamus loughran.

Tyrone’s Division One future hangs in the balance and Ulster neighbours Donegal are set to have a big say in the fate of Mickey Harte’s side.

With three defeats from four outings, the Red Hands are desperate for a win over Declan Bonner’s men on Saturday and attacker Connor McAliskey says they must produce a performance.

Donegal travel to Omagh in an equally precarious position, also with just two points on the board, and the scene is set for a high stakes derby encounter.

“We’re sitting with two points in the League and when you’re playing Donegal there’s no motivation needed,” said McAliskey.

“It’s a big derby, a massive game in which there’s two points up for grabs. We’ll need to get them and make the most of the last two games as well.”

Should Tyrone falter again this weekend, the danger of relegation will reach critical levels. And with games against Mayo and Kerry still to come, survival will be a massive challenge. Like Donegal, the only side they have managed to beat is basement team Kildare.

“There’s definitely a lot to be worked on and we’ll certainly be looking forward to the three games, starting with Donegal next weekend,” said McAliskey.

The Clonoe clubman is confident Tyrone can turn the corner on what has been a difficult League journey.

At certain stages of Saturday evening’s clash with Monaghan, they looked like they would push on for a vital victory, but lost out by a single point at Castleblayney.

“The small margins made all the difference and when we go back and look at the game we can pick out the main points that need to be worked on. There’s definitely a lot to be worked on,” he added.

Monaghan’s strong start gave them a platform, and a volley of early scores helped them survive in the face of strong Red Hand spells at the end of both halves.

“It’s tough every day in Division One and no different coming here against Monaghan. We just didn’t come out of the blocks early on, but worked hard and were in a good position a point up at half-time,” he said.

“The chances weren’t taken and then Monaghan had a good spell with about 10 minutes to go when they went four points up. It just left us with too much to do and too much of an ask to come back in the last few minutes.

“We were saying at half-time that we were in front despite not playing at any level and letting them take control. There was a confidence that we could push on and get the win, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.”

As so often in the past, a tight game was decided by a touch of class, provided by the brilliant Conor McManus, who came off the bench to kick three precious scores.

“You can’t get away with making mistakes in Division One against the top teams. Maybe there were a few handling errors and chances missed,” he added.

“But then Conor McManus came on for them and kicked a couple of big scores. That proved to be the difference in the end because they were taking those big scores.”