Football

Tyrone Minors optimistic against the imposing challenge of Cork

Tyrone celebrate winning the 2021 Electric Ireland Ulster Minor Football Championship.<br /> Pic Philip Walsh
Tyrone celebrate winning the 2021 Electric Ireland Ulster Minor Football Championship.
Pic Philip Walsh
Tyrone celebrate winning the 2021 Electric Ireland Ulster Minor Football Championship.
Pic Philip Walsh

Tyrone go into this afternoon's All-Ireland MFC semi-final against Cork with a firm belief that they can qualify for a first decider since 2013.

But they face a tough task against a quality team playing its part in the Rebel county's under-age revolution.

Cork arrive at the Tullamore eliminator high in confidence following an impressive run to the Munster title with wins over Waterford, Kerry and Limerick.

The Red Hands have also hit the heights in Ulster, brushing aside the challenges of Down and Fermanagh with ease, before finishing strongly in the decider against Donegal to secure a 24th provincial title.

Tyrone's defensive resilience was tested to the limit on that occasion, and they will once again need strong performances from Ronan Fox, Callan Kelly, Michael Rafferty and Shea O'Hare to close down the threat posed by Cork danger men Colm Gillespie, Jamie O'Driscoll, Niall Kelly and Hugh O'Connor.

Tyrone's towering midfielders Ruairi McHugh and Ronan Donnelly have been consistently influential throughout the campaign in generating possession and providing physical presence around the central third.

They are set for crucial duels with Rory O'Shaughnessy and Michael McSweeney.

The leadership and finishing power of Red Hand skipper and centre forward Cormac Devlin, along with the pace of Gavin Potter and Ronan Cassidy provides an attacking edge that has seen them score heavily.

But the collective will of a cohesive unit is possibly its greatest strength, while a strong bench is another valuable asset.

Substitutes have been highly effective in all of their games to date, notably Conor Owens, who came in to shoot 1-5 in the latter stages of the last two ties.

"Cork love to play a good attacking style of football, so it will be an interesting game," said Tyrone manager Gerard Donnelly.

"But we're really going into the unknown here, and we couldn't be playing a county further away from us.

"They were very impressive against Kerry. They won by a point, but at half-time they were six up, and in the second half were seven up and let Kerry back into it.

"They were well ahead against Limerick and again took their foot off the pedal a wee bit, but then steamrolled them down the final stretch."

Donnelly cited a number of Cork players who will present a major threat to his side's bid to reach the final.

Their vice-captain Hugh O'Connell was man of the match in the Munster final. He's an extremely talented player, but they have good players all over the pitch.

"Their centre half forward Niall Kelly, and Jamie O'Driscoll are a threat, and they have two big strong midfielders and a very tight defence, they're a good team all over, unfortunately for us."

With the games coming thick and fast in a condensed championship, momentum has been a factor for the Ulster champions.

"It's definitely very condensed, we have had no time to bask in Ulster success," Donnelly added.

"But a lot of people would say that's a good thing, rather than sitting about for three or four weeks between games, which could be a distraction too.

"It gives lads clear focus all the time, that the next game coming is just around the corner.

"So it's easy enough to keep them focused and tuned in, and hopefully our lads will be tuned in and ready for it, for we all know how big the test is going to be."