TYRONE defender Michael Rafferty feared the Covid-19 pandemic would rob him of his dream of playing in an Ulster Minor Football Championship final.
But sport has triumphed amid the chaos, and rushed to the rescue of countless participants and enthusiasts as a welcome distraction and a priceless boost to morale.
Tomorrow Rafferty will line out for his county in the provincial decider against Donegal, grateful for the opportunity to pursue a cherished ambition.
“This is what us young lads look towards as kids, and we’re going to get our day in Brewster Park.
“We’re delighted, but we have nothing won yet. We’re over the moon, it’s a big achievement.
“Ulster finals come around that often, but thankfully we have got the chance to play in one.”
Last year it all came tumbling down, and the current squad of Red Hand Minor players was disbanded with the forced cancellation of development football.
Tyrone would have come up against Donegal at U16 level in the Buncrana Cup, but that was not possible, and as a result, tomorrow evening’s opponents are something of an unknown quantity.
“We would have played them in the Buncrana Cup but we didn’t get to do that last year because of Covid, so this will be our first game against Donegal.
“It’s Donegal, so we know they will be a tough team, and we’ll have to work hard to prepare for that.
“We have a big test coming up against us, and we’ll have to do our homework on Donegal and work from there on the training ground.”
The MFC finalists have taken different paths to the Brewster Park decider.
On a weekend battered by storms, Donegal scored just 1-6 in their narrow win over Armagh, while Tyrone racked up 6-21 as they routed Fermanagh.
However, Rafferty believes those Healy Park experiences will not have any influence over the direction the final takes.
“The weather conditions obviously played a part in Donegal’s game.
“For our game, it wasn’t as greasy and the rain wasn’t as bad.”
The Killyclogher lad availed of every opportunity he could find to press forward in support of the attack in the clashes with Down and Fermanagh, contributing directly to several of his side’s scores.
But it was a solid defence that provided the platform for Tyrone’s positive approach.
“Our defence gave us that platform to go forward, boys put their bodies on the line and that helped us going forward to get those scores.
“We could have had more scores out there, but we obviously weren’t that clinical. We’ll have to work on that on the training ground.
“We’re just taking it game by game, we’re not looking ahead of ourselves.
“We have to beat what’s in front of us and that’s what we have done.
“Donegal is our next focus and we’ll have to approach that in the same way.
“Donegal will be a tough test. They had a convincing win over Antrim, and then they beat Monaghan, who are a strong team, and then they got over Armagh.”
