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Battle-hardened Donegal will be toughest test yet for Tyrone

Tyrone Ronan Cassidy with Kai McGoldrick of Fermanagh during the Ulster Minor Football Championship semi-final. Tyrone have yet to be fully tested on their way to Friday's final against Donegal according to manager Gerard Donnelly 					Picture: Margaret McLaughlin.
Tyrone Ronan Cassidy with Kai McGoldrick of Fermanagh during the Ulster Minor Football Championship semi-final. Tyrone have yet to be fully tested on their way to Friday's final against Donegal according to manager Gerard Donnelly Picture: Margar Tyrone Ronan Cassidy with Kai McGoldrick of Fermanagh during the Ulster Minor Football Championship semi-final. Tyrone have yet to be fully tested on their way to Friday's final against Donegal according to manager Gerard Donnelly Picture: Margaret McLaughlin.

Electric Ireland Ulster Minor Football Championship final: Donegal v Tyrone (tonight, Brewster Park, 7.30pm, Sport TG4 YouTube)

ULSTER minor titles have been hard to come by in recent seasons for both Donegal and Tyrone, but one of them will bring success back to their county at the end of this evening’s decider.

The Red Hands last won the provincial crown in 2012, while Tir Chonaill have not enjoyed those celebrations since 2016.

They have taken contrasting paths to this provincial final at Brewster Park, with Tyrone’s runaway win over Fermanagh last weekend coming 24 hours after Donegal had chiselled out a narrow two-point win over Armagh in their semi-final.

While Tyrone have not been tested to date, their opponents have the benefit of a couple of tight contests which helped them develop their battling qualities.

What both sides do know is that they face their toughest challenge to date when they lock horns at the Enniskillen venue.

Skipper Luke McGlynn led the way with Donegal’s winning goal in the semi-final, and talented attackers Cathal McGeever and Kevin McCormack will provide support.

Their defence has shown resilience and courage throughout the campaign, with Cormac Gallagher, Oisin Caulfield and Karl Magee emerging as key performers, while midfielder Sean Ward’s tussle with Tyrone’s Ruairi McHugh will be a key match-up.

Red Hand captain Cormac Devlin has scored 13 points in his side’s two games to date, while Gavin Potter, Ronan Cassidy and Ronan Strain have also excelled in a productive attacking unit.

They will expect to see more pressure on their defence than in their meetings with Down and Fermanagh, but Ronan Fox, Callan Kelly and Shea O’Hare are capable of rising to the challenge.

Donegal manager Luke Barrett wants his players to savour the occasion.

“Any time you play Tyrone in an Ulster final, it’s a very exciting prospect and it’s a nice lift for the county,” he said.

Following a hard-fought semi-final win over Armagh, he’s preparing or a different type of challenge at Brewster Park.

“We’ll have to do our work on Tyrone, and we’ll have to come up with a plan to try and stop them.”

Barrett is hoping for a more open game than the tactical, defensive encounter with Armagh in the semi-final.

“Every day is a new day, and hopefully the next day we might be a wee bit more open.

“These boys set high standards for themselves, so it makes our job a lot easier.

“Semi-finals are for winning, and we haven’t performed to the level that we would have expected, or that we feel that we can perform to.

“Every game will have to be taken on its own merits. Armagh were very defensive.”

He was pleased with the attacking flair his side did show when the opportunities arose late on.

“These boys have it in their locker. We showed in fits and starts, but I just don’t think that we have got that performance that we have been looking for yet.

Tyrone boss Gerard Donnelly accepts that his side still has not been tested, and the players have yet to discover how they will react in a tight contest.

“Donegal have done it a different way than we have. They went to Monaghan, and with 14 men they beat what most people thought were the Ulster favourites,” he said.

“And then in horrendous conditions (v Armagh), they won a match in a real battle.

“People are going to say, and it’s a question we still have to ask, if it’s a battle, can we win it?”

And he expects his Donegal counterpart to send his team out to take the Red Hands out of their comfort zone.

“That’s what Luke will be sending his boys out to do, to make it a battle and see what our bottle is like. So we’re going to be tested that way.

“Luke will have his team well set up and ready to go, and he will have seen us.”

Paths to the final

TYRONE

Quarter-final

Tyrone 3-16 Down 0-9

Semi-final

Tyrone 6-21 Fermanagh 1-6

DONEGAL

Preliminary round

Donegal 4-23 Antrim 0-8

Quarter-final

Donegal 1-9 Monaghan 0-10

Semi-final

Donegal 1-6 Armagh 0-5