TYRONE joint-manager Feargal Logan would not object to the Ulster Championship final against Monaghan being played at Croke Park on August 1.
Logan’s Red Hands progressed to their first provincial final since 2017 with a hard-fought but deserved five-point win over Donegal in Enniskillen yesterday and now await news from the Ulster Council which is expected to rule on the venue for this year’s Anglo-Celt decider tomorrow night.
Opponents Monaghan had sealed their place in the final in a pulsating roller-coaster of a semi-final against Armagh on Saturday. Yesterday’s affair was not as open, but it was no less action-packed.
“We will see what the final brings, who knows, it might be down further south than we are used to,” said Logan.
“One, you want people at football and, two, I think Clones is still in Monaghan.
“At the end of the day, not that it has been a barrier in the past, we have always travelled to Clones and it stood everybody well. But if it was to be in Croke Park, then so be it.”
This Logan-Brian Dooher managed Tyrone side has a more proactive style than Red Hand sides of recent years and there were 10 scorers in yesterday’s victory. Logan is well aware that Monaghan – Tyrone’s opponents in the 2010 Ulster final – will be formidable opposition next month.
“Conor McManus was outstanding in those last couple of phases of play against Armagh,” he said.
“For all the talk of Monaghan ageing, they have a set of lively young boys on the block who are able to run the angles, come at speed and hurt you. It was painful for Armagh who thought they had them but that bit of nous, street-smarts got Monaghan over the line.
“They are massive opponents in an Ulster final so we have got to go away now and start that preparation.”
Tiarnan McCann came off the bench to score three points and Cathal McShane and Conor McKenna were also on the scoresheet after being introduced as substitutes. Paul Donaghy, who’d scored 10 points on debut against Donegal in the League, didn’t see any action and Logan explained that playmaker Darragh Canavan – who injured his ankle playing against Kerry in Killarney - could be fit for the final.
“Darragh is coming on,” he said.
“He is out running and stuff. He would be another brilliant option to have, his speed, vision and anticipation out there today but he just would not have been ready and we will see what the next two weeks brings. He is close, you know, he is close.
“Conor McKenna, we stood him down last week and took maybe a small risk on him today, but he turned up and turned up well today.”
The sending off of Michael Murphy was a significant moment in yesterday’s game. Murphy had scored two frees but missed a penalty and had been booked when he was showed a black card and dismissed for a tackle on Kieran McGeary.
“Murphy is a man mountain of a footballer in every respect and to lose him was a massive blow to Donegal but we shipped a couple of black cards today that left us down to 14 men at times and the penalty shaved the outside of the post,” said Logan
“I could be sitting here on the total flip side of the coin but I do know there is a group of players with ambition and they have suffered hurt at the hands of Donegal in the past and I knew somewhere deep down that could be dug out and we got a bit of that out of them today.”
Andrew Watters
To:
SportsDesk
Sun, 18 Jul at 18:15
TYRONE joint-manager Feargal Logan would not object to the Ulster Championship final against Monaghan being played at Croke Park on August 1.
Logan’s Red Hands progressed to their first provincial final since 2017 with a hard-fought but deserved five-point win over Donegal in Enniskillen yesterday and now await news from the Ulster Council which is expected to rule on the venue for this year’s Anglo-Celt decider tomorrow night.
Opponents Monaghan had sealed their place in the final in a pulsating roller-coaster of a semi-final against Armagh on Saturday. Yesterday’s affair was not as open, but it was no less action-packed.
“We will see what the final brings, who knows, it might be down further south than we are used to,” said Logan.
“One, you want people at football and, two, I think Clones is still in Monaghan.
“At the end of the day, not that it has been a barrier in the past, we have always travelled to Clones and it stood everybody well. But if it was to be in Croke Park, then so be it.”
This Logan-Brian Dooher managed Tyrone side has a more proactive style than Red Hand sides of recent years and there were 10 scorers in yesterday’s victory. Logan is well aware that Monaghan – Tyrone’s opponents in the 2010 Ulster final – will be formidable opposition next month.
“Conor McManus was outstanding in those last couple of phases of play against Armagh,” he said.
“For all the talk of Monaghan ageing, they have a set of lively young boys on the block who are able to run the angles, come at speed and hurt you. It was painful for Armagh who thought they had them but that bit of nous, street-smarts got Monaghan over the line.
“They are massive opponents in an Ulster final so we have got to go away now and start that preparation.”
Tiarnan McCann came off the bench to score three points and Cathal McShane and Conor McKenna were also on the scoresheet after being introduced as substitutes. Paul Donaghy, who’d scored 10 points on debut against Donegal in the League, didn’t see any action and Logan explained that playmaker Darragh Canavan – who injured his ankle playing against Kerry in Killarney - could be fit for the final.
“Darragh is coming on,” he said.
“He is out running and stuff. He would be another brilliant option to have, his speed, vision and anticipation out there today but he just would not have been ready and we will see what the next two weeks brings. He is close, you know, he is close.
“Conor McKenna, we stood him down last week and took maybe a small risk on him today, but he turned up and turned up well today.”
The sending off of Michael Murphy was a significant moment in yesterday’s game. Murphy had scored two frees but missed a penalty and had been booked when he was showed a black card and dismissed for a tackle on Kieran McGeary.
“Murphy is a man mountain of a footballer in every respect and to lose him was a massive blow to Donegal but we shipped a couple of black cards today that left us down to 14 men at times and the penalty shaved the outside of the post,” said Logan
“I could be sitting here on the total flip side of the coin but I do know there is a group of players with ambition and they have suffered hurt at the hands of Donegal in the past and I knew somewhere deep down that could be dug out and we got a bit of that out of them today.”
