JIM MCGUINNESS BELIEVES that Tyrone’s mental strength took them over the line against Donegal in Sunday’s Ulster SFC final.
Donegal had prized themselves into a decent position after 36 minutes – 0-8 to 0-4 in front with Tyrone having lost Mattie Donnelly and Cathal McShane to first half black cards.
[adrotate group=”53″]However, with Donegal overplaying, Mickey Harte’s side surged back in the second half to win the Anglo-Celt Cup for the first time on a 0-13 to 0-11 scoreline.
“Donegal, to my recollection, kicked one long ball in to Michael Murphy in the whole game,” McGuinness wrote in his column in The Irish Times. “It was in the first half, and it caused mayhem. Niall Morgan came to meet it under pressure and thumped the ball anywhere: it spilled out over the sideline.
“The point I am making is this: in terms of asking questions of the opposition, there has to be an unpredictability to what you are doing, yet it has to be 100 per cent predictable within the game plan.
“So you have a number of strategies: every time you see an attacker isolated inside, let’s go long. Every time you see space to exploit, run into that space. Next time, support from behind. Next time kick it on the diagonal. It is varied, but it is still a script.
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“Donegal came with only one strategy and that’s why people were looking at their players hand-passing and going over and back across the pitch for most of the second half.”
While Donegal struggled to make sufficient inroads – they kicked for goal just four times from play in the entire second half despite having 70 per cent of possession, Tyrone cut loose in sic minutes of injury time to win by two points.
McGuinness watched the final online at Royal Troon, where he was with Paul McGinley for the Open, which was won by Sweden’s Henrik Stenson. The former Donegal manager did believe that his successor Rory Gallagher could have made better use of his substitutes’ bench.
“I do feel Rory could have run the bench a bit earlier,” McGuinness added. “A lot of the times the reason we won big games was because of our bench. Go as hard as you can for as long as you can on a sweltering day like Sunday. When you have players like Leo McLoone, Colm McFadden and Christy Toye on the bench who have won All-Irelands on the field of play, I don’t understand why they weren’t involved earlier or, in Leo’s case, at all.
[adrotate group=”76”]“I have no doubt that loss has played a big part in this crusade or drive to get another Tyrone team over the line. And I thought it was interesting that Cavanagh spoke afterwards about those who weren’t there: Michaela Harte and Cormac McAnallen and Paul McGirr.
“I felt their drive and mentality was coming from something bigger or beyond themselves. They have a cause or an emotional attachment which was bigger than a game of football.
“Like all Donegal people, I was absolutely dismayed for the boys on Sunday. This team will always be loved within Donegal. And it is another tough final loss for them to absorb because there was nothing in it.”
Please click here to read Jim McGuinness’s column in full
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