The Alternative View: Supporters in dreamland as Tyrone fall for second time

Seconds Out, Round Two!

The second meeting of Donegal and Tyrone provided some good sparring for 35 minutes but Jim McGuinness’s side once again punched holes in the third quarter and with 15 minutes to go it seemed as if Tyrone threw in the towel.

Or as an unnamed Tyrone man said to me in conversation in the car park of Bundoran Golf Club on Monday, ‘I didn’t even see the towel’.

With victory in sight from a long way out, Fergus McGee on the public address system in MacCumhaill Park began his plea for spectators not to encroach onto the pitch after the final whistle. The plea was reiterated as Joe McQuillan blew for time, but he might as well have been talking to the wall. 

Jim McGuinness had obviously a plan to get his players off the field as quickly as possible because of the lateness of the game and the need for them to get back to the Training Centre in Convoy for food and ice baths.

The stewards were helpless as the hordes of Donegal supporters wanted to again get their selfies and autographs with their new-found heroes and who could blame them after what they had witnessed.

With the players gone down the tunnel the young supporters found another outlet for their enthusiasm and within seconds the GAAGO presenter Michael Murphy along with the other presenters and crew were surrounded. Barriers were quickly erected to keep the Murphy Fan Club at bay and after the TV cameras were shut down the Glenswilly man was mobbed for pictures and autographs, which he took in his stride.

Less than 12 months earlier Donegal limped out of the championship at the hands of the Red Hand men and there was no need for pitch announcements, but this time around the tables were well and truly turned.

Donegal had just produced one of those performances that lifted everyone six feet off the ground, especially in the second half. There was a ‘wow factor’ about the display with players playing with a sort of abandonment. It seemed as if the handbrake had been taken off.

The pace of the game was mesmerising at times and players like Peadar Mogan, Eoghan Ban Gallagher and Ciaran Moore were covering the ground like Cheetahs. And yet it was still structured with every player knowing his role.

Tyrone rallied after nearly being overrun for a period in the first half and looked like putting up a stout resistance. Ciaran Moore made a brilliant run before half-time and Oisin Gallen tapped over with his left for a 0-10 to 0-9 lead at the break. It looked all to play for.

Jason McGee in control against Darren McCurry on Saturday evening. Picture: Sportsfile

In front of a crowd of almost 17,000 (Michael Murphy later said he felt it was closer to 19,000), the scene was set for the second half. Within six minutes the margin was out to three and by the 49th minute it was four. By the end of the third quarter Peadar Mogan and a Ciaran Thompson mark pushed it to five.

Tyrone did get it back to three but then Donegal pushed for home and the Red Hand men (apart from Darragh Canavan) just didn’t have the stomach for the fight anymore. 

There was only going to be one winner. The Tyrone support, such as it was, were beginning to slip away quietly to the exits. 

Why has the support for the Tyrone senior team evaporated over the last few years? In the streets of Ballybofey long before the throw-in on Saturday, there was hardly a red and white jersey or flag to be seen. That was reflected inside the ground later on. Was there much more than 2,000 Tyrone supporters in the 17,000 crowd? They probably had their allocation in the stand but they were very sparse on the terraces. You can only wonder why this has happened to a team that were All-Ireland champions just three years ago.

The Tyrone man I met on Monday opined that it is what happens when you win an All-Ireland. ‘It’s why Mayo and Armagh and now Derry have such support; the hunger for victory,’ says he. It seems that all is not right in Tyrone GAA at senior county level at the moment.

Well it looks as the Donegal supporters have a hunger now and Saturday night’s performance was a very good appetiser for what lies ahead.

The rating of this Donegal team has gone up a further few notches and the bookies are cutting their odds all the time. Most pundits now have them either 3rd or 4th behind Dublin and Kerry. The expectation will always be rising but it is a nice burden.

On Saturday evening Peadar Mogan got man of the match and nobody would argue with the choice. He had a good tussle with Darren McCurry with the Tyrone man hitting a couple of spectacular points from play, but by the midpoint of the second half McCurry was called ashore, unable to stick with the St Naul’s man on his forays forward. He was just unplayable.

There were so many wonderful individual displays on the night but for me the performance and consistency of our midfield pairing is central to our success this year. And for the first time in the four games, Michael Langan took on more of an attacking role on Saturday. He was just hungry for ball.

At the same time his partner Jason McGee is having the season of his life and apart from scoring two points, his defensive covering was excellent throughout the contest on Saturday evening.

They are two very big units, but are also extremely mobile. Langan’s pass to Ciaran Thompson for the goal chance was textbook and it was just a pity that Thompson’s finish clipped the outside rather than the inside of the upright.

Having Eoghan Ban Gallagher back to near full fitness is such a boost coming into the business end of the championship. There is word that Carn’s Conor O’Donnell is close to being part of the action too and that would be another boost.

There is beginning to be competition on the bench as well as on the field. Odhrán Doherty added one of his specials when he came on, similar to his important equaliser in the Ulster final and another against Monaghan last year in Healy Park, Omagh.

The only thing missing on Saturday evening was a goal. All the ingredients are there for the future, the speed of foot, speed of hand and speed of mind.

Caution has to be thrown into the mix also as there can be no place for over confidence. You can hardly imagine that happening under Jim McGuinness. Next up is the long trip to Cork and the Rebels have had two weeks to prepare while Donegal will have just six days. We had a sneak preview of Cork at the end of January when they came to Ballybofey for the first game in the Allianz National League and they posed a few problems that Sunday for Donegal although in the end Donegal won comfortably. Looking at the teams that day, both will probably have around nine of the starting line-ups for next Saturday in Pairc Ui Rinn and while Donegal will be long odds-on to take the win, they have to approach it as another must-win game.

If they can get out of Cork with two wins on the board, they will be well on their way to the All-Ireland quarter-final. And also important is the fact that by topping the table they will have a two-week lead into every game they play from then on.

The scoring ratio of this Donegal team was over 18 points per game for the National League and now in the championship it has gone up a notch again to over 20 points average - and that against the best that Ulster can produce.

Just how far we have come since that preliminary quarter-final against Tyrone last June is hardly believable. A new bar is being set game on game. We are touching dreamland once more!

Oisin Gallen rounds Padraig Hampsey in his local playground, MacCumhaill Park Picture: Sportsfile

MATCH STATS

Scorers for Donegal: O Gallen 0-7, 5f; P Mogan 0-3; J McGee 0-2; P McBrearty 0-2, 1f; C Thompson 0-2, 1m; E Gallagher, R McHugh, O Doherty, S O’Donnell and M Langan 0-1.

Scorers for Tyrone: D McCurry 0-4, 1f, 1m; D Canavan 0-3, 3f; K McGeary 0-3; N Morgan 0-1, 1f; M Donnelly, S O’Donnell and N Devlin 0-1.

Donegal: S Patton; E Gallagher, B McCole, C Moore; R McHugh, C McGonagle, P Mogan; J McGee, M Langan; S O'Donnell, C Thompson, D Ó Baoill; P McBrearty, O Gallen, N O'Donnell. Subs: O Doherty for Ó Baoill (45), J Brennan for McBrearty (55); A Doherty for N O’Donnell (62); J Mac Ceallabhuí for Gallagher (66), D Mac Giolla Bhríde for Gallen (69) 

Tyrone: N Morgan; N Devlin, P Hampsey, M McKernan; B Cullen, M Donnelly, K McGeary; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; C Daly, M O'Neill, S O'Donnell; D McCurry, D Canavan, R Canavan. Subs: J Oguz and C Quinn for R Canavan and Cullen (half-time), C McShane for McCurry (51), P Harte for Kilpatrick (58), L McGarrity for O’Neill (66) 

Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan).