Donnelly has no qualms about facing partisan support in Clones

THOUSANDS of passionate fans vociferously cheering on the opposition is the type of gut-check which Tyrone Minor manager Gerard Donnelly is fully confident his young troops can pass this Sunday afternoon.

There is sure to be a fiercely partisan Derry support at Clones for this weekend’s Ulster Under-17 Championship Final, with the Oak Leafers also set to feature in the Anglo-Celt showdown later on the St Tiernach’s Park double bill when they tackle Donegal.

In contrast Tyrone will have a loyal but hugely outnumbered fan base in their corner when they take to the field looking to defend their provincial crown. However Gerard Donnelly would have it no other way.

Pinpointing the manner in which the various Minor Championship competitions have been shunted onto the periphery by other provincial authorities, he was full of praise for the Ulster Council for restoring the blue riband youth tournament to its rightful place in the calendar.

“ It should be a wonderful occasion. Fair play to the Ulster Council for going with tradition putting the Minor match on before the Senior Final at a packed out Clones. You see the Leinster Final played on a Wednesday night and the Munster one on a Thursday night, but this is where it belongs in Ulster. It gives these lads their moment in front of a big crowd. We will look forward to it but we know what we are up against.”

Tyrone and Derry have met in an Ulster Minor Final already this season, with the Red Hands taking the spoils in the Jim McGuigan Cup League decider 2-7 to 1-9 in early April, with Conan Devlin and captain Eoin McElholm their goalscorers.

Donnelly (pictured) wasn’t surprised that the Oak Leafers emerged from the other half of the Championship draw to set up this weekend’s rematch.

“We were probably lucky enough to beat Derry in that League Final. We expected them to come through and it’s going to be another titanic battle. We know how good they are so we need to improve.

“ They have a lot of lads who were part of the St Pat’s Maghera team who won the Rannafast, so they have great players all over the place. Big Forbes in midfield was a MacRory Cup winner so we are up against it.

“ They will be licking their lips at the fact we had to go to extra-time and penalties in our semi-final. I know their manager Marty Boyle well and we will have a good bit of crack in the lead-up but we go on Sunday and see who comes out on top.”

Tyrone booked their passage into the decider with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against Donegal last Saturday in Celtic Park, after the contest had finished level 1-10 to 0-13 after extra-time.

Having scored eight points in a row, stretching across the closing stages of normal time into extra-time), Tyrone appeared to be cruising to victory until their opponents hit a stunning goal and two points in the last minute to set up the spot kick showdown.

Donnelly was relieved to come out on top and felt that the fact the losers were gone for the year contributed to the hesitant nature of his side’s performance.

“ We hadn’t made a fuss all week that if we were beaten we were out. That was no doubt playing on lads minds. Donegal had their knockout game last week as well. They were beaten by Derry and then had their straight knockout against Monaghan. So this was our first real taste of it.

“ We knew this was going to be a tough game. It was never going to be easy but we need to be better. I think we showed a lot of nerves. We tried to play it down but I felt going in the lads were nervy, coming to Celtic Park with a tight pitch. It suited the way Donegal were going to play and we fell into their trap at times. We were just delighted to get over it.

“ Now we are facing Derry in the Ulster Final. At least you have that wee bit of a buffer again of a backdoor (both teams progress to the All-Ireland quarter-finals) but that won’t stop us going all out for victory.”

Donnelly felt that last weekend’s epic triumph against Donegal owed much to the strength in depth of the Tyrone panel, with players like Sean Hughes and Niall McCarney making a significant impact when introduced off the bench.

“ They made a huge difference. Sean was a starter for us and then got hurt ten minutes into the Cavan match. But that is what it takes. You don’t win those matches without a squad.

“We brought in lads and some days those decisions will go against you but not on this occasion thankfully. They definitely helped us get over the line.

“ But everyone showed unbelieveable character.

“To have victory snatched away and then for lads to step up and take the penalties they way they did was brilliant.”