Donnelly ‘so proud’ of his players after Ulster semi-final win

By Niall Gartland

TYRONE minor boss Gerard Donnelly says he is “so proud” of his players after they fended off a formidable Monaghan side in Saturday evening’s Ulster Championship semi-final at O’Neill’s Healy Park.

The Red Hands were rocked back on a number of occasions, and when they conceded a third goal with less than 20 minutes remaining, they found themselves two points in arrears against a fired-up Monaghan team.

Tyrone responded superbly when the chips were down, however, outscoring their opponents by 0-9 to 0-2 for the remainder, setting up an Ulster final showdown against Cavan.

“That was a really good Monaghan team, they’d a brilliant win over Armagh in the quarters and we knew it was going to be tough.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions, we’d a great start, then next thing we knew, it was a draw at half-time.”

“Monaghan got a grip on things again, and our lads dug deep and I’ve told them that I’m so proud of the last 15 minutes – it was just awesome.”

Tyrone had fallen at the semi-final hurdle in the past two years, so manager Gerard Donnelly was particularly delighted to get across the line in a winning position against Monaghan on Saturday.

Not only are they one step away from a first Ulster Minor title since 2021, but they now know they will have a crack at the All-Ireland series, whatever transpires against Cavan next Sunday.

“That’s important – Damian McErlain said last year up in Owenbeg after they’d beaten us that this is the game you target – there’s no doubt that we want to win the Ulster final but it’s good to have that safety net.”

Standing in their way of provincial championship honours is a Cavan team that Tyrone have already beaten twice this season – firstly in an Ulster Minor league clash before a recent victory in the Ulster Championship in Omagh. The Breffni County have shown resilence to bounce back from the latter defeat, overcoming Down and Donegal in successive weekends to book their spot in the final, and they also overcame Derry earlier in the campaign. They’re a good team and can’t be taken lightly, but there’s nowhere else Tyrone would rather be.

Donnelly said, “At the end of the day our boys didn’t want to lose [against Monaghan], they showed how much they wanted this chance of an Ulster title. Yes there were mistakes and things we need to be doing better, but we’re delighted to have won.

“Cavan are a damn good team, but it’s really important for our boys to have made an Ulster final so we’re really looking forward to it.”

Above all else, Donnelly was thrilled wiith the resilence of his side, refusing to wilt in the heat of a Monaghan onslaught midway through the seecond half before regaining control of the contest.

“You have to remember these lads are 15-17 years of age, you can plan all you want but they are children.

“We got nothing easy, and we fell short at this hurdle the last two years, so thank God we came through it. The effort was brilliant, we lost more ball than we’d have liked but you definitely can’t fault the effort.”