Tyrone must take lessons from Donegal clinical edge-McGeary

THE decisive late scoring spree which enabled Donegal to race clear of Tyrone down the home stretch demonstrated a clinical edge which the Red Hands most take heed of themselves, Kieran McGeary has warned.

The pumped up Tir Connail men rattled off four of the last five points at MacCumhaill Park on Saturday night as they registered an ultimately emphatic 0-21 to 0-14 triumph in the opening group game of the All-Ireland series.

It means that for the second year running in this still quite novel Championship format, Tyrone are playing catch up (they lost their opening group game at a wet and windy Salthill to Galway in 2023).

McGeary weighed in with three points for the visitors last weekend, showing sporadic glimpses of the form that made him Footballer of the Year in 2021.

However Tyrone were playing a forlorn game of catch up for much of the evening and the Pomeroy campaigner admitted that the hosts really discovered their shooting boots in the closing quarter.

“ They took their chances, it’s a tough place to come to, a hostile environment. They took their chances and it was hard to claw it back.”

Tyrone’s track record in Ballybofey has picked up in recent seasons having recorded notable Championship victories there in 2018 and 2023. However hopes of a third triumph, and with it revenge for the recent Ulster semi-final loss after extra-time in Celtic Park, never really appeared on the cards.

McGeary acknowledged that they would have to conduct yet another inquest into the loss and prepare as diligently as possible for the visit of Clare to Omagh this Sunday.

“ You’re not going to win them every time, they’re harder to come by up here, we just fell short on the day. We’ll have to review it and look at it but it’s a quick turnaround to the next day.

“ You try to tick everything off, you just get ready for the next game as best you can. You can’t win them all so you have to reflect on this one again.”

McGeary didn’t necessarily feel that Donegal had picked up their game in terms of pace and physicality from that previous meeting a month earlier.

“It felt like a normal game, you’re trying to stay in it as best possible, it’s ding-dong, the pace of the game, sometimes they’re slow, sometimes they’re fast.”

One grain of comfort for Red Hand supporters as they survey what lies in store for the rest of this Championship is the influx of a number of exciting young prospects from the All-Ireland winning Under-20 squad.

Several could be given their chance to shine against both Clare and Cork in the coming fortnight and McGeary is equally excited about the potential they bring to the mix.

“Those boys are hungry, they’re there for the cause, like every young lad who steps onto the senior panel. They have shown when they’ve come in what they’re capable of, we’re lucky to have them and they’ll progress with each game.”