Donegal 0-19 Tyrone 0-25
With the Ulster championship only three weeks away for Donegal, Jim McGuinness and company are doubling down on preparations for that particular quest.
Not necessarily, he insisted, at the planned expense of a trip to the Division One final, which remains a possibility if not a priority for Donegal now after a derby defeat in Letterkenny.
McGuinness was able to make 11 changes to his team for the visit of Ulster rivals Tyrone.
“Our incentive is to try and get as many people to the level before Derry,” he said with the preliminary round contest billed for April 6th.
“For a number of our fellas who played, the last significantly intense game might have been the club championship last year. Physically, that is a big step, but in terms of the football side of things we are happy.”
Tyrone are battling for survival and Niall Morgan bailed sheets of water from the Red Hands’ vessel here.
Morgan, who saved from Charles McGuinness late in the first half, sailed over an excellent two-point free and when Brian Kennedy registered in the 41st minute Tyrone led by nine, 0-17 to 0-8.
That might well have been the signal for Donegal to lift a white flag.
Instead, they opted for the orange variety, as Caolan McColgan rifled over from outside the arc after Niall O’Donnell’s cross-field pass.
Donegal, then, posted four of the next five scores, including another two-pointer off Odhrán Doherty’s left instep.
The margin was down to four and they were right back with a chance.
“Contrary to public opinion, we are not trying to lose games,” McGuinness wryly pointed out. “The boys were going all out to win that match and we will do the same next week. We will look at every player and see how we can get them in the best spot for Derry. That is the objective.”
Morgan hoisted another two-pointer, again from a free. During a spell when Tyrone put their opponents to the sword, Morgan rose above a crowd of bodies to pluck the ball from the sky before teeing up Seanie O’Donnell, who duly obliged for a point.
Still, Donegal came back with intent and Eoin McHugh rattled the crossbar after Murphy and Domhnall Mac Giolla Bhríde combined. Had McHugh managed to be two inches lower, the closing chapter could have been different.
The championship looms large, but Donegal will head for Castlebar still in contention for the league final.
“If it happens, we’ll be happy to play in the league final,” McGuinness said. “It’s not ideal and I don’t think we should be put in this situation. I think there should be a buffer of a fortnight to give every team in the division the opportunity to go and compete at the highest level and not be thinking about anything else other than the league final.”
McGuinness has won an All-Ireland and four Ulster titles as the Donegal manager. Losing doesn’t sit well with the Glenties man – never mind a suggestion that he might attempt to not win.
He said: “To stand in your own county with a full house and not try to win, I don’t want to be in that spot. I never want to be in that spot.
“I did see one or two comments that that’s what we were trying to do. I don’t see how someone could put pen to paper and write that. They must know my thoughts. That is not what I was thinking. We want to get to a level and we want to manage the players who have played five games back-to-back. We want the healthiest, strongest, most robust squad for the championship.”
For Malachy O’Rourke, the Tyrone manager, staying out of the Division One quicksand is the primary focus when Dublin roll into Omagh.
“All of our games are knock-out games so we can’t sort of chop and change and not worry about the result,” O’Rourke said. “We have to go try to win in every game so it’s been a great learning experience for us.
“At least we are going in with that fighting chance of staying up – and that’s very important.”
Donegal: G Mulreany; M Curran (0-0-1), K McGettigan (0-0-1), P Mogan; Ó McFadden Ferry, F Roarty (0-0-1), C McColgan (0-1-0); H McFadden (0-0-1), D Mac Giolla Bhríde; J Brennan (0-4), J Mac Ceallabhuí, Ó Doherty (0-1-0); C McGuinness, M Murphy (0-0-4, 2f), N O’Donnell. Subs: E McHugh (0-1-0) for Mac Ceallabhui (half-time), C Moore (0-0-2) for McColgan (48), K McGroddy for McGuinness (48), L McGlynn for Doherty (54), J Carlin for Murphy (63).
Tyrone: N Morgan (0-2-1, 2tpf); A Clarke, P Teague (0-0-1), N Devlin; M McKernan (0-0-1), R Brennan, J Oguz; B Kennedy (0-0-1), C Kilpatrick; M Donnelly (0-0-3), K McGeary (0-0-1), C Daly (0-0-2); P Harte (0-0-1), M Bradley (0-0-4, 2f), D Canavan (0-0-4, 2f). Subs: S O’Donnell (0-0-1) for Oguz (48), C Quinn for McGeary (51), R Canavan for Harte (51), D McCurry (0-0-1) for Bradley (57), S O’Hare for McKernan (67).
Referee: P Faloon (Down).
