Brian McGuigan believes Mattie Donnelly will thrive in the wide open spaces of Croke Park.
By Orla Bannon
Contesting Ulster senior football finals is where Mattie Donnelly feels Tyrone belong.
Sunday's decider with Donegal ends a six-year wait for an appearance at Clones on Ulster final day for Mickey Harte's side and a first for many of the Red Hand players, including their 2015 All Star.
Winning a first Ulster medal – and beating their nemesis Donegal in the process – would be a landmark moment for a fast-developing Tyrone team, but Donnelly is careful not to place too much significance on the outcome.
“Yeah, it is a long time coming, and a first for a lot of us boys. It's where we feel Tyrone should be competing, but we can't get too hung up on that. We try not to keep thinking about getting the first medal in so long, because then you could find yourself getting too wound up.
“We are just enjoying it. We have a great chemistry, we have a great squad, and everyone is just enjoying being with each other. Everyone gets on well and wants to improve, and improve each other every night at training. We're just wanting to focus on that really, and we'll see where the Ulster final takes us.”
Donnelly speaks with the kind of maturity that only comes with age and experience. One of the 2008 All-Ireland minor winners in the team alongside Peter Harte and Ronan McNabb, the Trillick man politely declined at least one invitation from Mickey Harte to join the senior set-up.
When he did accept the call, he found his first full season a difficult one, being hauled off before half time in a 2012 All-Ireland qualifier defeat by Kerry in Killarney.
That was a seminal moment in his career.
He went away and bulked up and sacrificed everything in pursuit of becoming a top senior inter-county footballer, and hasn't looked back since.
Mattie Donnelly
While Tyrone earned rave reviews for scoring 5-18 in the semi-final replay win over Cavan, Donnelly was immediately worried about the 2-17 they conceded.
“Obviously we were happy with how we played offensively, because we thought we probably didn't perform as well as we could the first day (against Cavan) going forward," he said. “But we have to get that balance - because that would be punished by a team like Donegal.
“It's great for confidence when you run up a big score, but when you're in this business and you put all the time in that we do, the scores you leak defensively could cost you down the line. You'd have to be disappointed with that, and the scores we conceded are number one on the priority list for the final. We're just going to try and focus on the things we can control.”
Tyrone have been praised for their quick transition game, something that have Donegal fine-tuned to perfection since emerging as a serious footballing force at the start of this decade. It's not all about pace, and Donnelly warns they mustn't be tempted to bomb everyone forward and leave themselves vulnerable to Donegal's willing runners on the counter-attack.
“You have to play to your strengths and we have a lot of mobile players and skillful players, but it's getting that balance. We can't go all-out attack and forget about the back door. It's about getting that balance right, so there's lot of things to address.
“There is a good bit of rivalry built up through the age groups between the teams, so it's going to be a tasty one. They've been in a lot of Ulster finals compared to us, but you don't need any motivation going into an Ulster final no matter who you're playing.”
