ULSTER MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND TWO

Tyrone v Antrim

Saturday, Corrigan Park, 6pm

HOLDERS Tyrone will bid to secure their place in this season’s Ulster Minor Championship semi finals when they travel to Corrigan Park this Saturday evening to take on Antrim.

Having already lifted the Ulster league title as well as securing a first round championship win over a dogged Cavan side, the Red Hands will go in as favourites but their full back Ben Hughes is taking nothing for granted.

Ben was a member of last season’s squad that won Provincial honours as well as reaching an All Ireland final while he also had a year to remember with his club Donaghmore as they annexed a grade one minor double.

Tyrone comprehensively defeated Antrim in the Minor League on Ben’s home ground at Father Devlin Park but the defender admits that result will count for nothing once the ball is thrown in this weekend.

“There is a world of difference between the league and the championship and we know that we will be facing a totally different Antrim side this time around,” admits Hughes.

“The pace of the championship is at a different level and to be honest we reached the league final comfortably and then got a bit of a shock in the final when we were severely tested by Derry.

“That wasn’t a bad thing though as it got us ready for the last day against Cavan and they proved a tough nut to crack.

“On a few occasions during the game we looked as though we had established a match winning
lead but credit to them they came back and made us work hard for it.”

Antrim will no doubt provide just as big a test this weekend. They will have a number of key players back such as Conhuir Johnston who played a key role in St Mary’s Magherafelt winning the MacRory this year.

He will certainly take a bit of watching but they are by no means a one man team.

Tyrone have of course been forewarned of the Saffrons after
they had a superb win last time
out against Monaghan in Inniskeen.

“That result shows us the difference between league and championship,” added Ben.

“ Monaghan beat them well in the league but they then had a six point win away from home in the championship and that demonstrates what they are capable of.

“That victory will be a big boost for them and they will be looking forward to home advantage this time around.”

Last day out against Cavan the Red Hands were in fine form hitting all 3-17 of their tally from play but it was the concession of 1-15 at the other end of the field that Hughes and his fellow defenders will be concerned about.

“Our finishing was good but you can’t afford to be giving that amount of scores away at this level,” he said.

“Gerard (Donnelly) would probably rather win a game something like 12 to 8 rather than concede that much and it is something that we have been working on since then at training.

“The training has been superb with all of the management team playing their part.

“Gary (Hetherington) is from my own club and he takes a lot of the training and it is always very sharp.

“ It’s also great to have All Ireland winners like Conor Gormley and Ciaran Gourley involved.

“As a defender you can only learn from men like that who have done it all at the highest level and you try to take on board everything that they say.”

Ben has progressed from a member of the squad last season to an integral part of the starting fifteen this time around and he is enjoying the experience of pitting his wits against the leading forwards in Ulster.

“I have the advantage of the experience of last year and you try and pass some of that on to the boys who have come in this year,” he said.

“It’s great to have a number of fellow club players in the squad
but at the end of the day we are a close knit group of players and
we put out club loyalties to the one side when we are playing for Tyrone.

“It’s a great challenge to be coming up against superb
players from other counties and to be honest our defence is well
tested at training against our forwards as they are very sharp and
all of them can take scores and
that is ideal preparation for match day.”