Tyrone face another derby with trip to Donegal

By Alan Rodgers

A NARROW defeat on the first weekend of action mean that Tyrone will be hoping to make amends when they make the trip to face Donegal in a game that is already being seen as crucial for both counties in this Division Two campaign.

Action in the higher ranks was always going to be tough for the two counties who have been very keen rivals in recent years. While Tyrone lost out to Derry in round one, Donegal came agonisingly close before slipping to Meath by just one point.

Now the two are getting ready for the latest installment of a series of meetings which have inevitably been very competitive in the past decade. But it’s perhaps fair to say that this one at Letterkenny on Sunday is especially significant.

With both still set to face some of the top teams in the Division during the coming weeks, a victory this weekend is vital.

Tyrone’s Ronan Molloy made his debut in the defeat to Derry and believes that the prospect of getting more competitive action for both himself and the team is certain to be beneficial.

“Every game is an important one when there’s two points at stake. We’ve to go to Letterkenny, we’ll put in another shift and hopefully we can come out on the right side of the result,” he said.

“Our preparations for the start of the league haven’t been great because of the snow and games being called off. There were only two challenge matches, and a lot of boys only got their first 70 minutes last Saturday night against Derry.

“But we’re going to have to keep building. It’s about getting minutes in the legs. We’ll go onto the next game and not get too bothered about the Derry match. There’s a lot of young players in the side and you’re not going to be perfect so early on.”

Tyrone battled well in the clash against Derry on Saturday night in the first round. Although they trailed throughout, there were chances towards the finish which could have overturned the Derry lead with just a little more luck.

Nevertheless, the stage is set for the trip to Donegal and a game that will undoubtedly be targeted by both counties as an important indication of their progress. Needless to say that a victory would be huge in the tussle for survival later in the campaign.

For Tyrone manager, Stephen McGarry, and the players, the game against Derry is important in the learning process.

There were debuts for Ronan Molloy, Conall Molloy, Cian McGuigan, Ciaran Magill and Aidan Woods. All enjoyed some good moments to boost their confidence.

“This is a young team that building. We learned a lot from the loss to Derry and it’s a big step up from the u-20 grade,” added Molloy.

“The Derry game on Saturday night was a tough challenge because they’re probably the favourites to win the Christy Ring Cup. We were happy enough with the performance, it was a hard battle and we maybe could have nipped them at the end.

“We’ll take out of that game what we can and there’s a tough league ahead.

“It’s a great standard of hurling for us to be playing at and I think all the players are very excited.

“There’s a good atmosphere at training as well. There are some good teams to be playing, big players and skilful teams. A lot of the young players are learning together, there’s not much expected of us and anything that we add, as Stephen says, is a boost.

“It was nice for the three of us brothers (Conall and Branán) to were playing.”

Hopes will be high that the three of them can make their mark as the Division Two campaign continues.