CAV IS STUMPED
Tyrone ace says loss to Donegal leaves his side with big problem
SEÁN Cavanagh shook his head as he gathered to leave MacCumhaill Park last Saturday evening, clutching to the hope that they only thing in tatters was Tyrone’s unbeaten start to the season.
‘I can’t remember the last time we got a result out of this place,’ he muttered, as the wind and rain battered the door of the clubhouse.
It is more than 12 years ago, February 6, 2005 to be precise, and ever since Ballybofey has had the look and feel of a graveyard every time they have come calling.
It is too early to say exactly what was buried there last Saturday night as they slumped to a double scores trimming to their Donegal hosts, 0-12 to 0-6 , but listening to Cavanagh (below) it felt like they had left more than just two points behind them.
‘It is head-scratching stuff because we train very hard every night and to come to place like this and let ourselves down.
‘We had not lost in the League in a long time and to come to a place like this and not give a good account of ourselves is very demoralising and disappointing and we have to address it,’ he insisted.
The immediate price to be paid for this defeat for Tyrone is that their short-term ambition of reaching this year’s Allianz League final is in jeopardy.
They had looked sure things for a place in next month’s decider, most likely with Dublin, against whom they had impressed when drawing in Croke Park.
Their graph appeared to be on the rise. Their defeat to Mayo in last year’s All-Ireland quarterfinal was the only one in their last 16 League and Championship games, while for the first time since 2010 they had assumed the role of Ulster’s standard bearers.
They had not lost a League game for two years, although the location and the opponents for that reversal would be eerily and familiarly depressing, losing by 1-13 to 0-6 to Donegal in Ballybofey.
While Tyrone will get to terms with the disappointment of not reaching a League final — the Ulster championship gifts its own focus — losing to Donegal may prove to be a far bigger psychological hump to get over.
Despite Saturday’s result the market has remained unmoved — Tyrone are 6/4 favourites to retain the Anglo Celt Cup, with Donegal at 3/1.
That seems quite the value not least given how hard Donegal have pressed on Tyrone’s neck this decade — this was the latter’s ninth defeat in 11 games in League and Championship to their neighbours.
‘There is that parochial element to this fixture which Donegal seem to thrive on and you have to put their hands up and say they were much better than us on the night. ‘It is going to give us something to think about because we thought we were probably further on than what we showed so we will have to go to the well again,’ conceded Kavanagh.
But there is more at play here than just the notion that Donegal’s blood is stirred more by the rivalry. The bottom line is that they have been consistently better than Tyrone in every aspect.
This was Tyrone’s fourth League game in five where they failed to post a double digit score against their neighbours, and the third time that they have been held to a paltry 0-6 in that sequence.
That is in keeping with a Championship record where they have averaged barely over 10 points a game in five meetings this decade.
For all the talk of Tyrone’s rise and Donegal’s transition, last Saturday night followed the exact same pattern.
Worse than that, Donegal hit double Tyrone’s tally in the absence of their principle strike forward, the soon to return Paddy McBrearty.
In contrast, there are no rabbits personnel-wise to be pulled from Mickey Harte’s hat — the continued deployment of Mattie Donnelly alongside Cavanagh in the Tyrone attack is a measure of their growing desperation to find some cutting edge to a blunt attack.
While much has been made of Tyrone’s conveyor belt of talent, Donegal have revealed that their depth has been well hidden. Ciaran Thompson, Eoin McHugh, Eoghan Ban Gallagher, Cian Mulligan, Michael Langan, Michael Carroll and Jason McGee have all helped to bury the notion that Donegal will be sidetracked by transition.
And the edge that they have gained on Tyrone is now likely to extend beyond reaching the League final.
‘Before this the aim was a place in the League final, but obviously Donegal are in the driving seat for that now,’ said Cavanagh.
‘They have to be considered now as a top five team, especially after the Dubs came to Ballybofey and struggled for long periods as well.
‘They were much better than us on the night so if you are going on current form you would have to put them ahead of ourselves but hopefully we will have a bit of time to try and fix it,’ said Cavanagh.