Murphy has tackled technical problems
DONEGAL captain Michael Murphy claims he has got to grips with the tackling issues that saw him banned for a game this spring. Murphy made history when he became the first player to be suspended under the GAA’s new cumulative cautions system, when a double-yellow card against Cork was sandwiched by black-card infractions against Dublin and Tyrone, which meant he was sent off three times in six games. The third of those dismissals, against Tyrone, earned him a one-game ban for the final divisional League game against Mayo — effectively a dead rubber for Donegal, who had all but secured their place in the top flight — and came with the bonus of having his disciplinary slate wiped clean ahead of the summer. But Murphy admitted his discipline woes have made him focus harder on developing a more refined tackling technique as Donegal steel themselves for their Ulster title defence this Sunday against Tyrone. ‘Technique in the tackle is something I have been working on and, as a team, we have also been working on trying to perfect it,’ revealed Murphy. ‘We have a number of very good tacklers in the team and with games coming down now to fine margins and fine points, tackling is an area we have looked at and tried to become more effective,’ added the Donegal captain. With this Sunday’s game already being hyped as a grim battle of wills, Murphy believes the result could hinge on each side’s ability to turnover ball without giving up frees. ‘We have some very good exponents of the tackle on our team and we are trying to learn from them. ‘Any team would like to pride themselves on turnovers in the modern game. That’s, again, going to be part of our game and Tyrone’s game as well. ‘We have been working on just trying to decrease the number of fouls,’ added Murphy. Donegal go into the clash in Ballybofey as strong favourites, having hammered their Red Hand rivals by 10 points when the teams met in the League at the same venue back in March. But Murphy has dismissed the relevance of that result. ‘Everyone knows that wasn’t a true reflection of Tyrone. There were chances we had that wouldn’t normally go over and Tyrone missed chances they wouldn’t normally. It won’t have a bearing on Sunday. I would take it with a large pinch of salt,’ added Murphy.