Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GET READY FOR THE BALLYBOFEY BATTLE
Bonner sees fierce tactical struggle against Ulster rivals
Donegal v Tyrone Today, 3.30pm DONEGAL boss Declan Bonner has predicted a ‘fierce tactical battle’ between two Ulster giants when they tackle Tyrone for an All-Ireland semi-final place.
Whoever wins the final round Super 8s face-off in Ballybofey will finish second in Group 2 behind Dublin – securing a last-four game at Croke Park next Sunday.
It’s essentially an old style quarter-final knockout and history favours Tyrone who beat Monaghan in quarter-finals in 2013 and 2015 when the Farneymen were provincial champions – just like Donegal are now.
Tyrone will also be happy to hear just eight of the 17 Ulster winners since quarter-finals were introduced in 2001 went on to reach the semifinals.
Bonner reckons it will be a typical Ulster derby date between two teams who have shown glimpses of excellence so far in the Super 8s and who both badly want to progress. Bonner played up Tyrone and said: “It’s very difficult to pin Tyrone on one thing, to me they’re very solid collectively.
“They play as a group, they play as a unit, they defend in numbers, they attack in numbers.
“They seem to be getting the blend right. They’re the one team that’s probably – since their defeat to Monaghan and that hiccup against Meath – that’s started to build momentum going through the back door and they look to be in serious form. They played very well against Dublin without getting anything out of it. It’s going to be a cracking match, no doubt about it, a fierce tactical battle and we’re hoping that we can come up with the answers.”
Donegal have already had a successful Championship under ex-underage guru Bonner by winning the Ulster title for the first time since 2014.
They took four games to do that and if they beat Tyrone today will have overcome five of the seven Ulster teams in the same summer, underlining their northern dominance.
But Bonner has even bigger fish to fry and is concentrating on joining the game’s elite in the semi-finals having last reached that stage in 2014.
The former Donegal star said: “It’s a huge, huge carrot at the end of the day. A win over Tyrone and you’re into the last four.
“At the start of the season when we were training in Convoy on wet and dreary nights, you sometimes say to yourself, ‘Jaysus, what’s this all about?’. But as the weather picks up and the evenings get longer and you get into Championship conditions, you know then what it’s all about.
“And there’s no better place to be than getting ready for this match against Tyrone and the huge prize that’s on offer.”
Home advantage is a giant boost to Donegal who haven’t lost a League or Championship game in Ballybofey since 2010.
Bonner said: “It’s in our own back yard in MacCumhaill Park – what an occasion that is going to be.”