Tyrone will be gunning for Donegal - Daire Ó Baoill

Daire Ó Baoill says wounded animal Tyrone will view victory over Donegal as the perfect way to silence their doubters when the Ulster rivals collide in Omagh on Sunday. 

Paddy Carr got his regime off to a blinder last time out with a superb NFL victory over Kerry in Ballybofey. The Red Hands, however, were soundly beaten on the road in Roscommon.

Gaoth Dobhair clubman Ó Baoill - who lobbed over two brilliant points in that 0-13 to 1-9 victory over the Kingdom - says Donegal are under no illusions as they get ready to go to Healy Park.    

“It’s encouraging,” said Ó Baoill on their opening win.  “And it lifts that wee bit of pressure now we’ve put early points on the board.  But we know that Tyrone, in Omagh, will be extra motivated. They are coming in off the back of a defeat in Roscommon. 

“We’ll have to lift it to another level in Healy Park, without a doubt”. 

A week is a long time in football and it’s easy to forget now just how much pessimism lingered in the air prior to Donegal’s blinding efforts in MacCumhaill Park. Ó Baoill agrees that minus so many regulars, those that came in from the fringes made real statements of intent. 

“It was a brilliant way to start the league. There might have been a wee bit of pressure on us coming into the game. Hosting the All-Ireland champions, we knew we’d a real battle ahead of us. 

“But once we settled, we got into a nice rhythm. And near the end, when we needed that little bit of experience and leadership - there really is no one better than Patrick McBrearty in those kind of situations”.

Having initially trailed by 1-6 to 0-3, matters looked ominous for the hosts. But they recalibrated and managed to rattle off the last three overs of the first-half. They tagged a further four on the trot, on to that following the restart to go in front. So what exactly was said by the new management team at half-time?   

“Stop giving the ball away - it was as simple as that! When the weather is like that, you want to keep it out of contact and move it fast. When we broke it all down, there wasn’t really all that much concern. 

“We realised their scores were coming from mistakes we were making and giving the ball away. We kinda got to grips with that a little better, particularly the first ten to 15 minutes of the second-half”.