The weekend's replays have cleared the decks for an unusual Ulster football final, which has been confirmed for Clones. Although they have amassed six of the nine most recent Ulster championships between them – three each – this is the first meeting of the current generation of Donegal and Tyrone players in a final.
The counties meet for only the third time in the history of provincial title deciders. It hasn’t happened for 27 years when Tyrone won after a replay and prior to that the counties hadn’t met since 1972 when Donegal won the Anglo-Celt trophy for the first time.
Despite suggestions that given the intense interest in the match the authorities might play it in Croke Park, Donegal's Martin McElhinney, speaking at the GAA headquarters launch of Etihad Airways GAA World Games playing attire, sponsored by O'Néills House of Sport, disagrees.
“There was some talk about making it a double header in Croke Park but I wouldn’t want to bring it here because the close proximity of the crowd in Cavan – the fans were in on top of you – creates a real atmosphere whereas if you bring it here it might lose that. At the end of the day we’re all from Ulster and we want to play our big games in Ulster.
‘Great day’
“If you want to play in an Ulster final, you want to play it in Clones. It’s a great day out in Clones and it’s a serious pitch and we love nothing better than driving into Clones on a Sunday for an Ulster final.”
Coincidentally McElhinney was a minor 10 years ago on one of the previous occasions that the Ulster Council decided to switch their finals to Dublin. It happened in the three years from 2004 to 06 and Donegal contested two of those finals, losing both against Armagh, whereas Tyrone appeared in the replayed final of 2005, also getting beaten by Armagh.
"I think it had to go that time because the crowd couldn't hold it in Clones but I don't think it would be right to move them now," he says of his experience, winning the minor title against Antrim.
Donegal’s victory dethroned champions Monaghan and means that the county has now reached six successive Ulster finals, a feat unequalled since the 1960s when Down reached 12 in row from ’58 to ’69.
“Yeah. It’s a massive achievement, particularly for this group of players. Down were the last team to do it I think and that was a serious team. Getting to the six finals is massive but it will mean nothing if we don’t go out and get the result against Tyrone, which is going to be a difficult task.”
Although it promises to be difficult with Tyrone third in the All-Ireland betting lists behind Dublin and Kerry, Donegal have an excellent record against their rivals and during the last 20 years Tyrone have won just one of the six championship fixtures played.
Become blasè
“I wouldn’t have lost to Tyrone in the [senior] championship but I lost to them plenty of times underage – look the way they’re going they haven’t been beaten this year and rightly so, they’re favourites for Ulster. We beat Monaghan the last day but we’re going to have to up our performance 20 or 30 per cent to beat them.”
Tyrone captain Seán Cavanagh, whose first provincial medal was won 13 years ago, accepts that the county, which hasn’t won Ulster for six years, had become blasé about it.
“I can remember back in 2007, ’09, ’10, standing there after winning the Anglo-Celt Cup and saying: ‘Do you know what, it doesn’t make a difference.’ It was a step along the journey. It’s a long time since that happened and we did take it for granted and we know that it would be a big feather in our cap.”
