Donnelly wary of Longford threat

TYRONE assistant manager Tony Donnelly doesn’t need any reminding of the perils that lurk in the shadows at Pearse Park.

Two years ago, Kerry came close to being dumped out of the All-Ireland race at the compact Midlands venue and last season Longford scalped Mayo.

Now Glenn Ryan’s men have their sights set on what would be an even greater triumph, should they manage to get the better of the Red Hands on Saturday evening.

Tyrone will begin the task of rebuilding their season and renewing their All-Ireland challenge following a painful Ulster semi-final defeat to Donegal. But Longford have their own ambitions for an extended summer of action.

“A number of teams have been beaten or run very close by Longford,” said Donnelly.

“People have talked about it as being a banana skin. But I wouldn’t term it as a banana skin, it’s a real tough challenge for us and we’re going to have to be at our best to get a result there.’’

Longford style in dismissing Cavan’s challenge in the qualifiers, after losing narrowly to Laois in the Leinster championship, impressed Donnelly.

“We’re aware of the fact that they won Division 4 and that they had a massive result against Cavan. We will have to find out what we can about them and respond to the defeat against Donegal.

“We have to get ourselves ready for the challenge, and it will be a massive one, that Longford will present.”

A positive result at Pearse Park this weekend could propel Tyrone into another spectacular run to All-Ireland glory. And their assistant manager is aware of the momentum that can be built along the qualifier route, on which the Red Hands travelled to two of their three Sam Maguire Cup triumphs.

“I think 2005 was a bit different in that we lost the provincial final replay and then we have only one qualifying round, against Monaghan, before we got back on track into the quarter-finals.

“It was a different journey in ‘08, when we were dumped out in the first round by Down and off we went into the unknown after that. So we have that experience and it should stand us in good stead.

“But our memories of that time are that it is a difficult route. Having said that, it’s a different sort of route, and with that difference comes all sorts of new things.”

However, Donnelly is at pains to deliver regular reminders that Tyrone will take nothing for granted as they approach what they perceive as a major challenge.

“We can’t look past Longford at this stage, we want to get things right for the game, work towards getting the right result there, and then we’ll just take it as it comes after that.”

While the qualifiers have been good to Tyrone in the past, mainstream championship football remains the preferred choice. The fact that their bid for a third successive Ulster title was shot down by Donegal is a source of disappointment which they will attempt to use as a motivating tool.

“I wouldn’t be our preferred way to go and particularly when you consider just how seriously we take the provincial championship, having been going for three-in-a-row.

“The path isn’t set out for you. Week by week, you go at it, and there’s a certain amount of freshness connected with that too.”