McManus: We came to perform
Reigning champions though they are, this was an itch they badly needed to scratch given they had failed to better Tyrone in the provincial surrounds since 1988, four losses spanning the years between 2007 and 2013.
The last of those came at HQ last August when Sean Cavanagh’s notorious tackle on Conor McManus played a key role in allowing Mickey Harte’s side to post a narrow two-point win in an All-Ireland quarter-final.
“It’s been well documented over the last six or seven years that Tyrone have had the Indian sign over us, but we knew last year we didn’t acquit ourselves as well as we would have liked to in Croke Park,” said McManus.
“We didn’t come here as such to get a win but more so to perform and we’re happy we did that.”
Here again, there was some debate over decisions given or not, with Monaghan manager Malachy O’Rourke questioning the need for some black cards and pointing out that men would not have been sent to the line this time last year.
A moot point and one that should not overshadow the contribution of McManus, who played the full game despite being rated as a certain non-starter thanks to the ankle ligament injury he had been carrying the last month and more.
His name being called out at corner-forward generated the first hearty cheer of the afternoon and landed the first psychological blow for a Monaghan side seeking to empty their closet of those aforementioned Tyrone skeletons.
His performance backed that up.
Six points from frees will rest in the official archives now but his contribution from general play was as efficient as it always has been for his county. It was a leader’s display from the county captain.
“I didn’t expect to last the whole game myself. I didn’t know I was starting until this morning at 11.30. Malachy just gave me the nod and [said], ‘if you pull up after 30 minutes or 35 minutes so be it, just give whatever you can’. I was more than happy to be able to help the team whatever way I could.
“I tried a few kicks Saturday. We met up Saturday morning and I hadn’t done a whole pile coming into the game so it was just about feeling if you could contribute in any way and I was more than happy to do that, be it 20 or 25 minutes or, as it turned out, 70.”
It wasn’t always pretty. Monaghan kicked nine of the 17 errant attempts on goal in the first half and almost paid for pulling up too early as Tyrone came close to whittling away their five-point lead midway through the second period.
“We definitely wouldn’t have been happy with a lot of aspects of our play,” said McManus. “It was good enough to get over the line. Even when we were playing well we gave away the ball too much. Our use of possession could have been more clinical in front of goals.
“We have an awful lot to tidy up on that, but we’re delighted to have a couple of weeks to focus on that.”
Armagh await.
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