'We can’t rest': Tyrone's Brian Óg McGuckin ready for tough battle with Cork in All-Ireland MFC final

NO REST: Tyrone's Brian Óg McGuckin with Ryan Crawford of Kildare. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon.

Centre forward Brian Óg McGuckin’s performance graph is heading in the right direction ahead of Tyrone’s All-Ireland MFC final clash with Cork.

The Eglish lad has blossomed in the last two games, leading the line with poise and authority, and contributing heavily on the scoreboard.

“Last year I had a few bad injuries, and probably lost a lot of confidence in myself,” he said.

“I knew I had the ability to come on, but I feel this year I’m playing with a lot of freedom, going past my man more and feeling more confident in myself.”

A 0-4 haul in the hard-fought semi-final win over Kildare saw him back up an equally stylish display against Galway, when he scored one of the defending champions’ three goals.

“I had a dodgy enough start, dropping balls, fumbling balls, but I feel like I really came into the game more as the game went on, after about the 20th minute.”

McGuckin’s two-pointer late in the first half galvanised a Red Hand side that was struggling to get to grips with a strong-running Lilywhite side at Kingspan Breffni, sending them in at the break with a slender lead.

“I felt that we had a strong enough breeze, and I felt we were too passive at that stage, and that I should have gone for it and thankfully it went over the bar.”

One of three Eglish players in the team, the flame-haired attacker’s interplays with club-mates, his cousin Matthew J Daly and Matthew F Daly (no relation to his namesake) have woven themselves into the game plan.

“We know each other’s games, we have a lot of telepathy between us, playing one-twos, getting in behind.

"And the other forwards, Logan O’Connor, Conan Canavan, Vincent Gormley, Ruairi O’Neill, we all have that telepathy between us, we all know where we’re going to move, especially the Eglish boys, we understand each other’s game, we know when to pass and when to shoot.”

A second All-Ireland Minor medal for McGuckin, also a member of last year’s squad, would be a dream, but one more big performance will be needed against a Cork team that handed out a heavy beating to Derry in the semi-final.

“It’s a dream, but we can’t rest, we have to keep pushing on in training.” Some members of last year’s triumphant side have already graduated to the U20s, chasing further success as a remarkable era of achievement at under-age level continues.

“We have been looking up to the likes of Peter Colton, Shea McDermott, James Mulgrew, Conor Devlin, Dara Devlin, and they have really been pushing us on for the next year. The county is pushing on.”

Team captain Ciaran McCrystal will miss Sunday’s final, ruled out by a season-ending Achilles injury, but he will be in the thick of it all at St Conleth’s Park as the team’s spiritual leader.

“Ciaran was one of the best footballers in the team last year, he’s obviously very disappointed not to get on the pitch for the final this year, but we’ll hopefully win this game for him.”