Ronan McNamee: Tyrone full-back 'won't be shocked if we get drawn against Derry'

Ronan McNamee more than held his own in his battle with Patrick McBrearty on Saturday night at MacCumhaill Park

Tyrone full-back Ronan McNamee will not be surprised if the Red Hands are drawn to face Ulster rivals Derry when the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final contests are confirmed on Monday morning.

After an impressive dismissal of Donegal on Saturday, Tyrone could be drawn against Derry, Kerry or Dublin.

"Take your pick," a laughing McNamee told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.

"Ulster teams tend to get drawn against each other so would I be shocked [if we get Derry]? No."

But after the Red Hands produced by far their best championship display of the summer in defeating Donegal 1-18 to 0-13 in Ballybofey, McNamee hinted that perhaps Derry, Kerry or the Dubs might just be quietly wanting to avoid Tyrone.

"Regardless you got to take it with a pinch of salt. Who'll be happy with Tyrone? I don't know."

In their most recent championship meeting in Ulster last year, the Oak Leafers comprehensively accounted for the Red Hands 1-18 to 0-10 and Tyrone's defence of their All-Ireland title soon ended with a qualifiers defeat by Armagh.

But a year on, the mood in the Tyrone squad seems decidedly more upbeat after their entry into what Mattie Donnelly described after the MacCumhaill Park win as the "white heat of knockout football".

McNamee admitted that the Red Hands regained an intensity in Ballybofey that had, for the most part, been absent against Westmeath a week earlier in Omagh, when their championship involvement was inches away from ending as John Heslin missed a last-gasp free which allowed Tyrone to hang on for a 0-18 to 0-18 draw.

"I personally know the strength Tyrone has with regards to footballers and how good the footballers are," added McNamee.

"On any given day, we're capable of beating anybody so we knew if we brought a really high intensity in our tackle and bring a high intensity to our work-rate we'll never be far away.

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"And I think we did that from the get-go. We chased hard, we hunted in packs and we were really, really good in certain areas of the field."

A goalkeeper error by Donegal custodian Shaun Patton gifted Ruairi Canavan a goal which was the first score of the game and Tyrone never really let up after that as they led 1-10 to 0-8 at half-time and continued to control the contest in the second half.

'There was a conscious feeling we had to lift it'

Virtually all the best performers in Ballybofey were wearing white jerseys with corner-back Michael McKernan bombing forward to notch two points and Conor Meyler back to his all-action best.

Brian Kennedy and Conn Kilpatrick conclusively won the midfield battle, with the latter chipping in with two points, while needless to say the two Canavans, Darragh and Ruairi, were outstanding in attack along with Darren McCurry and the evergreen Donnelly.

"Aye….there was [a conscious feeling that we had to lift it]," admitted McNamee, whose mother's clann hail from Glenties in Donegal.

"We got back on the horse last Monday at training and we trained on Wednesday and Thursday as well. There were loads of things to iron out.

"Last week, there were certain aspects of our play that were really, really good. Wee Darragh carried the fight himself a lot of the time [as he hit 0-10].

"It was the likes of Mattie today and Michael McKernan, who kicked two points in the first half which was brilliant.

"Michael has a nice wee step on him. Sometimes his shooting can be a different story [said a smiling McNamee] but today his shot was very, very good."

In addition to his defence duties, corner-back Michael McKernan strode forward to notch two points at Ballybofey

Patrick McBrearty's last-minute inclusion in the Donegal team saw him being marked by McNamee, with Padraig Hampsey delegated to shackle the in-form Oisin Gallen.

McBrearty and Gallen did manage to get a fair degree of ball but the Tyrone defensive duo still managed to edge those individual battles.

"We said if Paddy started that I was going to go on him. If he didn't, we would work out match-ups elsewhere.

"I saw during the national anthem that he was lined up so I was right [he's going to start]……

"Me and McBrearty would know each other inside out at this stage. He's probably sick looking at me."

'That was an old man with no more in the tank'

While Tyrone had struggled in their previous couple of games, Donnelly has been excellent all spring and summer and he continued that as he notched 0-3, including a champagne score with the outside of his boot in the closing seconds.

"That was just an old man with no more in the tank and just to get rid of it to be honest," laughed the Trillick man about his concluding point.

"I wouldn't usually condone boys taking on that shot but I just swung the leg at it at that stage of the game. I thought it was better [the ball] going dead."

Donnelly agreed that there "is probably something in" the assertion that knockout football suits this Tyrone team better than cagey round-robin action. After all, there were no round-robin games in 2021!

"You're just more mentally tuned in. It was on the line. It was put to both teams that you can kick on today or it ends.

"We were keen that wasn't going to be the case and thankfully that came to the surface.

Mattie Donnelly hit 0-3 in another impressive display for the Red Hands

"We didn't get to Croke Park last year so we were keen we didn't go two years without gracing Croke Park."

As for who he would prefer to lock horns with next weekend, Donnelly wasn't saying.

"That's the cream of the crop and arguably the four best teams in the country and then obviously whoever comes out of this weekend's games has good momentum as well.

"You're looking at the best in the business next weekend regardless who you get but if you've aspirations of pushing ahead and winning the thing, you need to take those teams.

"We've traditionally been a good momentum team. There are going to be loads of twists and turns in this competition and whoever can get hot at the right time and stays healthy is going to be hard to deal with."

That sounded like code for 'don't discount the Red Hands'.