Brian McGuigan Column – How it felt to be back

Tyrone's Brian McGuigan takes on Donegal's Paddy McBrearty

I wouldn’t say that I was nervous as I stood on the sideline at Clones last Saturday waiting to come on, just keen to get going. I wanted to get in there and get my first touch. I knew there wasn’t long left, we were chasing the game and we needed to get scores.

I did feel a bit of extra pressure, because if I’d gone on and done nothing then people would have been saying ‘What was he going on for, sure he’s only back.’ Thankfully, I got a few touches and finished happy enough with my own contribution.

To be honest, in my own head it was a case of if I got on, I got on. There certainly wasn’t any expectation. My own plan would be to get through to an Ulster final, get three more solid weeks of training behind me, and then maybe be in a position to feature a bit.

To get the ten minutes I did get, I was happy enough. As I think showed on Sunday, my fitness levels wouldn’t be anywhere near those of the rest of the Tyrone team. The two teams showed last Saturday that they have unreal fitness levels.

To be able to keep going at that level and at that intensity for 70 something minutes was a massive credit to them. They never faded, it was 100 percent the whole time. Even when I came on, the pace of the game was so high.

The full story is in the current issue of Gaelic Life, published on Thursday July 5. Buy your copy now in your local newsagent, or you can purchase the online version – for only 90p – by clicking here