THE Tyrone u-17s will finally get their chance to fulfil their Ulster Championship quarter-final when they take on Donegal this Sunday, and coach Conall Lavery says his overriding feeling is one of relief for the players.

Scheduled to get underway in May, the Ulster Minor Championship was subsequently shelved as a result of the GAA’s blanket ban on matches, which spanned a four-month period between March and July.

The action recommenced as the pandemic came under control, but when cases started to rise again, the Irish Government decided to introduce a Stage Five lockdown just days before Tyrone’s rescheduled clash with Donegal was set to go ahead back in October.

The GAA responded almost immediately by postponing all underage matches indefinitely, so Lavery is relieved that this promising young Tyrone team will finally get their chance to strut their stuff on the big stage.

“I was very disappointed for the lads when the game was called off a few months ago. The management team has been around for a couple of years and had got to experience being part of the championship matches, so we just wanted the lads to get their opportunity to play at that level.

“At that stage I was starting to think it mightn’t happen. It’s good for them to get the opportunity to take on Donegal no matter what way it goes.”

Preparing for a championship match with Christmas around the corner certainly isn’t the norm, and they’ll be out again early in the new year if they get the better of Donegal at Ballybofey (semi-finals are to be played on January 2/3 with the final is scheduled for the following weekend).

Another way of looking at it, according to Lavery, is that it’s a similar schedule to the Ulster Minor Club Tournament at St Paul’s, which traditionally takes place over the Christmas period.

The Moortown clubman said: “What we have now is a bit like the St Paul’s tournament. It’s something that’s a bit different, but that can be a good thing.

“It’s certainly unlike anything I’ve ever been involved in. Playing championship football in December is strange, and we can’t look past Donegal, but I’m sure whoever progresses won’t be complaining about the schedule.”

The Tyrone u-17s, who are managed by Collie Holmes and captained by Trillick’s Seanie O’Donnell, claimed a one-point victory over Donegal in the Ulster Minor League back in March, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge and that’s not to mention the very different challenge of playing winter football.

“We played them earlier in the year. They’ve a good amount of talented players and reached last year’s Buncrana Cup final (the u-16 tournament)..

“We played them in Letterkenny before everything was wound up and we were pleased with the performance. Donegal are strong at all levels so they’ll be difficult to beat, and Ballybofey is a hard place to go to. December football will be an entirely different animal to what we were faced with back in March. It’ll be a completely different thing. Neither team can draw upon any form going into the match so that adds to the intrigue.”

Ulster Minor Championship quarter-final
Donegal v Tyrone

Sunday, Ballybofey, 1pm

By Niall Gartland