By Barry O’Donnell

GOALKEEPER Conor McAneney, last Saturday night’s penalty shootout hero in Tyrone’s victory over Donegal, admits that it was ‘ an unreal feeling’ to pull off the decisive save to seal his county’s passage into the Ulster Minor Final.

After a marathon evening at Celtic Park, the Glenelly man stepped up to the plate to push aside Shane Callaghan’s spotkick (Donegal’s fifth) which handed the Red Hands victory 4-3 on penalties, following an epic struggle which had ended in stalemate after extra-time.

The Omagh CBS student was denied another save earlier in the shootout when an eagle-eyed umpire noted that he had encroached off his goal-line before the kick was taken, with the Donegal player making the most of his reprieve second time around after his first effort was kept out by McAneney.

Conor stated: “For the first one I saved it was retaken because Iwas caught off the line. I wasn’t expecting it so that was disappointing. With a few other penalties I thought I got close enough to them but when you get the winning save from the last penalty it is an unreal feeling.”

McAneney modestly played down the significance of his impact in Tyrone’s victory, stating that penalty shootouts are essentially a free-hit for goalies, whatever the code, with all the pressure on the player stepping up to take them.

“ The only time I practice with penalties is when I am messing about on the pitch. That is about it. There is no pressure on me. It’s all on the players taking them. Even when the boys were all hyping me up before the shootout I was still calm and hadn’t really any nerves.”

Reflecting on the preceding 80 minutes Conor admitted that it had been a real roller-coaster affair with fortunes fluctuating wildly throughout.

“ We showed some heart to come back from three points down with ten minutes remaining. And then coming into extra time we moved five up which was a complete switcharound. They started chucking high balls in and they got a lucky break and a shot for their goal. They then score a ’45’ and before you know it the teams are level.

“But we needed a game like that because we have had it handy enough in our previous two games. You can have competitive 15 against 15 games in training but a real match situation against a well set up Donegal side at Celtic Park was completely different.”

While Tyrone edged out Derry in the recent Ulster League Final, McAneney is expecting another tight fought tussle against the Oak Leafers at Clones this weekend.

“ We had a tough game now against Derry in the League Final and I’m sure next Sunday will be no different. We beat them in the League Final but that means nothing now. I’m not surprised we are playing them again, they are a very good team.”

McAneney is one of two Glenelly players in the current Tyrone Minor squad and he acknowledged that it was a real fillip for the north Tyrone club to have twin representation on Ulster Finals Day at Clones.

“ It is great for the club to have myself and Lorcan (McCullagh) involved. We have had a few men feature in the past. I think the most recent was Rory Kennedy in the Under-17 team which won the All-Ireland a few years back (2018).”