'We didn't play for whatever reason' - Jim McGuinness on first Ballybofey defeat
WHAT HAVE THE following got in common; Padraic Joyce, John Cleary, Eamonn Fitzmaurice, James Horan and Pat Gilroy got in common?
They are all managers that have beaten Jim McGuinness' Donegal in championship football.
But Malachy O'Rourke has now faced McGuinness three times; the Ulster finals of 2013 and 2014 and the first round of Group 1 in the All-Ireland round robin, and he shades the head to head, 2-1.
Tyrone's win here had much to recommend it. It was an evening for digging in and dogging it out. And when Tyrone's Fear Iáidir in Padraig Hamspey and Brian Kennedy had to be withdrawn through injury it looked a cause beyond them.
Especially because after all the good work had been done to build a bit of a lead in the third quarter, it was wiped away.
It began with a foul by Darragh Canavan on Ryan McHugh – the kind of needless challenge that can sometimes be committed by a play who knows he has been seriously underpar and spilled too much ball. That brought a two-point free from Michael Murphy who was the subject of a constant love-bomb from the home crowd.
Soon after, Michael Langan landed a two pointer, jinking inside his man and nailing the chance. Then he repeated the same dance to level the game on 58 minutes.
All the same, Donegal had rattled up seven wides in the second half. But they brought on their key decision-makers in Patrick McBrearty and Peader Mogan off the bench. Malachy O'Rourke went a different direction, taking off Mattie Donnelly and Rory Brennan.
When McBrearty hoofed a shot over to put Donegal two in front with seven minutes left, it looked inevitable.
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Donegal manager Jim McGuinness. John McVitty / INPHO John McVitty / INPHO / INPHO
But then Tyrone got on a roll, through the genius of Darren McCurry. Gavin Mulreany looked for Michael Murphy from every kickout and Peter Teague dominated him. Peter Harte landed a two-pointer and it all changed.
16 games, league and championship, boy and man, Jim McGuinness has managed Donegal in Ballybofey. And they were never beaten in any of them.
Until now.
'Very, very disappointed. Didn't turn up at all, we didn't play, that's just the bottom line, we didn't play for whatever reason,' said McGuinness afterwards.
'Couldn't get our hands on the ball and when we did get our hands on the ball we didn't take care of the ball, that's it in a nutshell. And even at that we were two points up with seven minutes to go and we gave the ball away and we never got the ball back again.
'…So very, very disappointed, very disappointed for everybody in MacCumhaill Park tonight, all them people that have come. That's not us, it's not even remotely close to us and everything was off so it'll be a difficult review I would imagine.'
This defeat makes it that three of the four provincial winners were beaten in the opening round of the round robins. Surely something to put alarm into the minds of managers in future?
In the meantime, Tyrone were sitting in, not so much long grass, but head-high rushes, behind barbed wire.
There is a school of thought, advanced regularly by, ohhh, me, that Tyrone need to be written off in order to have a chance.
The month off for them, and the sense that they didn't truly have a cut at Armagh in the Ulster semi-final, was perhaps a blessing for them.
'We had a bit of a gap from the last game and we were hoping to brush up on a few things. We were hoping to have fellas back fit and just in better form,' explained Malachy O'Rourke.
Tyrone manager Malachy O'Rourke. John McVitty / INPHO John McVitty / INPHO / INPHO
'Having said that, we weren't sure exactly where we were because we felt against Armagh. We didn't play. Armagh were the better team, deserved to win.
'We could have stolen something at the end, but we knew that our level of performance had to go up an extreme, I suppose, tonight if we were going to compete with Donegal.'
The record in Ballybofey might have been mentioned. Or might not. Either way, they couldn't not have been aware of it.
'Donegal is a great team. They're Ulster champions, you know, they're one of the best teams in the country,' O'Rourke deflected.
'We were going to have to play really well, have to show an awful lot of grit and an awful lot of character and just fight for every ball and fight for each other if we want to get anything out of it.
'And I'm just pleased to see that the boys did that, you know, every one of them. We just held our composure, held our nerve, worked really hard for each other and got some quality scores and just glad we did.'
It leaves group 1 of the All Ireland round robin looking especially tasty. Cavan may not be many people's idea of All Ireland challengers but they routinely give Donegal a good wrassle for their money.
Tyrone have Mayo coming to Omagh next weekend. While the first concern will rightly be on Mayo manager Kevin McStay's health, there will still be a game to be played there too.
Either way, Donegal will leave this game behind them with some regrets.
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They continue to be loved by their people. Even when the game was there for the winning for Tyrone, it was the name of 'Donegal' that was being chanted across the terraces, with barely a whimper in support of Tyrone.
With an All-Ireland U20 final on Wednesday night against Louth, and Mayo coming to Omagh on Saturday evening, it is a big week ahead for Tyrone football.
It would be nice for them to see more supporters, surely.
'Yeah, there's no doubt, look it, you know, I suppose we were outnumbered here again tonight,' said O'Rourke.
'But I suppose we have to do our job on the field and make sure that that we give the supporters something to come out and cheer, and I think the way the boys have played themselves tonight and the way they worked and the character showed, I think that a lot of people will be glad to get behind that team.'
Let's see.
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