Donegal 'not at it' as Tyrone hand McGuinness first Ballybofey loss
Donegal selector Neil McGee admitted the Ulster champions "weren't at it from the start" as they fell to a 2-17 to 0-20 defeat by Tyrone in Saturday's All-Ireland round-robin opener in Ballybofey. In a game that ebbed and flowed, Donegal led with seven minutes remaining, but Tyrone rallied late, hitting the last five scores - including Peter Harte's two-pointer - to hand Jim McGuinness a first defeat at Ballybofey in league or championship football. Seanie O'Donnell scored both of Tyrone's goals while Darren McCurry chipped in with seven points."We took the ball into contact too many times, turned the ball over too many times, we weren't at it from the start and Tyrone probably deserved it," McGee told GAA+. "It's a long season. You're going to the well every week and trying to get up there every day, we just didn't get to the pitch of it today and Tyrone were at it. "At 66 minutes, we were two points up, we had possession and give it away, Tyrone went up and I don't think we touched the ball again after that."We had the game in our hands, give it away and they got three points. Slim margins but we only have ourselves to blame."In contrast, Tyrone boss Malachy O'Rourke hailed the character his side showed after losing experienced duo Brian Kennedy and Padraig Hampsey to injury. "We got a good start but at half-time we lost two leaders (Brian Kennedy and Padraig Hampsey) and it could have been a night where we said, 'we've put in a good show but it wasn't going to be our night'," O'Rourke, the only manager to have beaten McGuinness in the Ulster Championship, told GAA+."The way Donegal came back and we always knew they would as they are a quality team. They went ahead and again, we could have folded up our tents, but the composure the boys showed and willingness to fight for each other, get back ahead and hold it was really pleasing."It only gets us two points, but it's a good start to the group and we just have to settle down and look towards next week."Next week in Group One, Tyrone host Mayo in a rerun of the 2021 All-Ireland final while Donegal will attempt to bounce back away to Cavan.
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