Ulster SFC: ‘If we play like that next week we may as well not bother showing up’ says Tyrone’s Mattie Donnelly

Tyrone will play Donegal in Celtic Park next Sunday, with Down facing Armagh in the first Ulster semi-final on Saturday night.

Taking on Donegal, who stormed past Derry in impressive fashion 24 hours earlier, already looked a daunting task for either Cavan or Tyrone given the winner would have just seven days to prepare.

Yet Tyrone made life even harder for themselves by squandering an eight-point lead in the final quarter of normal time following a momentum-changing black card for Padraig Hampsey.

That led to a further 20 minutes of extra time for already tired and sore bodies.

“I know, I know…. it’s advantage Donegal in that regard,” said Donnelly.

“Obviously they will be feeling good about themselves after last night, and with having an extra 24 hours recovery, so advantage them.

“Look, we train hard enough to deal with things like that so we’ll not complain but we have to turn things around and get recovered pretty quickly.”