A two-point win over rivals Armagh might have put Tyrone in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stages of the All-Ireland series, but they are by no means the finished article according to Mattie Donnelly.
The Trillick ace was named Man-of-the-Match as the Red Hands held off a comeback from Kieran McGeeney’s side in round two with the Orchard County losing Rian O’Neill to a straight red card before half-time.
Tyrone were indebted to Niall Morgan for making two crucial early saves to deny Conor Turbitt and Jason Duffy while Michael McKernan saved Morgan’s skin late on following a stumble which almost gifted Oisin Conaty an equalising goal.
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Donnelly felt Tyrone ought to have had the game out of sight before Armagh’s late rally having led by six points in the second half.
"They (Armagh)are a threatening team - they’ve multiple threats and a variety of threats all over and, offensively, very dangerous,” said Donnelly.
“I thought we looked vulnerable, too vulnerable, especially when they went long with their kick-outs. They were probably the bounce of a ball or a few inches away from really exposing that.
“We just scraped through there. We looked dangerous when we went up the other end.
“When you leave it a score-game against a team like Armagh, you’re always rolling the dice that you could get a sucker-punch like we did against Monaghan.
“It is something for us to review, but thankfully, we’re reviewing it from a winning perspective.
“How we put ourselves in that position is probably the biggest issue.
“We were very, very desperate to win. It was our fifth Championship game in a row, we'd had no wins in the previous four, so getting a win was the most important thing, and thankfully we got it.
“Winning is the best medicine in the world! It is certainly just good to get back in that winning mindset.
He added: “It is a good place to be when you are reviewing things with things to work on with the win. We are well aware we have to make those refinements. If we can make them and keep building momentum, we’ll be a dangerous outfit too.”
If Tyrone avoid losing to Westmeath in Kingspan Breffni on Sunday, they’ll be in the preliminary quarter-finals at least.
A win is likely to see them finishing second and secure a home game in the final 12 ahead of Monday’s draw while the Red Hands can, mathematically, finish top of Group Two and progress straight through to the quarter-finals.
“It is relatively in our own hands now and we can give ourselves a favourable position,” said Donnelly.
“Probably top is out of the equation now, but you never know? There’ll be a lot of twists and turns yet in this competition.”
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