Neil McGee wasn’t in much of a mood to reflect on a record-breaking afternoon for the Gaoth Dobhair full-back.
By Chris McNulty at Sean MacCumhaill Park
McGee bore the look of a man who’d just bitten through glass when he emerged from the Donegal dressing room, after a 2-17 to 1-13 defeat to Tyrone that brought the curtain down on the summer.
Neil McGee releases possession under the nose of Tyrone’s Conall McCann during Sunday’s game. Photo Evan Logan
McGee was restored to the Donegal team to face the Old Enemy. It was his 66th Championship game in Donegal’s colours – a new record as he passed out the 65 Championship outings of Christy Toye and Karl Lacey.
Whether or not he’ll come back and get the four appearances to overtake Colm McFadden (173) at the top of Donegal’s overall caps list remains to be seen.
“I had a few injuries, but I had a good run of it once I came back,” McGee said.
“We’ll sit back now, analyse it and see where we’re at. It’s a long time now to January. I’ll have a chat with Declan to see.”
Donegal trailed for much of the first half, but got a real shot in the arm when Michael Murphy blasted in a goal on the stroke of half-time.
At that stage, it looked like it could be Donegal’s day.
McGee said: “Our game plan was to keep it fairly tight early and keep the goals out. We always felt we had the boys there to get enough scores.
“Once they got ahead, we were chasing and they were forcing a lot of turnovers. That was a big thing.”
Donegal were four up (1-11 to 0-10) with almost 20 minutes played in the second half, but Tyrone never go away.
Mickey Harte’s men got a stirring 2-5 off their bench for a famous win that sank Donegal’s hearts and minds.
McGee said: “We were in a good position, but they kept tagging on points. I thought we were in a good enough position at four up. we went from four up to three down in the space of a few minutes.
“The Tyrone bench had a big impact too. “They got 2-5 from the bench – that says it all. That was the difference.”
