Stephen O’Neill Looks Ahead To Monaghan Game

Tuesday 31.05.2011

Club

Tyrone may have won three All Ireland titles in recent times but Stephen O’Neill states that the Ulster championship is still as important to them as ever as they bid to take the first step towards becoming the first side from the county to win the Anglo Celt Cup three years in a row.

“People talk about the Provincial championship not being as important as it used to be but I don’t think that’s the case for any team. Every team goes out in the first round of the championship looking to win and everybody wants to reach your Provincial final and I think that it’s a nice thing to have at the end of the day, your Provincial medal, if you are lucky enough to have one.

Its all about progress, you want to be doing well and you want to be getting to the latter stages of the championship. We are just taking it one game at a time though and that’s as far as we are looking ahead.

Whenever you are playing division two football and not being as consistent as you would like to be you have to do that and that’s what we are doing at the minute. We are well aware of the tough challenge that Monaghan will present on Sunday.

They will have a score to settle but they will hardly look on it as revenge and I’m sure over the past couple of months they have been looking forward to this game too so it will just be a tough game and you expect nothing less from neighbours. They are a very organised team and a team that has been going well and working hard and making progress over this past couple of months but hopefully we will be well enough prepared for them.”