BY BARRY O'DONNELL

EVEN legendary jockey Lester Piggott couldn't time his decisive dash for the finishing line better than the Tyrone Minors right now.

For the second successive match they found themselves neck and neck with their opponents entering the last furlong but yet again they were able to forge ahead when it mattered and to continue the horseracing analogy, prove their undoubted pedigree.

Last Sunday's hard-fought 1-11 to 1-9 Ulster semi-final triumph over Cavan kept the Red Hands on course for the county's 22nd provincial crown at this grade, and while there were plenty of flaws in the performance to iron out ahead of the July 20th decider, manager Raymond Munroe cannot question his young troops character or desire.

The outcome was all the more admirable given that Tyrone ended the match with just thirteen players, following the second half dismissal of Gavin Teague and Kyle Coney. Nevertheless they may feel that their passage to the decider should have been secured somewhat more smoothly having led just after half-time 1-7 to 0-3.

However the red card meted out to full-back Teague, allied to the introduction of effective Breffni targetman Packie Leddy, produced an alarming turnaround in fortunes, with Cavan actually hitting the front with a goal four minutes from time.

With elimination starring them in the face Tyrone battened down the hatches and some ice-cool clinical finishing at the other end dashed the Breffni boys hopes of a stunning upset.

One of those who contributed fully to this dramatic Red Hand triumph was Trillick's Matthew Donnelly. The seventeen-year old underlined his versatility when dropping back into the fullback berth after Teague's sending-off, having started initially at centre-half forward. He acknowledged that he had his hands full trying to stymie the influence of the powerhouse Leddy during that frenetic closing quarter.

" He was a big lad and caused us a few problems when he came on. It was a different task to the one I am used to further up the pitch. But the main thing is that we won and showed our character again to come through.

" I played full-back in the MacRory Cup with St Michael's (Enniskillen) for a few games. There's a lot more responsibility in there because you are the last line of defence, and there's more pressure on you, but as long as you are in the starting fifteen you're happy enough to do a job anywhere."

Tyrone have now been pushed to the pins of their collar in back-to-back outings by both Down and Cavan yet are still clinging onto their Ulster title. Mattie thinks that speaks volumes for the squad's battling qualities.

" We've had a few tough games recently, even going back to the two matches with Meath in the Ulster League. It's been put up to us now in three or four games in a row, they have all gone right down to the wire, but we have been able to respond and all the boys have shown that we want to go places this year. We feel we have what it takes to be successful."

The Tyrone back unit had looked alarmingly porous in the first half of the Down match, only the heroics of keeper Tim Harney, keeping the Mourne side at bay. Last Sunday however the Cavan attack was held relatively comfortably in check, despite the best efforts of Leddy, and Donnelly believes that such defensive resilience will be key further down the line.

" There's always things you need to improve on every day you go out there and our defence stood up well to the test against a good team. That is something that we will have to maintain if we want to win things. We'll go back to training and continue to look to improve on the basics for the bigger tasks ahead.

" We've shown we have the character to get to another Final but we have won nothing yet. We are going to have to step it up again for the final."

Mattie, the son of former Tyrone All-Ireland winning Minor manager Liam Donnelly, said he had no real preferences who emerges from the other semi-final, with Derry due to meet Monaghan this weekend, though he was aware that after the controversy over Cormac Arkinson's controversial winning point in the 2009 decider, the Oak Leafers will be intent on revenge.

" There will be a lot of talk about that point last year in the build-up if it is Derry, though it didn't bother them too much as they went on to an All-Ireland Final. But whether it's them or Monaghan its going to be another tight game and we'll just prepare as best we can."