Kieran McGeary wouldn’t describe himself as a risk-taker, but the perils of knock-out football are right up his street.
With no hankering for the safety net of the Qualifiers, the Tyrone forward is happy to put everything on the line and take his chances.
It’s winner-takes-all for the Red Hands and the champions from Breffni in tomorrow’s Ulster SFC eliminator at Healy Park, and McGeary is up for the challenge.
“I’m all for the knock-out Championship. If you don’t turn up, you know where you’re going. You get dumped out,” he said.
“It’s the same with any Championship where there’s been no back door. There have been upsets, and upsets are good for provincial Championships and they make for getting other teams up and going.
“It adds that wee bit of nervousness to it, you don’t have a cushion.
“It means you can’t afford to leave any stone unturned, you can’t afford to rest men. Every day you’re out, you have to win.”
Healy Park will be a place for healing, an opportunity to make a new start.
This will be Tyrone’s first game since last month’s six-goal mauling at the hands of Kerry, but Cavan also endured a bruising end to their League campaign, having suffered relegation to Division Four following a play-off defeat to Wicklow.
McGeary added: “The way the League finished for us and for them, we both got embarrassed, and both teams were forced to strip themselves right back.
“All you can do is build. They have had a few weeks to build, we have had a few weeks to build, so it’s going to be a good encounter.
“The way we have to look at it is, we’re playing the Ulster champions.
“What we’re focusing on is Ulster, and Ulster could be anybody’s game, every year round.”
