Mickey Harte, furious at the mistreatment of Conor McKenna

Tyrone’s boss Mickey Harte claimed that Conor McKenna was “mistreated” by Donegal defenders at MacCumhaill Park.

The three-time All-Ireland winning coach felt his team achieved nothing near the green before and during the game and ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard 1-13 to 1-11.

Donegal, at first glance, seemed to handle the 24-year-old well, conceding a free throw, with Neil McGee initially assigned the responsibility to Paul Brennan in the second half.

Harte disagreed when asked if the AFL returnee was “well prepared.”

He said: “If you were looking at what was happening in the first half there, I don’t think that would be qualifying. I think it was mistreatment and I don’t think he received the correct protection he deserved from the officers. Marshal, yes, you can call it that. I’d call it worse than that. ”

Tyrone’s manager was also unhappy about having to face Donegal at Ballybofey, with the opening game scheduled for May 17, before the postponement and the switch to the old-fashioned knockout championship.

“Since it became a knockout championship, there may have been a case for a new draw or at least a neutral spot,” he said. “It’s a tough draw in any case, but when you don’t have a back door, it makes it more difficult.

We are out of the championship and all we asked our players was that they do their best and I can honestly say that they did. I think we played well enough to get a better result than we did.

Understandably, Declan Bonner, the Donegal coach, was in better tune considering the result, though he declined to comment on McKenna’s handling.

“It was about rolling up his sleeves,” Bonner said. “You can have the best tactics and top-class players, but there comes a time in championship games where you have to roll up your sleeves and dig a lot. Our boys did that today. “