RORY Gallagher is looking forward to a tactical battle against Mickey Harte at Ballybofey on Sunday.
It promises to be intriguing Ulster Championship preliminary round clash involving Donegal and Tyrone.
“You'd be hugely nervous,” Gallagher says. “There is a lot of stake. It's a huge challenge. My last year as a minor, Mickey was the Tyrone minor manager and he has had a hugely successfully period.
“My mother is from Ballygawley, where he is from. We have huge respect for what he has achieved and in some ways often looked up to him and that Tyrone team. We are looking forward to a big battle with himself.”
Gallagher insists that Gaelic Football is in good health at present too. “I read somewhere that 2014 championship was the highest-scoring championship in a number of years. If teams are playing defensive football, they are playing it badly. I just believe it is different. It is a different form of defence. It's in some ways to counteract attacking half-backs.
“There is no doubt there is not as much kicking, but there is still kicking in a lot of games. I think people lose sight of that. The two All-Ireland semi-finals last year were, in my opinion, two as good games of football that you'll ever see.
“In fact it was three if you count the replay between Kerry and Mayo. They had two great games and Dublin and Donegal was 3-14 to 0-17; extremely high-scoring. I think Kerry and Mayo, the drawn game, was 1-16 or 1-17 each. People aren't objective. People have to respect that there is a lot of effort going in.
“Team are entitled to set up whatever way to choose. But I think every team that I have ever been involved with have worked hard on both sides of the game, how to defend and how to attack. Sometimes that gets lost. Yes it's a different form of defence but they are also attacking in huge numbers as well.
“There are bad games in every era, there are bad games in every championship. Once you get down to the latter stages when the better teams are playing each other, I think the game develops."
