Tyrone goalsccorer Ronan O'Neill admits he had a point to prove coming off the bench in Sunday's Ulster final.

The in-form Omagh clubman netted two glorious second-half three-pointers as the Red Hands retained the Anglo Celt Cup with a 2-17 to 0-15 victory over Down at Clones, surely staking a claim for a starting place in Mickey Harte's All-Ireland quarter-final team at Croke Park on August 5th.

"I have always had confidence in myself to get a goal and I am happy enough that, when the opportunity arose, I had the confidence and the belief in myself to put the ball in the back of the net," he tells The Irish Independent.

"I saw Mattie Donnelly coming through and normally I would pull away to create the space but all I wanted to do was to get my hands on the ball and put it in the back of the net, just to prove that I can play on this team as well, not just be a bit-part player.

"All you can do when you get on is to stake a claim for the next day and make sure that you are higher up the pecking order. Last year was my first full year and I wanted to prove that I was a regular starter.

"I had a back injury and different things put me out, but I am fighting for my place on this team and hopefully I showed a wee bit."

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