Donegal manager Rory Gallagher took his hat off to Tyrone following today's surprisingly one-sided Ulster SFC semi-final at Clones.

The Tir Chonaill men had no answer for the Red Hands' ruthlessness and finished on the wrong end of the 1-21 to 1-12 scoreline.

"There's no doubt Tyrone were the better team," Gallagher acknowledged when speaking to BBC Sport after the final whistle. "It was nip and tuck for the first 15 minutes but Tyrone took over.

"They stretched the lead out coming up to half-time, to six or seven points at that stage having it been five each for a while. Listen, Tyrone were very convincing in the second-half.

"I wouldn't say there was anything unfortunate about our display. Tyrone kicked some great scores. I thought our boys defended too deep and we didn't pressure the man on the ball and Tyrone picked us off easily in the first-half."

The qualifiers now beckon for Gallagher and Donegal...

"We have to learn what it's like to be well and truly hammered in a championship match by one of our biggest rivals.

"You have to say great credit to Tyrone. I thought they played some great football but we'll have to look at ourselves and how we can be better and what we need to improve on."

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