Tyrone put down Orchard revival

THE real drama, and the best of the play, was compressed into the last 25 minutes in Clones yesterday.

Armagh went close to redeeming a deteriorating situation after a surprise goal from corner-back Conor Gormley helped the All-Ireland champions to an eight-point lead.

But, happily for the image of Gaelic football, whatever the game might have lacked in terms of being competitive for a longer period, it produced the type of manly, sporting contest the Ulster Council urgently wanted after the carry-on in Celtic Park last week.

Mickey Harte acknowledged that afterwards, saying that if the game was ‘given as much air-space’ by everybody looking on, they were ‘back on an even keel in Ulster.’ And he said Pat McEnaney could take a lot of credit for the ‘consistency and control’ of his refereeing.

Tyrone, chasing their first provincial title in three years, won largely as a result of their greater scoring threat in the first half, featuring an outstanding goal from the returning Stephen O’Neill. They went in at half time leading 1-5 to 0-3.

Yet, to the great credit of an Armagh side in the process of re-building following the retirement of some key players, they were the ones who set the standard over the opening quarter – with team captain Ciaran McKeever playing a vital role at centre-back. However, the only problem was that they didn’t push home their advantage before Tyrone gradually started to dictate.

Armagh were in front after a mere 15 seconds through Brian Mallo and scored again five minutes later through James Lavery, who was to play a prominent role at midfield. However, after Steven McDonnell was on target in the 19th minute they weren’t to score again until the start of the second half – a fact largely explained by the growing strength of the Tyrone defence, where Justin McMahon was pivotal.

More pertinently, the favourites were quite successful in blunting the twin threat of McDonnell and Clarke. McDonnell was well policed by Ryan McMenamin, and Ronan Clarke was just as effectively marked by Conor Gormley (until the second half, when Clarke came into his own and Gormley ended up on the sideline in the closing minutes after picking up a second yellow card).

Tyrone built their recovery on the combined strength of their defensive covering, and their greater mobility at midfield once Enda McGinley started to assert himself. By right, it should have reaped a rich dividend on the scoreboard but it didn’t for a while because of some poor finishing, in spite of very good work from Joe McMahon and Owen Mulligan (apart from his shooting). Notably, Sean Cavanagh was forced to roam out beyond the half-forward line in an effort to get involved.

However, their situation improved rapidly after Joe McMahon put them in front for the first time in the 29th minute from a 45. Interestingly Stephen O’Neill had been off target from one a few minutes earlier. But, he showed his class with a 32nd minute goal, taking a pass from Harte, turning his marker and goaling with a perfect left-footed drive.

Cavanagh also finished with a flourish, scoring a trademark point and Tyrone went in leading 1-5 to 0-3 with every reason to be optimistic about the outcome.

After Mulligan scored within four minutes of the resumption, Gormley produced a goal out of nowhere a minute later. He ran into open space to take a ball flicked into his path by O’Neill, before outsmarting Paul Hearty with a kick with bounced down off the crossbar into the net.

While Armagh got back on the scoring sheet with two McDonnell frees, Tyrone opened up an eight-point lead with a McGuigan score in the 43rd minute. They could do nothing wrong as they controlled possession and players had plenty of time on the ball.

However, they were shaken from their complacency by a goal from Clarke six minutes later. He regained his footing after Gormley pulled him down, but was allowed an advantage. And McEnaney then (correctly) showed the Tyrone defender a yellow card. Further Armagh progress was thwarted by some good defending and a timely tackle by Gormley when there was the possibility of a goal ensuing.

By now, Brian Dooher had been introduced to the Tyrone half-forward line and he played a major part in revitalising their challenge. However, before that was to happen, Armagh added on scores from the improving Aaron Kernan and Mallon to leave just two points between the teams with less than 15 minutes remaining.

The game had now reached its most competitive phase and for a while Tyrone looked unsure. However, when the pressure was at its greatest, O’Neill put over a 40 yards free won by Mulligan and then Dooher came up with an important score to underline his value to the team. O’Neill was to add another score, from play, before Gormley was sent off for another foul on Clarke and they came under further pressure when Armagh had the margin down to a single goal. But, some desperate Tyrone defending kept that lead intact – just about!

Scorers for Tyrone: S. O’Neill 1-3 (0-2 frees); C. Gormley 1-0; T. McGuigan (0-2 frees) and S. Cavanagh 0-2 each; J. McMahon (’45), O. Mulligan and B. Dooher 0-1 each.

Scorers for Armagh: R. Clarke 1-0; S. McDonnell (0-2 frees) 0-3; A. Kernan 0-3 frees; B. Mallon 0-2; J. Lavery and S. Forker 0-1 each.

Subs for Tyrone: B. Dooher for McGuigan (50); C. Cavanagh for Penrose (52); Sean O’Neill for Justin McMahon (58); N. Gormley for Joe McMahon (67); C. Holmes for Hughes (68).

Subs for Armagh: S. Kernan for Duffy and T. Kernan for K. O’Rourke (65); S. Forker for M. O’Rourke (65); A. O’Rourke for Moriarty (68).