Tyrone make right moves in chess bore

MICKEY HARTE compared this Ulster semi-final to a chess match, but the longest game in that sedentary sport’s history was a sleep-inducing 20-hour marathon that would knock spots off this tie in terms of excitement.

This wasn’t puke football, it was snooze football.

Tyrone versus Derry has all the essential ingredients for a rip-roaring game. They hate each other, they are two of the country’s best sides and they have met more than once every two years since 1991.

Alas, entertainment has been severely rationed in this particular derby in recent years and yesterday’s marked a new low. It didn’t seem possible at half-time but the second-half made the first look good.

Derry looked to be vulnerable even before the throw-in thanks to the absence of five blue-chip players like Fergal Doherty and Enda Muldoon and with the James Kielt affair hanging over them like a rumbling cloud.

So it proved.

Tyrone didn’t play all that well, Seán Cavanagh admitted as much afterwards, and yet they had the game in the bag long before a final quarter which was played at half pace with Derry having given up the ghost.

They were down to 14 men by then. Corner-back Kevin McGuckin sent Cavanagh to the turf off the ball after the full-forward fisted over a 60th minute point but he wasn’t the only sinner.

Eoin Bradley was lucky to escape a similar fate after kicking out at Ryan McMenamin in the second-half but he may well be punished, if belatedly, when the tape catches the eye of the CCCC.

It was a depressingly familiar experience for Derry, who have now lost five Ulster semi-finals on the spin.

With Cavan and Antrim duelling it out in the other semi-final, this one will hurt more than the rest of them put together. Yesterday’s tie was painted as a virtual decider and it is hard to argue otherwise.

That said, Tyrone will need to find a higher gear at some point this summer. Take their full-forward line of Stephen O’Neill, Cavanagh and Owen Mulligan. It recorded just two points from play.

However Derry couldn’t take advantage. Paddy Bradley was limited to a single point and that was from a free. Mark Lynch was quieter than a church mouse. Only Eoin Bradley, with four points, made a mark. The difference between the teams was in their respective ‘lesser’ lights. Tommy McGuigan top scored for Tyrone with four points, Martin Penrose skitted about with a frenetic energy.

Underpinning it all was a superb Kevin Hughes in midfield and that was before Mickey Harte even bothered turning to his bench where a small army of All Stars looked back at him pleadingly.

On came Brian Dooher, back from injury, Brian McGuigan, Colm McCullagh. For Derry it must have been like getting battered by Mike Tyson only to see Evander Holyfield replace him in the ring.

Derry were ready to hit the canvas by then anyway.

The game eschewed the physicality usually associated with these near neighbour affairs in the opening quarter. It was all very cagey, robotic almost. Football by numbers.

Harte’s chess analogy hit the nail on the head. The man has developed a reputation as something of a tactical master in recent years so it was no surprise to see Tyrone bound out to a 0-6 to 0-2 lead.

It was eight to five at the break but the difficulties Derry were having recording scores was emphasised by their last which required endless passes and ran the length of the pitch before Eoin Bradley dissected the posts.

And of course, the screw only tightened thereafter. Derry missed three gettable points in the third quarter, all perfectly in keeping with an utterly forgettable period of play.

It was Dooher who managed the only score in that whole period but the game was now being pockmarked by unseemly off the ball incidents and a couple of injuries to Tyrone players.

Both came off and if Stephen O’Neill’s dislocated thumb is none too serious the same can’t be said about Joe McMahon’s rib injury, which required a stretcher and leaves him doubtful for the final.

Tommy McGuigan could have ended the last whiff of uncertainty had Barry Gillis not saved his 53rd minute shot but a sprinkling of points either side of McGuckin’s exit did just that anyhow. Another trophy awaits their mitts.

Scorers for Tyrone: T McGuigan 0-4 (3f), M Penrose 0-3 (1f), K Hughes 0-2, D Harte 0-1, Stephen O’Neill 0-1, S Cavanagh 0-1, B Dooher 0-1, B McGuigan 0-1, Sean O’Neill 0-1.

Subs: B Dooher for Mulligan 45, B McGuigan for Stephen O’Neill 50, Sean O’Neill for Joe McMahon 51, C McCullagh for T McGuigan 66,

Scorers for Derry: E Bradley 0-4 (1 ‘45’), B McGoldrick 0-1f, P Bradley 0-1f, , S Bradley 0-1.

Subs: S Bradley for Murphy 22, N McCusker for SL McGoldrick 54, C O’Boyle for Lynch 56, G McShane for Lynn 59,

Referee: G O Conamha (Galway)