Red Hands rule Ulster

GROUNDHOG day.

Once again, an Ulster final had swung around with hopes high that the Anglo-Celt Cup could be prised away from the banks of the Blackwater, where Tyrone and Armagh had kept it under lock and key since 1999.

Once again, it was to prove a false dawn.

Armagh’s may be a star on the wane, but Tyrone’s, if anything, continues to rise. Another senior provincial title wasn’t the only concrete indicator of that yesterday. Their minors hammered Armagh in the curtain-opener.

The future would appear to be red.

The present certainly is.

This was Monaghan’s second taste of disappointment on the province’s big day in the space of just four seasons and the second occasion on which Mickey Harte’s side was the one dishing out the medicine.

This latest dose was far more bitter.

In 2007, Monaghan had navigated their way through to the final for the first time since 1988. That fact alone had been enough to ensure their story fairytale status. They were far more fancied this time.

Seamus McEnaney’s men were propelled into yesterday’s decider on the back of eye-catching victories over Armagh and Fermanagh and Mickey Harte wasn’t just being coy when he had described them as the form team.

And yet, by half-time here, the massive Monaghan support must have had an uncomfortable sensation in the pit of their stomachs, one that grew to unavoidable proportions long before the end.

The first 20 minutes had suggested we were about to witness a modern classic. Monaghan led by the odd point in seven at that point although both sides were already harbouring some regrets.

Tyrone’s use of the ball left a lot to be desired as their wide count mounted. Brian Dooher, Sean Cavanagh and Owen Mulligan were all among those culpable but the most costly misses came at the far end.

A defensive mix-up between Cathal McCarron and Justin McMahon had allowed Tommy Freeman in one-on-one with Pascal McConnell after just three minutes but the Tyrone keeper won that duel.

He won another, with Freeman’s brother Damien, in first-half injury-time and that second intervention was arguably even more important given the timing and the 15 minutes that had preceded it.

The sides had drawn level four times before Tyrone began to turn the screw in the second quarter and it wasn’t difficult to put a finger on just why the momentum had turned red with such alacrity.

Although they were struggling badly at midfield, the champions’ half-back line began to assert dominance over their markers.

Paul Finlay and Conor McManus switched positions for the start of the second period but the day’s pattern had been set and wasn’t for turning despite the best efforts of men like Colin Walshe, Darren Hughes and Rory Woods.

Too many of Monaghan’s ‘big’ players simply didn’t perform. Tommy Freeman, Finlay and Dick Clerkin were all quiet and Eoin Lennon faded after a bright opening quarter at midfield.

It was defeat by suffocation.

The amount of turnovers Tyrone’s half-back line registered was astonishing and a full 40 minutes had passed by without a Monaghan score by the time Conor McManus sent over a 49th-minute free.

The irony of it was that no one Tyrone player stood out as having played a remarkable game. This was, instead, the archetypal ‘team’ performance. Tyrone appeared to be a side without a weakness.

Nothing highlighted that so much as the half-time statistics when seven players had been responsible for their seven points. Ten of their starters would register by the game’s end, including all three half-backs and the two midfielders.

If there was a hope for Monaghan in that second half it must have been the realisation that Tyrone had, for all their dominance, failed to land a killer blow against either Antrim or Down in earlier rounds.

There was no such repeat here.

The lead was already five points with five minutes to go when Colm Cavanagh raced onto a pass from the superb Philip Jordan before shooting low past the fit-again Shane Duffy and into the bottom left corner of the net.

As a score, it was similar to a slew of others they had claimed throughout the afternoon when Monaghan’s defence had seemingly melted into thin air.

In some ways, it is a perplexing scoreline.

Monaghan outdid Tyrone by 18 kickouts to eight in the first-half, the winners’ full-forward line claimed just one point from play all day and franchise players like Sean Cavanagh and Brian Dooher have played far better games.

Stephen O’Neill wasn’t playing due to a heel injury picked up in the win over Down and yet they are celebrating back-to-back Ulster titles for the first time since 1996.

Next stop, Croke Park.

Tyrone: P McConnell, C McCarron, Justin McMahon, R McMenamin, D Harte (0-1), C Gormley (0-1), P Jordan (0-1), C Cavanagh (1-0), K Hughes (0-2), B Dooher (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-3), Joe McMahon (0-1, ’45), M Penrose (0-2, 2f), T McGuigan (0-1), O Mulligan.

Subs: C McCullagh for Mulligan (62), P Harte for McGuigan (62), D Carlin for McCarron (64), B McGuigan for Dooher (68), S O’Neill for D Harte (70)

Monaghan: S Duffy, D McArdle, JP Mone, C Walshe, D Freeman, D Hughes, G McQuaid, D Clerkin (0-1), O Lennon; S Gollogly, P Finlay (0-1), K Hughes, R Woods (0-1), C McManus (0-2, 2f), T Freeman (0-1).

Sub: H McElroy for JP Mone (45), C Hanratty for Gollogly (45), D Mone (0-1) for Finlay (54), M McElroy for Hughes (62), N McAdam for McQuaid (68)

Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).