Like a fine wine, Tyrone just get better

TYRONE made a strong case for the value of experience at Healy Park, where they made a successful if unspectacular first defence of their Ulster SFC title.

Nine of those who played in yesterday’s two points win over Monaghan have passed the age of 30, and like a fine wine, appear to be getting better with time.

Central to this Red Hand victory were three of Mickey Harte’s longest serving warriors — Conor Gormley, Brian McGuigan and Stephen O’Neill.

Gormley was a colossus at full-back, McGuigan was once again the heartbeat of the team, and O’Neill was up to his old tricks, scoring the most audacious of points.

This was no classic, though the 10,937 who trudged through the rain to the Omagh venue were rewarded with a genuine contest, in which hard work and honest endeavour took precedence over flair and adventure.

Ultimately it came down to this: Tyrone’s basic skills mixed with an ability to make correct decisions and to perform with superior economy against an inexperienced Farney side which had six championship debutants on duty.

They even afforded themselves the luxury of a missed penalty, but against 14 men, struggled to close out the game, and were left hanging on at the end for a semi-final crack at either Donegal or Cavan.

Conor McManus was the game’s most potent attacker in the early stages, knocking over a couple of frees and skipping past two defenders to claim an exquisite point from play.

Martin Penrose and Sean Cavanagh hit the target for the home side, but with eight minutes played, a lively Farney outfit led by 0-4 to 0-2.

It was 0-5 to 0-4 in favour of the visitors when McGuigan collected an O’Neill pass to blast home a superb goal.

“I missed one before it. I was through and a boy intercepted me,” said McGuigan.

“I think I was due one. I don’t get a pile, so it was nice to get it.

“Stevie gave it to me, and the first instinct was to give the return to Stevie, but I think somebody blocked him, so the only option was to shoot, and lucky enough it went in.”

Soon Tyrone were five points clear, with O’Neill squeezing over a dream point from the tightest of angles, and at the break, they led by 1-7 to 0-6, Monaghan having scored just once from play.

They were also down to 14 men by this stage, skipper Dick Clerkin having picked up two yellow cards in the space of 90 seconds on the half-hour.

When Mark Donnelly, Tyrone’s only championship first-timer, was hauled down by Conor Galligan five minutes into the second half, Meath referee Cormac Reilly awarded a penalty.

Strangely, the man who in 2005 earned a reputation as the best penalty taker in the game, O’Neill, deferred to Martin Penrose, who blazed his kick well wide.

It didn’t seem to be a miss of any great consequence as Tyrone continued to press, and restored their five points advantage with scores from Peter Harte, from a 45 metre free, and Sean Cavanagh.

But the game changed in the 45th minute when Monaghan’s were awarded a penalty of their own and full-back Darren Hughes stepped up to drill the kick to the bottom corner of Pascal McConnell’s net.

Tyrone did respond with a couple of wonderful points from O’Neill, who had now scored off his right, left and with a fist.

Stubborn Monaghan refused to admit defeat. Long-range efforts from Hughes and Paul Finlay made it a two-point game going into the final minute, but their momentum was broken by a second booking which saw Dessie Mone sent off, and Tyrone held out.

“It’s all about getting the first victory,” said McGuigan.

“Last year we kinda won the Ulster title easily, and then went into the next round and played poorly against Dublin.

“It’s good to get the cobwebs away, and maybe play better the next day. We have a lot of work to do over the next three or four weeks. Conditions there weren’t great. As Mickey said before the game, we don’t care what way we win it, as long as we’re through to the next round.

“If we’re to go through Ulster, go for three in-a-row and win it through the front door, this is the way to go.”

Constant rain and a greasy surface conspired against the entertainers and added value to the more basic qualities of hard work and honest graft.

“Monaghan are a big physical team, and maybe the conditions would have suited them a bit more than us. We were a bit laboured in the second half. We played well in the first half, but the second half, we made too many mistakes and they nearly came back to haunt us there at the end.”

Monaghan’s Darren Hughes conceded that Tyrone’s experience was vital.

“We came out and we gave it a hell of a lash in the second half. We just weren’t good enough in the end, Tyrone’s experience shone through.

“It’s disappointing not to get over the line, it seems to be the same old story with us again when it comes to the bigger teams.”

Scorers for Tyrone: B McGuigan 1-1, S Cavanagh 0-4 (2f), S O’Neill 0-3, M Penrose (2f), P Harte (1f, 1 45) 0-2 each, O Mulligan 0-1.

Scorers for Monaghan: D Hughes 1-1 (1-0 pen), C McManus 0-6 (5f), P Finlay 0-4 (3f).

Tyrone subs: D Carlin for McCarron (16), C Cavanagh for P Harte (43), Sean O’Neill for Carlin (51), O Mulligan for Penrose (55), K Hughes for Cassidy (65).

Monaghan subs: J Turley for Gollogly (25), C McGuinness for McKenna (h-t), D Morgan for Galligan (37), D Malone for Turley (55), B O’Brien for Duffy (65).

Ref: C Reilly (Meath)