Tyrone come good to advance to semi-finals

The semi-final pairings for the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup were confirmed last night after the final set of group fixtures.

The last four ties will see Tyrone play Fermanagh, while Monaghan play Derry.

By virtue of their 1-13 to 0-12 loss against Cavan on opening day, Tyrone needed to win and win big to harbour any hopes of a sixth victory in the competition in succession.

Against an Under-21 Donegal select, under the stewardship of Declan Bonner, Mickey Harte’s Tyrone ran out 2-23 to 0-6 winners with 2,345 in attendance at Healy Park. Not only was it enough for progression, it sealed top spot in Section C.

The opening goal came from Ronan McHugh, when he tucked home a pass from Peter Harte on 13 minutes as the hosts went in 1-12 to 0-3 ahead at half-time.

In the second half, Tyrone continued to push their foot on the accelerator, with Harte and Ronan O’Neill scoring five points in all and Darren McCurry hitting six. Cahir McCullagh fisted home a second Tyrone goal two minutes from time.

Elsewhere in Section C last night, Cavan passed up on the chance to finish top and even qualify for the McKenna Cup semi-finals when they lost against UUJ at Breffni Park.

The hosts led 0-7 to 0-4 at the break but UUJ came back to win 0-19 to 0-15 with Patrick McBrearty coming off the bench at half-time and kicking five points — three of which came from play.

At the Athletic Grounds in front of 4,320, Armagh scored the first seven points but had to be content with a 0-7 to 0-3 advantage at the midpoint against Down.

A 48th minute goal from Darren O’Hagan brought Down back to within a point. Armagh still kept their noses in front but again, in the last minute, their lead was trimmed to the minimum after Alan Davidson scored another Down goal.

But in injury time, Aaron Findon of Armagh scored a goal to give his team a 1-15 to 2-8 victory.

At Owenbeg, there was a powercut on three minutes that forced both Derry and their visitors Queen’s into a 38-minute delay, with both teams agreeing to 30-minute halves.

Enda Lynn and Neil Forester grabbed first half Derry goals to enable Damian Barton’s team to win 2-20 to 0-6 and squeeze through.