Mulligan available for Tyrone's opener

Attacking ace Owen Mulligan will be available to play in Tyrone's Ulster SFC opener against Fermanagh on May 20 after the red card he earned against Mayo earlier this month was rescinded.

Mulligan was handed an eight-week suspension earlier this week after two straight red cards, with both dismissals coming in the recent National Football League against Cork (February 24) and Mayo (April 8).

The Cookstown man requested a personal hearing, which was held at Croke Park last night, in a bid to clear himself of a ban which was set to keep him out of football until June 3.

Appearing before the GAA's Central Hearings Committee, Mulligan succeeded in having his second red card, which he received for a "sliding tackle" on a Mayo player, scratched.

He was cleared of all wrong-doing for what a GAA source described as a "lazy tackle". The hearing at GAA headquarters lasted just eight minutes.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and County Board secretary Dominic McGaughey accompanied Mulligan to the hearing.