Tyrone sweating after Rory Brennan red card

The Tyrone corner-back was adjudged to have fouled Michael Murphy a minute from time and seemed to lay a slight hand on match official Jerome Henry

Sun, 18 Oct, 2020 - 21:03

Alan Foley, Ballybofey

Allianz League Division 1: Donegal 2-17 Tyrone 2-13

Donegal and Tyrone have endured fractious encounters in recent years, yet a red card late in the day of a less manic contest in Ballybofey might have ramifications for Rory Brennan.

The Tyrone corner-back was adjudged to have fouled Michael Murphy a minute from time and seemed to lay a slight hand on match official Jerome Henry, who then brandished the red card when he looked like he’d let the initial incident go unpunished bar the free.

The minimum suspension for interfering with an official is 12 weeks.

“I don’t think Rory is the kind of guy who would be doing anything like that,” Tyrone manager Micky Harte said afterwards.

“Let’s not pre-empt what it will be. We would hope that the people who look at it would see that wouldn’t be something he would ever set out to do and would have had no intention of interfering with the match official, if he did that; I didn’t see it, that’s what the story says.”

Kieran McGeary was dismissed for adding a black to a previous yellow three minutes before Brennan walked.

An Ulster SFC quarter-final at the same venue in two weeks’ time at the same venue will provide further fire, particularly given that the safety net of the backdoor has been removed.

Goals in either half from Peadar Mogan and Jamie Brennan gave the Ulster champions a four-point victory in Ballybofey and it means Declan Bonner’s team are safe in the top tier before their trip to Kerry while Tyrone will probably need to avoid defeat against Mayo in Omagh on Saturday.

With Jamie Brennan having opened with the first two points, Donegal fashioned a fantastic eighth minute goal through Peadar Mogan, who played a give-and-go with Niall O’Donnell before evading a clutter of challenges and shooting into Niall Morgan’s top corner.

That made the score 1-3 to 0-2 to Donegal and although dictating the play for the most part with a kind of style that was deliberate and dynamic, Tyrone were clinging in there.

A penalty on 10 minutes from Darren McCurry came following a nudge by Stephen McMenamin on Conor McKenna.

Donegal steadied themselves and finished the half well, with four points in two minutes during a particularly hot streak, Ciaran Thompson and Niall O’Donnell adding to a Ryan McHugh brace.

Liam Rafferty’s second point from corner-back and a breakaway score from Michael McKernan with Morgan playing sweeper-keeper meant Tyrone still weren’t too far off, 1-9 to 1-6 down at half-time.

The second half was score matched by score, with McGeary and McCurry points wiped out by Jamie Brennan’s fantastic goal on 39 minutes. Brennan slotted under Morgan as he scampered from his line to conclude a move that included Murphy and Ryan McHugh for a 2-9 to 1-8 lead.

Michael Murphy of Donegal in action against Rory Brennan of Tyrone. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

For the most part thereafter, it was tit for tat but three wides in succession hampered the visitors’ chances.

Tyrone grabbed a second goal when Mattie Donnelly fed former AFL star Conor McKenna, who cut across the front of the Donegal square and, although Shaun Patton got a good hand on it, the power took it into the top corner.

That meant it was 2-16 to 2-13 and Donegal needed an insurance score to edge over the line and Andrew McClean provided it in injury time.

“We had seven months and that was a long, long time,” Donegal manager Bonner said afterwards.

“We kept it going as best we could. It’s been great to get back out onto the pitch again. We have plenty to work on but, at the same time, it was good to get out and consolidate our position in Division 1.”

Scorers for Donegal: M Murphy (0-6,5f); J Brennan (1-2); P Mogan (1-0); R McHugh (0-3); N O’Donnell (0-2), C Thompson (0-2f), C McGonagle, A McClean (0-1 each).

Scorers for Tyrone: C McKenna (1-2); D McCurry (1-2,1-0pen,1f); L Rafferty (0-2); N Morgan (45), K McGeary, M Donnelly (0-1), M McKernan, C McCann, Frank Burns (0-1, 1 mark each).

DONEGAL: S Patton; E Gallagher, N McGee, S McMenamin; R McHugh, P Brennan, J Mac Ceallabhui; H McFadden, C McGonagle; P Mogan, N O’Donnell, C Thompson; J Brennan, M Murphy, O Gallen.

Subs: A McClean for Gallen 45; J McGee for H McFadden 55; D Ó Baoill for Mac Ceallabhui 62; P McGrath for P Brennan 65.

TYRONE: N Morgan; L Rafferty, R McNamee, R Brennan; T McCann, K McGeary, M McKernan; P Hampsey, F Burns; M Donnelly, C McKenna, D McCurry; N Sludden, C McCann, C Meyler.

Subs: David Mulgrew for Sludden ht; Michael O’Neill for Burns 46; Ronan O’Neill for C McCann 47; B McDonnell for Hampsey 63.

Referee: Jerome Henry (Mayo).