Michael Murphy's dismissal decisive as Tyrone edge out Donegal 

Substitutes Tiernan McCann and Conor McKenna added to the sense that this could be a serious Tyrone team in the making

Michael Murphy of Donegal kicks out at Kieran McGeary of Tyrone, resulting in a red card, during the Ulster SFC semi-final at Brewster Park. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Ulster SFC semi-final

Donegal 1-14 

Tyrone 0-23 

Tyrone never had a greater chance to beat Donegal than the situation they found themselves in at half-time.

After five minutes, Neil McGee had to be carried off after a heavy knock in claiming a loose ball in a crowd. Before half-time, Michael Murphy had hit the post with a penalty and then been sent off after adding a black card to his earlier yellow for catching Kieran McGeary with a stray kick intended for a loose ball.

Donegal also had an even better penalty shout turned down a few minutes after the first when Frank Burns upended Michael Langan taking a shot at goal.

A point up at the break, under a rare baking sun hanging over Enniskillen, they outscored Donegal 0-14 to 1-6 from there to the finish.

It’s trite to say that the dismissal of their captain spelled the end for Donegal. But it is rooted in logic. No team rely quite as much on their captain to elevate them from a decent side, to a team capable of winning honours.

After standing over the penalty, his attempt pinged off the outside of the left post and wide, Kieran McGeary then pointing in the next play to produce a four point swing and keep a point within Donegal.

A minute before half-time, disaster struck for Donegal. A ball broke down and when Murphy went to draw on it, he hit nothing but McGeary’s legs, earning him a black card for a trip, and with it a red.

“That’s the reality of it but there is so much chaotic stuff that happens,” said Tyrone joint manager Feargal Logan afterwards.

“Murphy is a man-mountain of a footballer in every respect and to lose him was a massive blow to Donegal but we shipped a couple of black cards today that left us down to 14 men at times and the penalty shaved the outside of the post.

“I could be sitting here on the total flip side of the coin but I do know there is a group of players with ambition and they have suffered hurt at the hands of Donegal in the past and I knew somewhere deep down that could be dug out and we got a bit of that out of them today.”

After the defeat in Ballybofey last winter, and indeed the last few defeats for Tyrone to the hands of their rivals, perhaps they were due a slice of luck too.

But they thought their way through things here too. Conor Meyler is the go-to man to man-mark Ryan McHugh and he nullified the Kilcar man while scoring a point himself. Kieran McGeary had his best game to date, scoring three points.

When Logan and Dooher were able to unload Cathal McShane and Conor McKenna from the bench, it freed up Matthew Donnelly into a deeper position and he began to break defensive lines with the kind of form that brought two All-Stars in consecutive years.

Darren McCurry hit seven points, Tiernan McCann snapped up three points from play, each of them inventive and Niall Sludden also chalked up a trio of points from play as the Red Hands began to look a little like their old selves.

Donegal needed a few things to go right for them and they produced a goal of sparkling quality through the hands of Hugh McFadden, Eoghan Ban Gallagher and Ryan McHugh to set up Caolan McGonigle’s major on 39 minutes and they kept in touch with a series of frees.

Eventually though, the needle tipped into the red zone. And while Tyrone had to play two periods of ten minutes down to 14 men with black cards to Brennan and McGeary, these things count.

Scorers for Donegal: P McBrearty (0-4, 2 frees), C McGonigle (1-0), J Brennan, N O’Donnell (0-2 each), M Langan (0-2, 1 free), M Murphy (0-2 frees), C Thompson, P Mogan (0-1 each).

Scorers for Tyrone: D McCurry (0-7, 3 frees), K McGeary, N Sludden, T McCann (0-3 each), M Donnelly (0-2), P Harte, C Meyler, C McKenna, F Burns (0-1 each), C McShane (0-1 free).

DONEGAL: S Patton; B McCole, N McGee, E Ban Gallagher; R McHugh, O McFadden-Ferry, P Mogan; H McFadden, C McGonigle; C Thompson, N O’Donnell, M Langan; P McBrearty, M Murphy, J Brennan.

Subs: S McMenamin for McGee (5), P Brennan for McFadden-Ferry (45), O MacNiallais for H McFadden (46), E McHugh for J Brennan (62), A McClean for Mogan (70)

Red card: Murphy (34)

TYRONE: N Morgan; M McKernan, R McNamee, P Hampsey; R Brennan, F Burns, P Harte; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; K McGeary, M O’Neill, C Meyler; D McCurry, M Donnelly, N Sludden

Subs: T McCann for Brennan (HT), C McKenna for Kilpatrick (46), B McDonnell for Kennedy (52), C McShane for M O’Neill (62), N Kelly for McKernan (67)

Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)