Derry's late show reels Tyrone in at Owenbeg 

TENSE: Kieran McGeary of Tyrone is tackled by Padraig McGrogan of Derry. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Derry 0-10 Tyrone 0-10 

Derry and Tyrone both advanced to the Dr McKenna Cup semi-finals following Wednesday night’s tense draw at Owenbeg.

Lachlan Murray rescued the Oak Leafers with a brilliant equaliser in the seventh minute of stoppage time, as a scrappy north-west derby came to life in the closing stages.

Tyrone led by five points going into the final quarter, but the Oak Leafers found their way in the closing stages to pick off the final five scores of the game as their opponents went down to 14 men.

Derry were without their Glen contingent, but started with ten of the team that lined out against Galway in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, while the opposition side was stacked with experience.

It took Tyrone 14 minutes to find a way through a packed Oak Leaf defence, and when they did, the scores started to flow.

Following the opening from full back Cormac Munroe, there were scores from Niall Sludden, Conor Meyler and Cathal McShane as they moved into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead.

The home lacked penetration despite the smart movement of Lachlan Murray and the constant scoring threat posed by Shane McGuigan, whose second score narrowed the gap to a single point after 26 minutes.

Padraig Hampsey stepped in with a couple of turnovers to turn the tide back in his side’s favour as they finished the half strongly, Richie Donnelly sending over a delightful score, with McShane bringing his tally to three, and a 0-7 to 0-3 interval lead for his side.

Tyrone launched themselves into the second half with pace and strong running, picking off scores through Brian Kennedy and McShane, and facing a six points deficit, Rory Gallagher’s side committed extra men forward as they chased the game.

Niall Toner and Conor Doherty were both on target, but Tyrone’s experienced defenders Hampsey, Peter Harte and Michael McKernan stood firm to protect the advantage.

The pressure continued to build, and when McGuigan and Toner (2) arrowed over frees, just two points separated the sides heading into the final ten minutes.

Tensions boiled over late on, with Tyrone’s Hampsey shown a straight red card and Derry defender Gareth McKinless sent off on a second yellow.

And it was Derry who found that decisive burst of late energy to carve the scoring chance for Murray, which he picked off with a brilliant effort from 45 metres.

Derry scorers: N Toner 0-4 (3f), S McGuigan 0-3 (2f), C Doherty, B Rogers, L Murray 0-1 each. 

Tyrone scorers: C McShane 0-5 (2f), C Meyler, R Donnelly, B Kennedy, N Sludden (m), C Munroe 0-1 each.

Derry: O Lynch; M Doherty, E McEvoy, C McCluskey; C Doherty, G McKinless, P McGrogan; P Cassidy, B Rogers; N Toner, P Cassidy, N Loughlin; B McCarron, S McGuigan, L Murray.

Subs: O McWilliams for Loughlin (27), D Cassidy for Doherty (38), A Tohill for McCarron (42), N O’Donnell for D Cassidy (60) 

Tyrone: B Gallen; N McCarron, C Munroe, P Hampsey; C Quinn, P Harte, N Devlin; B Kennedy, R Donnelly; C Meyler, C Kilpatrick, N Sludden; C McShane, M Donnelly, D Mulgrew.

Subs: M McKernan for Quinn (h-t), K McGeary for Sludden (42), E McNabb for Mulgrew (58), D Canavan for M Donnelly (58), F Burns for R Donnelly (72) Referee: N Cullen (Fermanagh).