Brilliant Canavan gets 14-man Tyrone up and running

Despite a red card for Conn Kilpatrick, an inexperienced Tyrone side overcame Roscommon

Tyrone's Michael McKernan with Roscommon's Eoin McCormack and Diarmuid Murtagh

Allianz FL Division 1: Tyrone 0-17 Roscommon 1-11 

The Red Hands are up and running with a Darragh Canavan inspired win over Roscommon, a first opening day success since 2020 for the notoriously slow starters.

Facing into the wind with a slender one-point advantage, and a man down following the 38th-minute dismissal of midfielder Conn Kilpatrick, Tyrone were staring down the barrel, with six debutants in an inexperienced side.

But they injected energy and drive into a possession-based running game, and ace finisher Canavan did the rest as he chalked up an eight-point tally.

Defenders Padraig Hampsey and Michael McKernan both sliced over long-range scores to cancel out Diarmuid Murtagh’s opener, but despite having a strong wind in their backs, the Red Hands struggled to get a foothold in the contest.

Ciaran Daly, one of six league debutants in the Red Hand side, was heavily involved in their best attacking moves, getting on the end of a McKernan delivery to punch over a point, but that brought an identical response from Ciaran Lennon as he got on the end of Murtagh’s delivery.

Darragh Canavan had just edged Tyrone in front when the Rossies struck for a goal in the 14th minute. It was Donie Smith who picked his spot in the bottom corner of the net after collecting Daire Cregg’s searching delivery.

Canavan narrowed the gap, but the Connacht men were able to find a response to every setback, with Evan Flynn finishing off a flowing move, before Cian Connolly and Murtagh, with another free, were also on target.

However, it was Tyrone who finished the half strongly with three points to get their noses back in front, Seanie O’Donnell’s mark followed by another debut score from Ben Cullen, before Niall Devlin hit the lead score in stoppage time, sending his side in with a 0-10 to 1-6 lead.

With midfielder Dylan Ruane out of the game on a black card for the first nine minutes of the second half, Roscommon defended in numbers, but Tyrone were reduced to 14 when their midfielder Conn Kilpatrick was shown a straight red card on 39 minutes.

But a spectacular salvo from Canavan saw him flash over four superb scores to push his side four ahead by the 52nd minute.

Michael McKernan of Tyrone in action against Keith Doyle of Roscommon during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Tyrone and Roscommon at O’Neills Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Roscommon were struggling to deal with Tyrone’s running game, and while Keith Doyle and Murtagh did hit the target, it was an energised home side that was now in control of the contest.

Brian Kennedy took on the extra responsibility in the absence of his midfield partner, and Tyrone defended strongly in the face of a late Roscommon onslaught.

Cian Connolly punched to the net but saw the goal ruled out for a square ball infringement, and Murtagh narrowed the gap to three in a frantic finish, but the home side held out.

Scorers for Tyrone: D Canavan 0-8 (3f), C Daly 0-3, N Devlin 0-2, B Cullen, M McKernan, P Hampsey, S O’Donnell (m) 0-1 

Scorers for Roscommon: D Smith 1-0, D Murtagh 0-5 (4f), C Connolly, K Doyle, N Daly, C Lennon, E Flynn, J Fitzpatrick 0-1 each 

TYRONE: N Morgan; C Devlin; P Hampsey, A Clarke; C Quinn, M McKernan, T Quinn; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; N Devlin, P Harte, B Cullen; S O’Donnell, D Canavan, C Daly.

Subs: R Canavan for Devlin (55), D Mulgrew for C Quinn (63), J Donaghy for Cullen (74) 

ROSCOMMON: C Carroll; D Murray, E Flynn, N Higgins; N Daly, C Walsh, E McCormack; K Doyle, D Ruane; C Connolly, D Smith, D Cregg; D Murtagh, C Lennon, C Cox.

Subs: R Dolan for Higgins (49), L Glennon for Flynn (51), A McDermott for Lennon (55), A Glennon for Cox (59), J Fitzpatrick for Walsh (66) 

Referee: M McNally (Monaghan).