Canavan and McCurry torment Mayo as Tyrone halt losing run
CONTRAST: Darragh Canavan of Tyrone celebrates a point. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Darragh Canavan and Darren McCurry tormented Mayo as a transformed Tyrone side cut loose in the second half at O’Neills Healy Park to halt a losing run with a crucial victory.
Canavan’s superb goal sparked the revival, and eight second half points from substitute McCurry did the rest for a home side that trailed by three at the break, after Cillian O’Connor had netted a penalty.
The loss of top scorer Ryan O’Donoghue was the most serious of the pre-match blows which saw Kevin McStay make four changes to his starting line-up. But with an attacker of the calibre of Cillian O’Connor to bring in, they made little of those difficulties, even when Diarmuid O’Connor was forced off injured after just five minutes.
A tame opening saw both sides feel their way into the game, with O’Connor edging his side ahead with a couple of frees, and Stephen Coen bombing forward to add an inspirational score.
With Stephen Coen, Enda Hession and Rory Brickenden powering ahead at every opportunity, Mayo slowly found their running game, and the contribution of Jordan Flynn was immense as he tracked back to make a couple of important turnovers.
Two Peter Harte placed balls brought the Red Hands level, but the Connacht men struck a major blow with a 23rd minute goal.
Mattie Ruane threaded a pass to Hession in front of goal, and Cormac Quinn’s rash tackle on the Garrymore man earned him a black card.
A double blow for the home side saw Brendan Cawley award a penalty, which O’Connor crashed to the top right corner of Niall Morgan’s net.
Tyrone struggled to break down the visitors’ defence, and after falling four points behind, they did craft a goal chance, but Seanie O’Donnell’s shot zipped wide, before a Darragh Canavan free clawed back a point.
Mayo led by 1-4 to 0-4 at the interval, but Tyrone wasted no time in clawing it back, with Darren McCurry and Canavan both hitting the target within two minutes of the restart.
Pressing the Mayo kick-out, Tyrone were a transformed side, going level through substitute McCurry, before they sliced through the visiting defence for Peter Harte to drill a low shot just wide.
Now the Mayo rearguard looked much less assured, very much on the back foot, and when they did get forward, Diarmuid Duffy thought he had regained the lead with a point, but Morgan plucked the ball from a foot above the crossbar.
They did go back in front with a sweetly struck free from goalkeeper Rob Hennelly, but Canavan’s superb 47th minute goal had the Ulster side three clear, as he finished a move heavily involving McCurry, a huge influence on the game since his half-time introduction.
Tyrone were able to find pockets of space off their fast breaks from deep, and another couple of McCurry gems had them six clear.
Boss McStay sent for O’Donoghue, who pulled back a point following his 48th minute introduction, but Mayo were struggling to swing the game back in their favour as Tyrone maintained the intensity going forward.
Fergal Boland also found the target, but the renewed energy of a fired-up Tyrone side saw them close down the threat and counter again for McCurry to twist the knife.
D Canavan 1-4 (0-1f), D McCurry 0-8 (6f), Peter Harte 0-2 (2f), S O’Donnell 0-1.
C O’Connor 1-2 (1-0 pen, 0-2f), R O’Donoghue, F Boland 0-2 each, C McStay, R Brickennden, R Hennelly (f), S Coen, B Tuohy 0-1 each
N Morgan; C Devlin, P Hampsey, A Clarke; M McKernan, C Quinn, N Devlin; B Kennedy, C Donnelly; C Daly, C Kilpatrick, P Harte: J Oguz, D Canavan, S O’Donnell.
D McCurry Donnelly (h-t), B Cullen for McKernan (h-t), K McGeary for O’Donnell (67), R Canavan for D Canavan (76).
R Hennelly; J Coyne, R Brickenden, S Callinan; M Plunkett, S Coen, E Hession; D O’Connor, M Ruane; D Duffy, F Boland, J Flynn; C O’Connor, T Conroy, C McStay.
J Carney for D O’Connor (5), R O’Donoghue for McStay (48), E McLoughlin for Plunkett (48), B Tuohy for Ruane (57) D McHale for Duffy (62).
Brendan Cawley (Kildare).
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