Stephen O'Neill rolls back the years as Tyrone complete All-Ireland Masters four-in-a-row

MASTERED IT: The winning Tyrone team. Pic: TyroneGAA

All-Ireland Masters football final: Tyrone 4-8 Roscommon 0-9 

Tyrone greats Stephen O'Neill and Conor Gormley rolled back the years with starring displays as the Red Hand County made All-Ireland Masters football history.

Centre-back Gormley was an unlikely goalscorer at Kingspan Breffni while playmaker supreme O'Neill, winning his 10th All-Ireland medal in total, threaded a series of sumptuous passes as Tyrone clinched a first-ever four-in-a-row of Masters titles.

O'Neill, the Man of the Match in front of around 1,000, set up Michael Anderson for a goal with a brilliant pass while another former Tyrone attacker, Mark Donnelly, and Martin Taggart were also among the goals.

Gormley, who won three All-Ireland senior medals alongside O'Neill in the 2000s under Mickey Harte, lifted the Dr Michael Loftus Cup and stood sentry in a defence that restricted Roscommon to two points from play.

After beating Kerry, the 2023 finalists, at the semi-final stage, Roscommon were confident heading to the Ulster venue but never got going.

Tyrone, in truth, had one hand on the trophy after knocking out their biggest rivals in the grade, Dublin, in their previous outing.

All conquering Tyrone had just five points to spare in that game against Dublin and the win came following an earlier loss in the competition to a Sky Blues side containing Masters newcomer Bernard Brogan.

It wasn't nearly as tight this time around for the Ulster side with 1-1 on the board inside the opening 150 seconds of the game.

Anderson split the posts for Tyrone's opening point with a sumptuous kick off his left foot from a tight angle on the left following a move from the throw-in.

And the clock had barely ticked beyond two minutes when Gormley released clubmate Donnelly about 45 metres out and the Carrickmore man carried on with a penetrating run through the centre and low finish to the Roscommon net.

Playing into the wind, Tyrone effectively put the game to bed as early as the 19th minute when Anderson struck their second goal to open up a 2-5 to 0-2 advantage.

Only O'Neill, currently coaching Cavan, could have spotted, let alone pulled off the precise kick pass across the small square from the left which found Anderson close to goal, making for a simple finish.

Tyrone led by 2-5 to 0-4 at half-time and reeled off further points from Leo Meenan and O'Neill in the third quarter before Gormley's 42nd minute goal.

The number six was high up the pitch and capitalised on a turnover in the Roscommon rearguard by sprinting clear and applying a neat side footed finish to the net.

Taggart added Tyrone's fourth goal early in stoppage time though both sides had unloaded their benches at that stage to ensure that everyone could say they featured in the All-Ireland final.

Tyrone scorers: M Anderson (1-1); C Gormley, M Donnelly, M Taggart (1-0 each); L Meenan (0-3, 2 frees); B Daly (0-2, 1 free); D Kelly, S O'Neill (0-1 each).

Roscommon scorers: S Fahy (4 frees), G Heneghan (3 frees) (0-4 each); R Cox (0-1).

Tyrone: C Tuohey; D McDevitt, A Brady, L Patterson; C McGurk, C Gormley, G Coney; M McGrath, B Collins; B Daly, S O'Neill, M Donnelly; L Meenan, M Anderson, D Kelly.

Subs: M Brannigan for Kelly (19); J O'Neill for McGrath (21); R Quinn for Anderson (22); E McFadden for Donnelly (29); N McFadden for Daly (35); McGrath for Collins & D McAnallen for McFadden (43); P Clarke for McGurk and K O'Kane for McDevitt (46); A Harley for Coney (49); P Donnelly for J O'Neill & Collins for Gormley (50); M Taggart for Quinn and P Tuohey for Meenan (54); D Coyle for McAnallen (56); K McQuade for McFadden & C Nicholas for Patterson and P Ward for Tuohey (59); M Donnelly for S O'Neill (61).

Roscommon: J McHugh; P Kelly, C Beirne, M McNaMa; S Ryan, P O'Connor, D Delaney; B Higgins; D Foley; N Connolly, R Cox, U Kelly; S Fahy, I Kilbride, G Heneghan.

Subs: A Frayne for Ryan (19); R Nolan for Kilbride & D Kelly for U Kelly (22); D Caslin for Beirne (35); S Keane for Nolan (43); J Towey for O'Connor and G Leech for Connolly (47); D Scahill for Fahy (50); R Kelly for McNaMa (54); J Tarmey for R Cox & D Beirne for P Kelly (55); D Hussey for McHugh, D McTiernan for Heneghan and R Beirne for Foley (59); N Finneran for Higgins and G Nugent for D Kelly (61); D Cryan for Frayne (63).

Ref: R McBrien (Leitrim/Longford).