Sport

Monaghan edge Tyrone by a single point in Ulster derby

Connor McAliskey (Tyrone) and Drew Wylie (Monaghan) in action at Castleblayney on Saturday evening Picture by Oliver McVeigh (Sportsfile)
Connor McAliskey (Tyrone) and Drew Wylie (Monaghan) in action at Castleblayney on Saturday evening Picture by Oliver McVeigh (Sportsfile) Connor McAliskey (Tyrone) and Drew Wylie (Monaghan) in action at Castleblayney on Saturday evening Picture by Oliver McVeigh (Sportsfile)

Allianz Football League Division One: Monaghan 0-15 Tyrone 0-14

MONAGHAN gained two valuable points in their efforts to retain their Division One status, while simultaneously edging Tyrone closer to Division Two, with this one-point victory over Mickey Harte's side in Castleblayney on Saturday evening.

Both sides had periods of dominance over the 70 minutes, the home side getting off to a flying start to lead by four points after just seven minutes. Three of those scores came from Fintan Kelly in as many minutes and Shane Carey had added another from a free before Tyrone opened their account through Colm Cavanagh, making his first start of the campaign.

Monaghan manager Malachy O'Rourke acknowledged the importance of his side getting out of the blocks quickly, but was equally disappointed by the performance for the remainder of the half, which saw the Red Hands claw their way back to lead 0-7 to 0-6 at half-time.

''In the first half we got off to a great start,'' said O'Rourke.

''We were playing good football but then we started to give the ball away and lose possession and if you do that against Tyrone they will punish you and they were able to punish us on a number of occasions.”

After Cavanagh's opener for Tyrone, Lee Brennan hit the first of his eight points – which all came from from frees – in the 13th minute and Tyrone began to establish a foothold in vital areas while the home side's play became somewhat scrappy.

Still, Monaghan would have been confident of taking a lead into the interval when they led by 0-6 to 0-3 on the half-hour, only for Tyrone to finish the half strongly with four unanswered points – two from frees by Brennan, one from Peter Harte and an excellent finish to a counter-attack from Michael McKernan.

Within four minutes of the resumption, though, Monaghan were back in front with points from Jack McCarron and Rory Beggan from frees, but Tyrone responded with another purple patch of their own which saw Brennan convert three frees in quick succession.

Monaghan fought back to level as substitute Conor McManus pointed two frees and O'Rourke was delighted with the impact made by his scoring talisman and his fellow substitutes.

“Yes, Conor coming in was definitely a boost and he conjured up a couple of great scores,'' he said.

''But others who came in also did well. Karl O’Connell added impetus going forward at a vital time, Owen Duffy also worked hard and Kieran Duffy did well in the defence when he came in.

''All the lads who came in did well and they introduced a different aspect to play at a vital time. That’s what the game is about at the moment, having strength in depth and you need all the boys there in a match like that to help you over the line.”

After McManus's frees Tyrone regained the lead with a point by Niall Sludden entering the final quarter, but the home side increased the tempo significantly at this stage to hit four unanswered points – Jack McCarron from a free, Conor McManus, Dessie Ward and substitute Owen Duffy – to lead by three going into the final five minutes of normal time. Rory Beggan, with his third conversion of the evening, then extended the lead to four with four minutes left, but Tyrone then staged a battling finish to try and salvage the situation.

A point from Richard Donnelly and two frees from Brennan left it a one-point game, but the Red Hands couldn't find that levelling score.

“I thought we were good enough early in the second half to maybe get something out of the game,'' said Tyrone manager Mickey Harte.

''But then Monaghan went four up at a critical time, although I have to say our boys showed a lot of courage and determination to fight back to a one-point game.

''In that time we had three or four other chances to be better than that, but we didn’t take them and when you don’t take chances like that when they come up in numbers like that you pay the price, because it’s very fine margins that separate things in this league.''

“It’s very disappointing but then we made a disappointing start because we didn’t get out of the blocks until after Monaghan were four points up and quite honestly I think we were a wee bit flattered to be up at half-time.

Monaghan: R Beggan 0-3 (3f), C Walshe 0-1, C Boyle, R Wylie, D Mone, D Wylie, V Corey, D Hughes, N Kearns, S Carey 0-1 (f), F Kelly 0-3, D Ward 0-1, J McCarron 0-2 (2f), T Kerr, C McCarthy

Subs: K O’Connell for D Mone (43), Kieran Duffy for C Walshe (46), C McManus 0-3 (2f) for T Kerr, O Duffy 0-1 for S Carey (53), K Hughes for J McCarron (65), D Malone for C McCarthy (69)

Tyrone: N Morgan, M McKernan 0-1, R McNamee, C McCarron, C Meyler, P Hampsey, K McGeary, C Cavanagh 0-1, M Donnelly 0-1, C McCann, N Sludden 0-1, P Harte 0-1, L Brennan 0-8 (8f), R Donnelly 0-1, C McAliskey

Subs: HP McGeary for C McCarron (22),M Bradey for C McAliskey (46), D Mulgrew for C McCann (56), D McCurry for D Mulgrew (Black Card 60), P McNulty for R Donnelly (69)

Referee: C Lane (Cork)