O Fiaich Cup final: Tyrone 2-15 Louth 0-8
TYRONE will hit the ground running in the new year, having generated some festive cheer and momentum with pre-Christmas silverware.
They coasted to victory over Louth in the O Fiaich Cup final at Crossmaglen, recovering from a sluggish start to perform with authority for 45 minutes.
A blend of promising newcomers and experienced heads provided manager Mickey Harte with generous options as he gets down to the task of building a squad capable of challenging at the business end of the 2016 season.
It was established pair Tiernan McCann and Connor McAliskey who grabbed the goals, but there were valuable contributions from a number of new recruits, including Lee Brennan, Kieran McGeary, Padraig Hampsey and Hugh Pat McGeary.
Louth were ahead with 10 minutes to play in the first half, while playing into the breeze, but the Red Hands worked out a way to break down the Leinster side’s defence, and once they established understanding and a measure of fluency, they never looked like losing.
And an injection of seasoned players off the bench for the second half helped them maintain a structured and effective strategy.
Louth got men behind the ball to stifle Tyrone’s efforts to establish a platform, and did so effectively, restricting the wind-assisted Red Hands to just two points in the opening 27 minutes.
Ronan O’Neill landed a long range effort, but the industry of Adrian Reid and Declan Byrne, allied to defensive steel from Patrick Reilly and Padraig Rath held Tyrone at bay for a frustrating quarter of an hour, during which they hit a rash of wides.
Louth, with Tommy Durnin and Dan O’Connell beginning to emerge at midfield, grew in confidence, pushing forward for Byrne and Gerard McSorley to steer over stylish point as they hit the front in the 26th minute.
However, that setback spurred Tyrone into action, and the lead was short-lived. With Tiernan McCann, Kieran McGeary and Conal McCann driving from deep, and Richie Donnelly covering plenty of ground, they began to operate efficiently and productively.
Debutant McGeary, captain of this year’s All-Ireland winning U21 team, landed a spectacular long range score, and there were points from Brennan, Conal McCann and Ronan O’Neill as they hit the target five times in the space of eight minutes.
In stoppage time, Tyrone grabbed a goal that was to push them into a point of no return. McGeary and Brennan combined in a move that pierced the heart of the Louth defence, and when the ball broke loose, Tiernan McCann stooped to punch home from close range, sending his side in with a 1-7 to 0-3 interval lead.
Louth hit a couple of points early in the second half through McSorley and Michael Rafferty, but Tyrone’s grip on the contest was never going to be loosened.
Goalkeeper Neil Gallagher was unable to find a kick-out strategy that provided his side with even a modest share of possession, with Tyrone winning clean and broken possession to keep the pressure on the Wee county.
Richie Donnelly, Connor McAliskey, Lee Brennan, Mark Bradley and Niall Sludden all fired over points, and in the 58th minute, they ended any glimmer of Louth hopes with a second goal.
A free from Brennan fell to substitute McAliskey, and he rifled the ball into the net for a 14-point lead.
Louth did respond with scores from McEneaney frees and a wonderful McSorley point, but Tyrone were never troubled, and completed the job with Cathal McShane becoming the 10th Red Hand player to score, and Brennan bringing his tally to six points on the occasion of his first Tyrone start.
Tyrone: M O’Neill, A McCrory, P Hampsey, HP McGeary, T McCann (1-0), C Clarke, K McGeary (0-1), H Og Conlan, R Donnelly (0-1), C McCann (0-1), R O’Neill (0-2, 0-1 free), N Sludden (0-1), P Quinn, L Brennan (0-6, 0-5 free), D Mulgrew.
Subs: P Harte for C McCann, B Tierney for K McGeary, C McAliskey (1-1) for Mulgrew, P McNulty for Conlan, M Bradley (0-1) for Quinn, N Morgan for M O’Neill, C McShane (0-1) for R O’Neill, C McCann for Donnelly
Louth: N Gallagher, P Rath, P Reilly, K Murphy, E Lafferty, D McMahon, D Maguire, T Durnin, D O’Connell, A Reid, M Rafferty (0-1), D Byrne (0-1), G McSorley (0-3), B Flanagan, J McEneaney (0-3 frees).
Subs: K McLoughlin for Maguire, D Quigley for Reilly, T McEneaney for Flanagan, J Califf for Rafferty.
Referee: P Hughes (Armagh).
