Football

Substitute Sean Cavanagh the main man for Tyrone as they beat wasteful 13-man Monaghan at Healy Park

Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh steals a march on Monaghan's Gavin Doogan during yesterday's Allianz Football League Division One clash at Healy Park <br />Picture by Philip Walsh
Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh steals a march on Monaghan's Gavin Doogan during yesterday's Allianz Football League Division One clash at Healy Park
Picture by Philip Walsh
Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh steals a march on Monaghan's Gavin Doogan during yesterday's Allianz Football League Division One clash at Healy Park
Picture by Philip Walsh

Allianz Football League Division One: Tyrone 0-14 Monaghan 0-10

PLAYING with two extra men for more than half-an-hour, Tyrone lost the second half of this Ulster derby by eight points to five.

Given the system that the Red Hands employ – and its supreme effectiveness before the break – this should not have been possible.

And his side’s failure to comfortably close out the game after Monaghan had two players sent off was a source of dismay to manager Mickey Harte.

Perhaps his comments fell short of acknowledging the heroic effort of the depleted Farneymen, who threw caution to the wind, ran themselves to a standstill, and had a real go at getting something from this Healy Park tie.

Monaghan did come close to extending their unbeaten run, and it was only the introduction of Red Hand legend Sean Cavanagh that secured the win for the home side, the treble All-Ireland winner kicking three late scores to guide his side over the line.

“We’d be very disappointed with our second half performance and really the game was won in the first half when we played really well and kicked some great scores,” said Harte.

After 35 minutes of frustration for a Monaghan side that had won in Killarney a week earlier, Tyrone led by 0-9 to 0-2, and the margin should have been greater, for Peter Harte made a rare miss from the penalty spot, sending his 10th minute kick wide.

The Ulster champions defended in numbers and broke at pace, picking off spectacular scores through Conor Meyler, Tiernan McCann, Darren McCurry and Frank Burns.

Monaghan were forced to work the ball laterally and shoot from distance, missing the target from a succession of attempts, before the excellent Jack McCarron finally opened their account in the 25th minute.

Harte atoned for his earlier miss with three points in the space of six minutes, with Justin McMahon becoming the third defender to score as the gap grew to seven points by the halfway stage.

“We were very happy at half-time, even though the penalty was missed and another shot for goal came off the post,” Harte added.

“But then again Michael O’Neill pulled off a great save, so the chances were there for both teams and Monaghan missed a number of chances in the first half that they won’t be happy with. It’s swings and roundabouts and ultimately the win was the most important thing.

“It was good to have produced a good first half because there was the danger of staleness against opponents who had won very well last week. The players were up for the challenge, they played a lot of good football with composure and patience and had some great finishing.

“Being able to start the game well was critical to the final result and if we’d played in the first half the way we did in the second period, then we would have two points.

That O’Neill save came early in the second half, just after Monaghan defender Fintan Kelly had picked up a second booking. Conor McManus and Conor McCarthy combined to send Dessie Ward clear, but the Tyrone ’keeper came off his line and spread himself to keep out the shot. McManus converted the resultant 45 and, despite the straight red card dismissal of Dermot Malone on 40 minutes, Monaghan continued to dominate possession and pressed strongly against a home defence that now looked a lot less organised.

McCarron arrowed over a sublime sideline ball, and goalkeeper Rory Beggan punted a couple of long-range frees between the posts. Workrate was everything for the Farney county at this stage, and all 13 of them gave their all in a truly united effort.

Kieran Hughes pushed up to the edge of the square, fetched and pointed to reduce the gap to three with 15 minutes to play, and Tyrone’s raiding game was nullified by the Wylie brothers, Drew and Ryan and Neil McAdam.

“We pegged them back and maybe had a chance of winning the game. Overall, we gave Tyrone too big of a start and paid for that,” Monaghan manager Malachy O’Rourke reflected.

And so it proved too much for his side as Cavanagh inspired the Red Hand, in front of a crowd of 5,635, with a couple of vintage scores from play and a converted free.

McManus and McCarron kept the visitors very much in the hunt with well-executed scores, but Harte’s fourth score kept them at arm’s length.

“We probably had as much possession as them and I’m not sure about the number of attacks. The disappointment is that we didn’t penetrate enough and weren’t definite enough with our shots and kicked a few either wide or short,” said O’Rourke.

“Overall, it was disappointing and everybody knew at half-time that our game would have to be upped if we were going to have any chance. There was a goal chance at the start of the second half which certainly would have done that.

“Losing the two players who were sent off meant that we had to sink or swim. In fairness, the team put in a great shift. It wasn’t just a rearguard action because I felt they played some good football and carved out some good scoring opportunities.”

Unbeaten after three games, Tyrone have an opportunity to extend that run at Healy Park next weekend in their re-fixed tie against Cavan, and Harte is happy with the side’s home record.

“It’s not fair to say that our record isn’t good here because the last defeat was two years ago and that was down to a dubious point against Cork. That’s over two years ago now, so we can’t be that bad at home.

“We’ve got a real desire to get our home points this year and if we can achieve that then it’s a big step towards retaining our Division One status.”

O’Rourke is also looking forward to home comforts, and to the return of key players Darren Hughes and Colin Walshe, who both missed the Healy Park derby due to injury.

“The fact that we played last Sunday and the loss of three players from that game did have an impact. There just wasn’t the normal energy and workrate and we’ll be glad of the break and to have a home game next time out against Roscommon.”

Tyrone: M O’Neill; P Hampsey, R McNamee, C McCarron; T McCann (0-2), J McMahon (0-1), F Burns (0-1); C Cavanagh, D McClure; C Meyler (0-1), K McGeary, P Harte (0-4, 0-2 frees); D McCurry (0-2), M Donnelly, R O’Neill.


Subs: S Cavanagh (0-3, 0-1 free) for Donnelly (blood sub 15-21), C McShane for Burns (45), S Cavanagh for McClure (51), A McCrory for  McCarron (59), C McCann for O’Neill (61)


Monaghan: R Beggan (0-2 frees); F Kelly, D Wylie, R Wylie; K Duffy, N McAdam, R McAnespie; O Coyle, K Hughes (0-2); T Kerr, D Malone, G Doogan; K O’Connell, J McCarron (0-4, 0-2 frees), C McManus (0-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 45).


Subs: D Ward for Duffy (h-t), C McCarthy for Kerr (h-t), S Gollogly for Doogan (61), J Mealiff for McAnespie (61).


Referee: P Hughes (Armagh).

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