Football

Peter Harte stands out in a fine Tyrone team performance

Peter Harte celebrates his penalty goal, the highlight of a man-of the match performance
Peter Harte celebrates his penalty goal, the highlight of a man-of the match performance Peter Harte celebrates his penalty goal, the highlight of a man-of the match performance

All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Tyrone 3-17 Armagh 0-8

PLAYER RATINGS

Tyrone

Niall Morgan: Mixed up the length of his kick-outs but maintained his accuracy, as he did in converting two frees, although he drifted one right and short. Untroubled. 7

Aidan McCrory: Up against Gavin McParland and took him away from danger, appearing in both corner-forward areas himself at different times. 6.5

Ronan McNamee: As with Donegal's Neil McGee, we're sometimes told he has no defending to do; the fact remains he blotted out Stefan Campbell and got forward himself. 7

Cathal McCarron: Survived an opening minute injury scare and stuck closely to Jamie Clarke, giving up only one point from play. Booked twice in a minute to get a second consecutive red card. 6.5

Tiernan McCann: Scored his side's fifth point, also did good defensive work in first half. Increasingly powered forward, forcing yellow and black cards and getting a (strangely unpunished) knee to the head. 7.5

Padraig Hampsey: Didn't hit his provincial heights, with loose passes off boot and hand, but the Armagh half-forward line didn't get into the game either. 6.5

Peter Harte (STAR MAN): Another all-action display from Tyrone’s plucky number seven. The personification of his team’s pace and power, so quick and so strong in possession. Confidently converted the penalty and also scored two points from play. Brilliant before the break, very good after it, apart from the sloppy hand-pass that led to Colm Cavanagh getting clattered. 8.5

Colm Cavanagh: Scored the opening point, broke tackles, made a block, but also kicked a wide and got booked – all before half-time. Continued to exert influence, including a smart interception, before being forced off injured. 8

Conall McCann: Shot short and then was guilty of two wides but never let Joe McElroy make any impact before giving way to the more attacking Mulgrew. 6.5

Declan McClure: His Ulster Final midfield heroics earned a start but less involved on the right wing. Did take a point when he might have gone for goal. Caught in possession and delivered a poor kick-pass when Bradley could have been released on goal. 6.5

Niall Sludden: Laid off some lovely popped passes to the speeding Harte. Unusually, gave away possession at least once, and kicked two wides, but swept a superb pass to Mulgrew for his first goal and another that led to Sean Cavanagh's point. 7

Kieran McGeary: Provided his usual industry on the left flank but struck a wide and was caught in possession. Replaced by McCurry early in second half. 6.5

Mark Bradley: Able to find space away from marker Paul Hughes and sweeper Brendan Donaghy, kicking two early points, then another in second half. Constant, clever movement, not always well found by colleagues. 7.5

Sean Cavanagh: Very good first half from the captain, dropping deep to win ball and use it well. Worked hard throughout, scored three frees and a point. 7.5

Mattie Donnelly: Heavily involved before the break – assisting scores, tackling back, blocking. Scored a nice second half point and always available when required. 8

Substitutes:

David Mulgrew: The youngster made a great case to regain a starting place, confidently taking two goal chances and adding a point. 8.5

Darren McCurry: Struck two shots short and fumbled a hand-pass from Harte, but did get a point. 6

Rory Brennan: Replaced McCrory but had little to do in defence. 6

Ronan O'Neill: Didn't really get into the game apart from sending a late effort at goal wide from a tight angle. 6

Richie Donnelly: Shot a wide but provided final pass for Sean Cavanagh's point. 6

Justin McMahon: Came on for injured Colm Cavanagh, and slotted in comfortably as sweeper. 6

Armagh

Blaine Hughes: The young Carrickcruppen goalkeeper had a couple of costly malfunctions on his kick-outs, particularly in the first half, one of which led to Tyrone’s penalty. Despite a disappointing afternoon, Hughes has taken a few leaps forward this year. 5

James Morgan: A major surprise he didn’t shadow Mark Bradley on the edge of the square. Instead he was pushed up field to try to contain the runs of Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte, with little success. 5

Charlie Vernon: The veteran defender stuck to Sean Cavanagh like glue but his brother-in-law was in fine form on a day where everything stuck to him. 6

Paul Hughes: It didn’t make sense for him to do a man-marking job on Mark Bradley. Hughes has proven what a good front-foot defender he is during Armagh’s Championship run. The team sorely missed his forward thrusts and knack of popping up in scoring positions. 5

Brendan Donaghy: Arguably Armagh’s best player. Made a brilliant catch near his own goal in the 28th minute and injected pace and urgency into Armagh’s attacks from deep. Also defended really well. 7

Mark Shields: Black-carded after a desperate rugby-like tackle on Peter Harte. Thumped over a point seven minutes earlier but a frustrating day overall. 5

Joe McElroy: Got touch tight to his various markers at times but playing in that middle eight against such a slick machine like Tyrone was a thankless task. 5

Stephen Sheridan: Has made huge strides in the Armagh jersey this year. Forced to help out in defence and didn’t embark on any of his lung-bursting runs that have become his trademark. 5.5

Niall Grimley: Didn’t reach the heights of his Tipperary and Kildare performances but has grown in stature in 2017. 5

Rory Grugan: Armagh’s playmaker didn’t bring his shooting boots to Croke Park on Saturday. Tried to pick holes in the Tyrone defence but found there weren’t any. Hit three points. 6

Ciaran O’Hanlon: Didn’t settle and was replaced after the half hour mark as Armagh struggled to get to grips with Tyrone’s runners. 5

Aidan Forker: Defended well and his kick passes were good. Stayed disciplined and kept pushing right to the end. 6

Jamie Clarke: Armagh’s best attacker was turned over a few times but he did get free of Cathal McCarron on occasions to cause a bit of stress in the Tyrone defence. 6

Gavin McParland: Hit a beautiful point in the first half from 45 metres but was forced to do a lot of chasing back. An encouraging summer overall. 6

Stefan Campbell: Had a couple of efforts at Tyrone’s posts but ended the day scoreless and didn’t get much change out of Ronan McNamee on the edge of the square. 5

Substitutes

Oisin O’Neill: Made some direct runs down the centre of the pitch but there were roadblocks everywhere. 5.5

Anto Duffy: Plenty of effort and tried to contain some of Tiernan McCann’s raids. 5

Ethan Rafferty: No story-book points from under the Hogan Stand last weekend. Injury truncated his year. 5

Ben Crealey: Won’t see the best of the Maghery man until next season. 5

Ciaran McKeever: A bit-part role this year for the veteran defender. Played out the final 14 minutes at full-forward. 5

Darren McKenna: Not much time to impress. Inflicted a heavy hit on Tiernan McCann. 5