Connolly's of Moy Tyrone SFC round one
Moortown 2-8 Donaghmore 1-10
Moortown held on for a narrow Tyrone SFC win over Donaghmore at the Dungannon hurling grounds tonight to set up a quarter-final clash with champions Errigal Ciaran.
They out-smarted their opponents in a tense, low-scoring second half to squeeze through by a single point.
Peter Devlin grabbed a Moortown goal in the opening stages, finishing from close range on the rebound after Lorcan Quinn had saved from Blaine Ryan.
With the wind in their backs, they opened out a six-point lead through Ryan Kelly, before Donaghmore began to get their running game going in the second quarter.
They outscored their opponents by six points to one in a 12-minute spell, with Johnny McKenna and Conor Cush hitting two each, and it was corner-back Shea Hamill who broke a couple of tackles to bring them level in the 28th minute.
But the loughshore men finished the half as they had started it, with a stoppage-time goal, centreback Tarlach Quinn charging through to unleash an unstoppable shot off Connor Quinn’s assist.
They led by 2-5 to 0-8 at the break, but the third quarter failed to produce a single score as both defences excelled in forcing turnovers.
Moortown lost key man Brian McLernon to a black card on 45 minutes, but restored their three-point advantage through Paudraic O’Hagan, after Donaghmore goalkeeper Lorcan Quinn had converted a 50-metre free.
Donaghmore grabbed a goal through corner-back James McCann on 55 minutes, and Ronan Donnelly levelled to set up a big finish.
And it was McLernon who returned to the action to hit the stoppage-time winner.
Moortown scorers: P Devlin, T Quinn 1-0 each, R Kelly, S Lawn (2m) 0-2 each, C Quinn, C McGuigan, P O’Hagan, B McLernon 0-1 each
Donaghmore scorers: J McCann 1-0, C Cush 0-3 (1f, 1m), R Donnelly, J McKenna 0-2 each, B Molloy, C McCann, S Hamill 0-1 each
