Dr McKenna Cup Section B: Derry 0-10 Tyrone 0-10
IF you’re looking to take something substantive out of a very decent McKenna Cup tie in Owenbeg, you can only surmise that the Derry-Tyrone rivalry is very much alive again.
There’s loads of football to be played but the reaction of the Derry fans to Lachlan Murray’s equaliser six minutes into stoppage time, earning them a place in Sunday's semi-final against Down in Newry that had seemed unlikely for most of the night, was rapturous.
It felt like far more than what it was at that stage. The last ten minutes were thick and physical and great.
The other takeaway was Cathal McShane.
The Leckpatrick man was Gaelic football’s new breakout star in 2019 when he moved to full-forward but injuries have hampered him badly ever since.
He cut a frustrated figure in Omagh last summer, taken off at half-time as Derry gazumped Tyrone, but while it may only be January, there were signs that he could be a force to be reckoned with again this year.
His final point of the first half was particularly notable. With Tyrone - who face Cavan in Saturday's semi-final at Kingspan Breffni - on the break, McShane made four different runs. He showed left, then right, then in behind for the ball over the top before finally coming short on to the pass when it eventually came.
As he collected the ball, McShane had his mind made up. He slipped past enough of the tackle to get his right-footed shot away. The angle wasn’t simple but the previous 34 minutes had told you the outcome. He was on form.
His left-footed effort on 52 minutes was equally impressive. Coming hard off the shoulder after Conn Kilpatrick had eaten up the yards, McShane didn’t hesitate to thump it over off his left from 25 yards.
Three of his points came in a first half that ended with Tyrone leading by four, 0-7 to 0-3.
Derry had ten of their Ulster-winning starting side on from the beginning, up against eight of Tyrone’s All-Ireland winning class of ’21.
With Chrissy McKaigue a late omission, Mark Doherty came in for an Oak Leaf debut in the half-back line containing his brother Conor.
Of the new breed, Dromore’s Nathan McCarron was like a rash on Shane McGuigan, tormenting him. Sometimes it was legal, sometimes it wasn’t, but it was mightily effective.
Tyrone were a team trying things. Most notably, they kept rotating a big man to full-forward. Brian Kennedy did brilliantly in one stint to grab an awkward ball at his feet and win a free off Brendan Rogers. Kennedy shaded their midfield battle for 45 minutes but Rogers finished strong.
Richie Donnelly and Conn Kilpatrick both rotated in as well. At one stage Kilpatrick was in with six inches in height to spare against Niall Toner, but the delivery of the pass was too long and let them down.
Kilpatrick showed up very well too. He was unfortunate with a few refereeing decisions, denying him a great mark at midfield and two frees in front of goal in the second half.
As with January football, the wind had its impact. Tyrone’s running game looked powerful in the first half, particularly down the middle, whereas Derry caused them more trouble after the break.
Tyrone changed their match-ups as Rory Gallagher altered his attack. Anton Tohill came on inside, so Padraig Hampsey moved on to Shane McGuigan and Oisin McWilliams, who did really well, gave Nathan McCarron a bit more bother.
Derry hemmed them in for most of the second half and kicked three frees in four minutes to cut the arrears back to two with ten minutes to go, 0-10 to 0-8.
Shane McGuigan and Niall Toner shared them but the Slaughtneil man and McWilliams, whose shooting was the black mark against his name, both missed further chances.
Brendan Rogers kicked a brilliant score to bring it back to one and McShane dropped one short as the game stayed alive.
Things got physical at the death as Padraig Cassidy and Padraig Hampsey clashed. There was nothing serious in it but when Hampsey earned a straight red, Cassidy was lucky to get away with yellow for basically the same thing. Gareth McKinless was also given a second booking for squaring up to Brian Dooher, and the 3,327 fans really got into it as it turned into proper Derry-Tyrone stuff.
The ref allowed one more play after Peter Harte sliced a free wide that would have killed it, and Murray kicked a brilliant equaliser that marks him out as someone we’ll be seeing a lot more of this year.
All night he looked a stronger, more direct version of the player whose game time dried up as last year went on.
On a pitch that was good but soft in parts, he made possession stick well against Cormac Munroe.
Consider the stage set for 2023.
Derry: O Lynch; M Doherty, E McEvoy, C McCluskey; C Doherty (0-1), G McKinless, P McGrogan; Paul Cassidy, B Rogers (0-1); N Toner (0-4, 0-3f), Padraig Cassidy, N Loughlin; B McCarron, S McGuigan (0-3, 0-2f), L Murray (0-1)
Subs: O McWilliams for Loughlin (27), D Cassidy for M Doherty (38), A Tohill for McCarron (43)
Red card: G McKinless (68, second yellow)
Tyrone: B Gallen; N McCarron, P Hampsey, C Munroe (0-1); C Quinn, P Harte, N Devlin; B Kennedy (0-1), R Donnelly (0-1); C Meyler (0-1), C Kilpatrick, D Mulgrew, N Sludden (0-1 mark); C McShane (0-5, 0-2f), M Donnelly
Subs: M McKernan for C Quinn (HT), K McGeary for Sludden (43), D Canavan for M Donnelly (58), E McNabb for Mulgrew (58), F Burns for R Donnelly (73)
Red card: P Hampsey (68, straight red)
Referee: N Cullen (Fermanagh)
Attendance: 3,327
