Allianz Hurling League Division 3A final: Tyrone 2-21 Armagh 2-19
TYRONE finally realised their cherished title dream with derby victory over Armagh in a thrilling NHL Division 3A final at Owenbeg.
It was a decider that lived up to all the pre-match expectation, with a rousing Orchard comeback threatening to overhaul a commanding Red Hand lead.
But Michael McShane’s side held on to clinch promotion to Division 2B, and once again, ace finisher Damian Casey was the man who made it all possible.
A 1-10 haul, including a brilliant first half goal, from the Dungannon Eoghan Ruadh man, made a massive contribution to the county’s first success at this level in three decades.
But Armagh, who trailed by ten points at one stage, were in contention right to the finish, forcing their neighbours to defender their slender advantage desperately.
The Red Hands made a flying start with a goal from CJ McGourty inside the first two minutes, the former Antrim attacker netting clinically following Conor Grogan’s strong run.
Tyrone, with a slight breeze to their backs, they kept the momentum strong, adding points through Tiernan Murphy, Grogan and Chris Kearns.
Armagh took some time to settle, but got their challenge going with scores from Nathan Curry, Fionntan Donnelly and Dean Gaffney.
Tyrone dominance was restored when Casey went through for a brilliantly executed individual goal, and even when Donnelly sent over a couple of frees to trim the deficit to six, it looked as if the Red Hands were in control.
But the Orchard men revived their challenge with a goal just before the interval, Gaffney’s ling range effort going all the way to the net for a somewhat fortuitous three-pointer
Tyrone still held a comfortable 2-12 to 1-8 lead at the turnaround, but Armagh started the second half with renewed purpose, pulling back scores through Curry and Shea Harvey.
And when Curry fired home a 47th minute goal the game was right back in the melting pot.
Even when Casey steadied the ship with a volley of scores from frees and play, they could not shake off the Orchard challenge.
Shea Harvey, Gaffney and Stephen Reneghan all found the target and soon the gap was narrowed back to just two.
The Armagh men pressed late in the game, but met strong resistance from defenders Ruairi Devlin, Dermot Begley and Dean Rafferty, with McGourty and Casey trading scores with Harvey and Reneghan.
Armagh had a late chance to save the game wen Gaffney went for goal from a free, but the Tyrone defence held firm
Tyrone: C McElhatton, O McKee, L Devlin (0-1), C McNally, R Devlin (0-1), C Kearns (0-1), D Begley (0-1), A Crossan, C Grogan (0-1), B McGurk, D Casey (1-10, 0-9 frees), R Weir, T Murphy (0-4), R Slane (0-1), CJ McGourty (1-1).
Subs: D Rafferty for Crossan, T Morgan for Weir, S Og Grogan for C Grogan, SP McKernan for Begley.
Armagh: S Doherty, C Rice, T Nevin, P Quinn, P Lappin, S Gaffney, K McKernan, F Donnelly (0-5, 0-4 frees), P McBride (0-1), S Toal (0-1), J Shortt, D Gaffney (1-4, 0-2 frees), D Magee, N Curry (1-3), S Harvey (0-3).
Subs: R Gaffney for Shortt, S Renaghan (0-2) for Donnelly, T O'Neill for Lappin.
Referee: C Flynn (Westmeath).
