Mournemen dominate to keep the dream alive
Offaly Down 0-9 0-17
DOWN kept their promotion hopes alive with a convincing win over Offaly in a windswept O’Connor Park yesterday.
Down started without captain Darren O’Hagan and top marksman Donal O’Hare and while this was a blow, they didn’t show any ill effects as their replacements James Guinness and Daniel Guinness (below) stepped up.
Down had the wind to their backs in the opening half and they took advantage with several stunning long-range points, most notably from Cory Quinn and Kilcoo’s Celium Doherty on his first National League start.
Barry O’Hagan and Offaly’s Anton Sullivan traded points in the third and fourth minutes, which indicated a tight tussle, but the Faithful footballers were forced to wait another 26 minutes for their next score, in which time Down had taken a commanding sixpoint lead.
James Guinness and Doherty put Down ahead before Kevin McKernan was sin-binned for 10 minutes after body-checking Michael Brazil, yet Down held their shape and increased their lead with two Barry O’Hagan points before McKernan’s return.
Down pressed up for the later part of the second half and with young Liam Kerr and Doherty influential, they stormed ahead. Barry O’Hagan and James Guinness added to their tally before Bernard Allen replied with Offaly’s second and last point of the half.
James Guinness grabbed his third point, Barry O’Hagan his fifth and Kerr got off the mark with a converted free.
There was a huge cheer from the large Down crowd when Quinn’s ambitious 50m effort curled between the posts, but they were reduced to 14 men for the second time as Johnny Flynn was sin-binned.
Down led 0-11 to 0-02 at the break but with the wind behind them Offaly made more of a game of it during the second period and with 55 minutes gone had cut the lead to 0-07 to 0-13.
Quinn and Kerr pointed for Down but Ruairi McNamee, Sullivan and Brazil fired over wind-assisted points and Offaly could have bagged a goal had it not been for Peter Fegan’s block on Peter Cunningham.
Eoin Carroll split the posts with a beauty before picking up a second yellow and subsequent red on 59 minutes but Barry O’Hagan’s sixth point and substitute Connaire Harrison’s first of the campaign kept Down in the driving seat.
Scorers: Down: O’Hagan 0-6, 0-4 frees, Guinness 0-3, Kerr 0-3, 0-1 free, Quinn 0-2, Doherty 0-1, Harrison 0-1, McCabe 0-1. Offaly: McNamee 0-3, 0-2 frees, Sullivan 0-2, Allen 0-1, Brazil 0-1, Carroll 0-1, Leavy 0-1.
TYRONE: N Morgan 0-4f; M Cassidy, R McNamee, L Rafferty 0-1; M McKernan, R Brennan 1-1, M O’Neill; C Cavanagh, P Hampsey; F Burns, N Sludden, D McCurry 0-1f; P Harte 0-2, B Kennedy, C Meyler 0-1 Subs: B McDonnell for Kennedy (HT), T McCann for O’Neill (45m), K Coney for Sludden (61m), R O’Neill for McKernan (65m), N Kelly for Hampsey (70m)
DUBLIN: E Comerford; M Fitzsimons; E O’Brien, D Byrne; E Murchan, B Howard, C O’Shea 0-1; B Fenton 0-1, J McCarthy; C Basquel 1-0, S Bugler, N Scully 0-1; P Mannion, C Kilkenny, D Rock 0-4f
Subs: J McCaffrey for O’Brien (HT), K McManamon for Bugler (45m), J Small for Fitzsimons (49m), C Costello for Basquel (61m), A Byrne for McCaffrey (65m)
Referee: Cormac Reilly (Meath) Attendance: 3,850
ONCE the final whistle was blown to end this rather odd, certainly strange league win for Tyrone over Dublin, manager Mickey Harte stayed on his game.
He walked over to new Dublin manager Dessie Farrell, shook his hand, greeted a few of the Dubs players and then went straight to his goalscoring hero Rory Brennan, who only a matter of minutes before had rattled the net and put the game — for once — beyond their rivals.
Brennan was then presented for the post-match interview duties and, while probably not the most demonstrative being to begin with, gave a series of very businesslike answers to the questions posed.
There was no point in Tyrone getting excited or showing any glee at beating Dublin, especially given that the game shouldn’t actually have been played such were the horrendous conditions as Storm Jorge followed up the earlier work of Storms Ciara and Dennis to leave most of the island in a dreadful state.
That aside, Tyrone’s ability to come out on top of a dogfight has probably saved them in this league. Against Kerry in Edendork, the conditions were similarly dreadful and they carved out a win there. Here, they struggled badly in the third quarter after Padraig Hampsey was black-carded before the game restarted — evidently for his role in the tunnel fight — and Dublin moved into a two-point lead after being level at the break.
At that stage, the All-Ireland champions usually assume control of a game’s flow — but this was no normal night, and the pitch and weather wouldn’t permit it. Darren McCurry converted a free before goalkeeper Niall Morgan hit three consecutive Tyrone frees to grab the lead.
His fine motor skills were appreciated by his manager.
“It’s critical,” said Harte afterwards.
“The last two games we’ve won, his kicking off the ground has been critical. We did a serious amount of work to win those frees and if they’re being missed, that work is in vain. When you get a score, the players feel good, that it’s worth working for those frees.”
A Dean Rock free levelled the game for the sixth time before the Red Hands did to Dublin what Dublin do to so many by hitting a late goal.
Credit must go to substitute Tiernan McCann who began a move down the right flank and combined with Liam Rafferty. A late run came in the guise of Brennan and the trailing Dublin defence couldn’t quite read his angle. The Trillick man made straight for goal and put it high into the roof of the net beyond Evan Comerford.
A few things. There was only one minute of normal time left at this point. Just four minutes — correctly — were awarded for time added on and crucially, referee Cormac Reilly stuck to this.
Without a pristine pitch to execute their game-saving plays,