Harte’s Tyrone avoid an upset in qualifiers as Carlow cannot back up early goal
THEY will not write any poetry about this AllIreland football qualifier, that’s for sure. Sun-kissed Netwatch Cullen Park witnessed two counterattacking systems collide, resulting in a brief stalemate before the inevitable conclusion of a win for the more seasoned and talented side.
Back-to-back wins keep Mickey Harte’s side on course to navigate all four rounds of qualifiers for the third time in six seasons. As for Carlow, who kicked just one point from open play until injury-time, their season is over.
They’ll make no apologies for playing so conservatively at the end of a year that yielded promotion to Division 3 and a Leinster semi-final place.
Tyrone’s 91st Championship game under Harte, and their 61st win, never looked in doubt and second-half goals from Niall Sludden, Peter Harte and Richard Donnelly sealed it.
‘Carlow lived with us for the first half,’ said Tyrone half-back Frank Burns. ‘We aimed to go in leading at half-time which we did, we were three points ahead, which left them chasing the game. When we got the first few scores in the second half they had to come out and play and we capitalised on that.’
Burns described the win as a little piece of history.
‘It’s Tyrone’s first time playing Carlow ever in the Championship, so I’m told, and we’d never been down to this so-called bear pit, a small field and it was never going to be easy,’ he added.
Only it was, easy that is, and Harte’s side always looked good value to progress to tomorrow morning’s Round 3 draw.
Carlow fancied their chances of an upset having led Monaghan here in Round 3 of last year’s qualifiers with 10 minutes to go. They were boosted by a vocal home support in the 6,353 crowd who raised the roof when Darragh O’Brien smashed in a 16th-minute goal.
Paul Broderick had opened the scoring for Carlow and then played the ball in from the left to the back post where O’Brien was on hand to convert.
The strike left Carlow sitting pretty with a 1-2 to 0-3 advantage but they didn’t score again until the 40th minute.
Time and again the side promoted from Division 4 this year probed forward only to be gobbled up by Tyrone’s well drilled defence.
The Red Hands weren’t exactly prolific at the other end but scored five points in a row to close out the first half.
Conor McAliskey, fresh from his 1-8 haul in the Round 1 win over Meath, hit three of those points.
Michael McKernan set up one of those with a long ball
in and Harte did the spadework for another.
Matty Donnelly twice punished Carlow for slack defending with fine points from the left wing as Tyrone hit the break with a 0-8 to 1-2 lead.
It was all too easy after that, in truth, as Tyrone pulled decisively clear in the third quarter with points from McAliskey, the excellent Harte, Declan McClure and Niall Sludden.
Carlow manager Turlough O’Brien spoke afterwards about the ‘magic’ of playmaker Harte who set up Sludden’s goal and then stroked home a 66th minute penalty. Donnelly wrapped it up with Tyrone’s third goal in injury-time.