Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DERRY 0-11 TYRONE 0-20 YOU’VE GOT TO HAND IT TO KYLE
Coney back with a bang after four years out as supporters get first glimpse of Canavan Jr
TYRONE unveiled a star of the future last night as Darragh Canavan – the son of All-ireland winning legend Peter – made his senior debut at Celtic Park.
Boss Mickey Harte waited until the 45th minute of this Mckenna Cup opener to bring on his 18-year-old Errigal Ciaran clubmate, who gave an early glimpse of his talent with a classy injury-time score.
Canavan became the 11th different Tyrone scorer on the night but Harte will be just as chuffed by the displays of comeback stars Darren Mccurry, Conan Grugan and especially man-of-the-match Kyle Coney who dazzled in a playmaking role.
Tyrone struggled with the restricted hand pass rule in the first quarter. They were blown up three times for making a fourth hand-pass in a row in the opening 15 minutes, snuffing out some promising attacks.
Despite that, they settled really well with the kick-passing of Coney – back in Tyrone colours for the first time in almost four years – superb setting up points for David Mulgrew and Mccurry.
Derry led 0-2 to 0-1 in the opening stages with points from Enda Lynn and Ryan Bell, but the visitors hit five of the next six points to take control.
Niall Morgan stepped up to drill a 45 and a long-range free while the highlights reel of the first half included a brilliant turn and score from Mulgrew.
Ben Mcdonnell pulled the trigger off the ground to score for a Tyrone team which included two rookies making their debuts from the start – Liam Rafferty and Brian Kennedy.
Derry started with five debutants, all in defence, and they battled well in the second quarter.
Lynn almost caught Morgan off his line but his floated chip landed on the roof of the net instead of nestling inside it and Bell floated over a lovely score from distance to keep the Oak Leafers in touch.
Mccurry, who quit the Tyrone squad in March, gave a reminder of his class with a dummy and score with the outside of his boot for one of the scores of the night to put Tyrone 0-8 to 0-5 up after 28.
Grugan, back in the Tyrone fold for the first time since 2014, also delivered some telling passes on a positive opening night of the season for the Red Hands.
Ciaran Mcfaul scored the best point of the first half for Derry from the wing just before the break to leave Derry trailing 0-9 to 0-7 at the break.
Tyrone pulled away in the third quarter with Niall Sludden scoring twice from play and Mccurry scoring another couple of points, the second a stunning effort.
Coney got the point his display deserved with a fabulous kick from the wing and Grugan also nailed a long-range point with his trusty left boot.