Cavanagh shines as Red Hands swat away 13-man Monaghan
THIRTEEN-MAN Monaghan battled to the end in Healy Park but the dismissals of Fintan Kelly and Dermot Malone early in the second half handed the initiative and the points to Tyrone.
Seán Cavanagh’s arrival helped push the Red Hands over the line, the veteran kicking three late points to see his side through.
It took the Farney men all of 25 minutes to register their opening score – from Jack McCarron – against an ultra defensive home side, but by that stage they had fallen four points behind to a Tyrone team that raided with searing pace on the breakaway.
Conor Meyler, Tiernan McCann, Darren McCurry and Frank Burns all sent over spectacular scores, and the Red Hands also missed a penalty, awarded for a foul on Mattie Donnelly.
Peter Harte, normally reliable from the spot, sent his kick wide, but it was only a temporary respite for the visitors. Harte made amends with three points, one a stunning effort from distance, and McCann and Justin McMahon also found the target.
The work-rate of a fired-up Tyrone team saw them go in at the break 0-9 to 0-2 ahead.
And it went from bad to much worse for the Farney county when they had two men sent off within five minutes of the restart.
Kelly was dismissed after he collected a second yellow while Malone received a straight red card.
Monaghan battled on and points from Conor McManus, from a ‘45’ and a brilliant sideline ball from McCarron.
Goalkeeper Rory Beggan sent two long range frees sailing between the posts to narrow the gap to four points, and their work-rate was causing real problems for their opponents.
Somehow, Monaghan managed to starve the Red Hands of possession, and when Kieran Hughes finished off a patient move on 56 minutes, the deficit was down to three.
But Tyrone resorted to a possession game and once more began to create openings. Seán Cavanagh converted a free, and McCurry smashed a shot against the crossbar.
But still Monaghan refused to go away, displaying incredible resilience, pulling another point back through McManus, before Cavanagh turned on the magic to stretch his side’s lead to four with a trademark shimmy and point.
However, Monaghan still plugged away and Kieran Hughes moved to full forward to plunder a point, keeping the game in the balance as it drifted into stoppage time.
However, Harte’s fourth point and a couple of Seán Cavanagh specials helped Tyrone over the line with a lot less comfort than they might have wished. TYRone: M O’Neill; P Hampsey, R McNamee, C McCarron (A McRory 59); T McCann, J McMahon, F Burns (C McShane 45); C Cavanagh, D McClure (S Cavanagh 61); C Meyler, K McGeary, K McGeary, P Harte; D McCurry, M Donnelly (S Cavanagh BS 15-21), R O’Neill (C McCann 61). Scorers: P Harte 0-4 (2f), S Cavanagh 0-3 (1f), D McCurry, T McCann 0-2, J McMahon, C Meyler, F Burns 0-1 Monaghan: R Beggan (0-2, 2f); F Kelly, D Wylie, R Wylie; K Duffy (D Ward h-t), N McAdam, R McAnespie (J Mealiff 61); O Coyle, K Hughes (0-2); T Kerr (C McCarthy h-t), D Malone, G Doogan (S Gallogly 61); K O’Connell, J McCarron (0-4, 2f), C McManus (0-2, 1f, 1 ’45). Scorers: J McCarron (2f) 0-4, R Beggan (2f), C McManus (1f), K Hughes 0-2, Referee: P Hughes (Armagh).