Unplayable Harte breathes life into Tyrone after disastrous League start
A FIRST League win of the season eased the pressure on Tyrone as they held off the challenge of Ulster rivals Monaghan last night.
The dark cloud which had cast a shadow over Healy Park finally lifted, giving the Red Hands some breathing space in their fight to avoid relegation from Division 1.
And with another provincial derby coming up next weekend against bottom side Cavan, Mickey Harte’s beaten All-Ireland finalists will feel this is just the beginning of a steady climb up the table.
Peter Harte was on fire up front for the home side, hitting 1-6 as his side finally hit form, and in front of their own fans at a venue which has been no happy hunting ground in recent times
Tyrone got off to the perfect start with a goal after just three minutes. Mattie Donnelly and Liam Rafferty combined to set up the opportunity for Harte, who gave Rory Beggan no chance with a bullet to the top corner of the net.
Monaghan’s Conor McManus gave All-Star defender Padraig Hampsey a torrid time in the opening 15 minutes, picking off three points from play and an offensive mark to keep his side on level terms.
It was typically cagey and defensive Ulster football, with both sides dropping men back when not in possession, but some of the finishing was exceptional, particularly from Monaghan.
Harte steered over a couple of frees to restore Tyrone’s two-point lead, with Niall Sludden finishing off a counter-attack to push them three ahead by the 20th minute.
But Monaghan were always dangerous while pressing from deep, and the Red Hands needed turnovers from Rafferty and Ronan McNamee. Frank Burns also came up with some telling challenges as sweeper.
The Farney men had another spectacular score from Jack McCarron who also converted a difficult free.
Tyrone should have had a second goal when Harte sent Ben McDonnell clear, but he blazed his shot over the bar.
After losing Dessie Ward to a black card on 33 minutes, Monaghan retreated with all men stationed deep in their own half, and succeeded in keeping the door shut to their opponents, who went in with a 1-7 to 0-7 lead at the break.
Tyrone managed just one point, from Kieran McGeary, during Ward’s ten minutes in the sin bin. Harte pushed them further clear with a perfectly executed offensive mark.
Strangely, Monaghan were much less sound defensively when restored to the full compliment of 15 players, and Harte, now operating at full forward, added to his
healthy tally with a fisted effort to make it a six-point game.
Monaghan struggled to get through a tenacious defence, and when Stephen O’Hanlon cut in from the left to fire in a shot, keeper Morgan was equal to the task.
Morgan and Cathal McShane both nailed frees, and that man Harte, now unplayable, strode through for another quality strike from play.
Brimming with confidence, he darted past three players, and his attempted lob beat goalkeeper Beggan, but dropped just wide. Harte wasn’t finished yet, however.
Conor Meyler got in on the scoring act, punishing a rare Beggan error with a point, as the Red Hands opened out a 10-point lead with ten minutes to play, and Monaghan hadn’t scored since nine minutes before the interval.
Ryan McAnespie finally got them on the scoreboard again, but they were a beaten docket by this stage, despite a couple of late offensive marks from the mercurial McManus.
A night of revival for the Red Hands, and one which could just provide the platform for a climb up the League table following a disastrous start to their season.