Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A TY OF RELIEF
Red Hands give themselves a shot at survival with nervy victory over Mayo
IT was a victory borne out of perspiration than inspiration but badly needed by Tyrone who gave themselves a shot at staying in Division One with a nervous win in Omagh last night.
After a poor display at home last week against Dublin, there was more bite about the Red Hands this time.
And with their backs to the wall and only three league points on the board, they came out fighting to secure a vital win.
They will await the results of today’s games between Dublin and Donegal, Monaghan and Kildare to see exactly where this narrow win leaves them in the relegation shake-up.
They made plenty of mistakes but the urgency was there and Tyrone did most of the work in the first half, leading 0-8 to 0-3 at the break in Healy Park having had the wind.
Mayo did not play with a lot of purpose in the first half but were much improved after the break, scoring five points in a row in an 11-minute spell to close to within a point of Tyrone.
Darragh Canavan spun around to score a point off his left in the 67th minute to give them a crucial two-point cushion.
Mayo then floated a long ball into the square which Jack Carney drilled goalwards but it hit off Jordan Flynn and went wide, inflicting a second loss on Mayo in a row.
Their loss in Kerry last weekend left Mayo – who finished with 14 players after Kevin McLoughlins’ late black card – still with work to do to make the league final but in the first half they delivered a lethargic display.
Sixteen minutes elapsed before Mayo had a first shot at the posts – by which stage Tyrone were five points up – and no forward scored from play in the opening period with Jordan Flynn registering their sole point from play.
Petey Harte was Tyrone’s star with 0-3 from play with Conor Meyler also helping himself to a brace from play.
Cathal McShane was again rusty while Oisin Mullin and Lee Keegan took turns in shackling Darren McCurry, leaving Canavan’s mark as the only score from the full-forward line.
Aidan O’Shea was curiously stationed as a sweeper around the half-back line and the game too often passed him by.
Missing a number of players, Mayo could ill-afford to lose any more but Fionn McDonagh limped off injured before half-time.
Tyrone finished the half strongly with Harte cutting in from the right flank onto his favoured left foot to score his third just before the break.
The Donnelly brothers came on at the break and combined for Mattie to stretch the lead out to six but Mayo enjoyed their best spell then with Ryan O’Donoghue, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn and Matthew Ruane all scoring.
It was a tense, error-strewn final quarter but Tyrone’s need was the greater and they fell over the line. Tyrone: N Morgan; M McKernan, P Hampsey, R McNamee; F Burns (0-1), R Brennan (0-1), C Meyler (0-2); C Kilpatrick, B Kennedy; K McGeary, N Sludden, P Harte (0-3); D McCurry (0-1), C McShane, D Canavan (0-2, 1m). Subs: M Donnelly (0-1) for McShane HT, R Donnelly for Kennedy HT, N Donnelly for Sludden 55, L Rafferty for Brennan 62, B McDonnell for Canavan 70.
Mayo: R Byrne; L Keegan, D McBrien, D McHugh; O Mullin, A O’Shea, S Coen; J Flynn (0-2), M Ruane (0-1); F McDonagh, P Towey, F Boland; A Orme, J Doherty, R O’Donoghue (0-5, 3f). Subs: J Carney (0-1) for McDonagh 35, E Hession for McHugh HT, K McLoughlin for Towey HT, D Coen for Doherty 58, C Loftus for Boland 68.
Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois).