14-man Tyrone come strong in second-half to defeat Cork

Tyrone 1-18

Cork 0-17

IN THE THIRD quarter everything changed, a game that appeared set to go to the wire, swung in Tyrone’s direction.

They capitalised as Cork faded, Tyrone controlling the end game and gaining the prize of second place with the associated home advantage in next weekend’s preliminary quarter-finals.

Donegal finish Group 3 on top and Cork were left with regrets from their second-half showing, a hitherto unbeaten record offering little protection as they a tricky trip on the road in seven days time.

Ahead by a point at the break, Cork suffered two setbacks in attack. They prised Tyrone apart in the 37th minute after a surging Tommy Walsh break and he offloaded to Paul Walsh, who drilled a shot that flashed wide of the post as he sought to rattle the net.

Then Chris Óg Jones was shown a black card for a foot trip on Niall Morgan in the 43rd minute, cutting Cork’s challenge temporarily down to 14.

And that ruinous phase of play for them was capped off by the concession of a 47th minute goal, Ben Cullen combining cleverly with Ciarán Daly on the right wing, Cullen planting the ball to the net with his left foot.

That left Tyrone ahead by three, 1-12 to 0-12, and they were smart in controlling the game from thereon. Morgan was in masterful form with his kicking and retention of possession, Mattie Donnelly similarly influential.

A 63rd minute red card suffered by Conn Kilpatrick for an off the ball incident failed to derail the Tyrone challenge, Cork grabbed a late series of points through Steven Sherlock to eat into the deficit they faced, but they never looked like overcoming it.

colm-ocallaghan-and-ciaran-daly Cork's Colm O'Callaghan and Tyrone's Ciaran Daly. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

The opening half was full of positive stuff, both teams moving possession with intent, and looking to feed their inside marksmen in threatening positions.

The Canavan brothers troubled Cork’s defence, Darragh and Ruairi weighing in with two points apiece, but Cork managed to pick off scores themselves. By the break they had surpassed the number of white flags they raised against Donegal, leading 0-10 to 0-9.

A hamstring injury sustained in training during the week ruled Brian Hurley out, but his replacement Sherlock struck three first-half points, a tally matched by colleagues Chris Óg Jones and Mark Cronin.

Jones notched his three from play, posing a constant threat for the Tyrone rearguard, while Cronin played deeper linking the different sectors of the Cork team with his intelligence and kicking.

Tyrone were more efficient. They trailed 0-7 to 0-5 after 25 minutes, but reeled off four of the next five points in the game to go in front. Only two Tyrone shots strayed wide of the post in that period, Cork’s shooting return was 10 points from 16 shots, they regretted a few efforts in the middle of the half, but Cronin and Sherlock edged them into the ascendancy at the midway mark.

Yet their flow was disrupted in the third quarter, Tyrone took a grip of the game and never let go.

brian-dooher-before-the-game Tyrone manager Brian Dooher. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

Scorers for Tyrone: Darragh Canavan 0-5 (0-1f), Niall Morgan 0-3 (0-1f, 0-1 ’45), Darren McCurry 0-3 (0-1f), Ben Cullen 1-0, Ruairi Canavan 0-2, Michael McKernan 0-1, Niall Devlin 0-1, Conn Kilpatrick 0-1, Michael O’Neill 0-1, Seán O’Donnell 0-1.

Scorers for Cork: Steven Sherlock 0-8 (0-6f), Mark Cronin 0-4 (0-2f), Chris Óg Jones 0-3, Brian O’Driscoll 0-2.

Tyrone

1. Niall Morgan (Edendork)

2. Michael McKernan (Coalisland), 3. Pádraig Hampsey (Coalisland), 4. Aidan Clarke (Omagh)

19. Ben Cullen (Edendork), 6. Matthew Donnelly (Trillick), 7. Niall Devlin (Coalisland)

8. Brian Kennedy (Derrylaughan), 9. Conn Kilpatrick (Edendork)

10. Ciarán Daly (Trillick), 11. Ruairí Canavan (Errigal Ciarán), 12. Michael O’Neill (Ardboe)

13. Darren McCurry (Edendork), 14. Darragh Canavan (Errigal Ciarán), 15. Seán O’Donnell (Trillick)

Subs

20. Peter Harte (Errigal Ciarán) for O’Neill (half-time)
23. Cathal McShane (Eoghan Roe O’Neills) for Ruairi Canavan (64)
25. Cormac Quinn (Errigal Ciarán) for Cullen (69)
26. Tiernan Quinn (Coalisland) for Darragh Canavan (73)

Cork

1. Christopher Kelly (Éire Óg)

2. Kevin Flahive (Douglas), 3. Daniel O’Mahony (Knocknagree), 4. Maurice Shanley (Clonakilty)

5. Luke Fahy (Ballincollig), 6. Tommy Walsh (Kanturk), 7. Matty Taylor (Mallow)

8. Ian Maguire (St Finbarr’s), 9. Colm O’Callaghan (Éire Óg)

10. Paul Walsh (Kanturk), 11. Seán Powter (Douglas), 12. Brian O’Driscoll (Carrigaline)

13. Mark Cronin (Nemo Rangers), 14. Chris Óg Jones (Iveleary), 26. Steven Sherlock (St Finbarr’s)