Tribe pip Tyrone in scrappy league clash

Tyrone 0-12  Galway 1-10

SOMETIMES you can only hold your hands up, but this defeat will sting. This was a league encounter of sizeable importance and Tyrone will feel that with a little more luck they could have, at the very least, snatched a draw from Sunday’s Division One match at home to Galway.

There was no shortage of effort but they struggled to get the requisite scores when the fat was in the fire in a frenetic second-half against a determined Galway side who haven’t tasted defeat to the Red Hands since 2019.

Maybe it’s too early to talk about relegation battles and the like but Tyrone’s league campaign is entering a crucial juncture and this Saturday’s home battle against Mayo now has the disconcerting feel of a must-win tie.

As for how it all panned out yesterday, Galway corner-forward Robert Finnerty got the game’s opening score after a couple of minutes and it was an impressive opening salvo; rising high to gather from a cross-field pass, he elected not to take the ‘mark’ and swivelled to split the posts from an acute angle.

Four days after producing a man of the match performance in the Sigerson Cup final, Darragh Canavan was on hand to level matters with a close-range free in the fifth minute.

It had been a typically cagey start to proceedings but at that juncture Galway started to impose themselves in the possession stakes (at one stage it flashed up on the TG4 coverage that they’d enjoyed 71 percent of the ball in the first-half, not that they always did a wile pile with it).

But in the opening quarter the visitors looked the more threatening outfit and they re-established their lead when Paul Conroy pointed after Niall Morgan’s kick-out, intended for Peter Harte, was smartly intercepted by Matthew Tierney.

It didn’t unsettle Morgan who ventured forward shortly afterwards to play in a tidy pass to Ciarán Daly (another Sigerson champion) who split the posts from the resulting ‘mark.’

>body2text<There was an abiding sense of déjà vu as Finnerty landed his second and third points of the afternoon. The trap was set and the ball floated in towards Galway’s marquee man up front (in the absence of Shane Walsh and Damien Comer anyway) and on both occasions the ball ended up between the posts.

They led 0-4 to 0-2 with 15 minutes gone and deservingly so, but that’s the last time they troubled the scoreboard for the remainder of the half. Padraig Hampsey was switched onto Finnerty and that was an undoubted factor as the game was turned on its head, but credit must go to the Tyrone rearguard as a whole who worked tenaciously but sensibly as they slowly but surely reeled in the Tribesmen.

Galway enjoyed, if that’s the right word, a prolonged period of possession but it ultimately came to nought with the shackles firmly placed on their hitherto rampant forward Robert Finnerty.

Tyrone were growing in confidence and could’ve nabbed a goal when Conn Kilpatrick came through on goal like an express train. Conor Gleeson was quick off his line and got himself in the way of the ball, but the Red Hands mustered their third point not long after when captain Peter Harte polished off a clever attacking move.

They drew level in the 28th minute when goalkeeper Niall Morgan ghosted into space and, not for the first time in his illustrious career, scored a point from play. A sign of the times in that sense and Tyrone edged ahead shortly thereafter with a quintessential Darragh Canavan effort.

At the other end of the pitch Tyrone soaked up the pressure from an increasingly toothless-looking Galway side short of five All-Star winners from the team that reached the All-Ireland final less than two years ago.

Tyrone nabbed the final score of the half with a Niall Morgan free to leave it 0-6 to 0-4 at the interval, and it was no more than they deserved for their diligent efforts at the back in particular.

Galway manager Padraic Joyce must’ve got the hand-dryer out at the break because his charges reasserted themselves with the first two scores of the half from Matthew Tierney and Johnny Heaney respectively.

The home side reclaimed their advantage with Darragh Canavan’s second from play of the day, and with Galway dispensing with the futtering about, it made for a more nervy spectacle from a Tyrone persepctive.

Peter Harte was playing good stuff for Tyrone as he averted the danger on a number of occasions at the back, but the complexion of the game changed when Cathal Sweeney sliced through the defence before unleashing an unstoppable shot to the top corner of the net, leaving it 1-6 to 0-8 with 20 minutes remaining.

The game was now played at a blistering pace and there were two points in the space of a minute – one from Tyrone’s Michael McKernan and another from Galway sub Daniel Ó Flaherty – as both sides grappled for supremacy.

Johnny Heaney scored one of the points of the game, screwing it over with the outside of his boot as Galway extended their lead to two points with 50 minutes on the board.

Tyrone made a double substitution with Kieran McGeary, making his first appearance of the new season, and Ruairi Canavan coming on with Lorcan McGarrity and Darragh Canavan making way.

Galway were playing it smart – playing it cynically frankly – making sure to foul Tyrone outside of the scoring zone, but Tyrone kept their heads and reduced the deficit to the bare minimum with a Ciarán Daly effort as the clock entered the final ten minutes. Ó’Flaherty bore down on goal before flicking the ball through to Cathal Sweeney, who would’ve claimed his second goal of the game only for a superb reaction save from Tyrone’s most influential performer, Niall Morgan.

The game was still there for the taking but Tyrone conceded a free punished by Finnerty as Galway moved into a 1-10 to 0-11 lead as full-time approached. Galway conjured up another clutch score with sub Johnny McGrath at the end of a sweeping attack and it looked like that was that.

Tyrone kept in contention with a lovely Ciarán Daly score while Conn Kilpatrick popped over a ‘mark’ 90 seconds into injury time to leave only a point between the teams.

There was still time to source an equaliser in a nerve-shredding finale but they ultimately ran out of time on a disappointing day out for the Red Hands. One win from their opening three games, next Saturday’s home tie against Mayo has taken on even more significance in the all-important race for survival.

THE SCORERS
Tyrone
Darragh Canavan (0-3, 1f) Ciaran Daly (0-3, 1m), Niall Morgan (0-2, 1f), Conall Devlin, Michael McKernan, Peter Harte (0-1 each), Conn Kilpatrick (0-1m).

Galway
Robert Finnerty (0-4, 1f, 1m), Cathal Sweeney (1-0), Johnny Heaney (0-2), Johnny McGrath, Paul Conroy, Matthew Tierney, Daniel Ó Flaherty 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS
Tyrone
Niall Morgan, Conall Devlin, Padraig Hampsey, Aidan Clarke, Niall Devlin, Michael McKernan, Peter Harte, Cormac Quinn, Brian Kennedy, Aodhan Donaghy, Conn Kilpatrick, Seanie O’Donnell, Lorcan McGarrity, Darragh Canavan, Ciarán Daly. Subs: Ruairi Canavan for D Canavan, Kieran McGeary for Kieran McGeary for Lorcan McGarrity, Michael McGleenan for Donaghy, Cormac Donnelly for McKernan.
Galway
Connor Gleeson, Johnny McGrath, Seán Fitzgerald, Séan Mulkerrin, Dylan McHugh, John Daly, Kieran Molloy, Paul Conroy, John Maher, Johnny Heaney, Matthew Tierney, Cathal Sweeney, Robert Finnerty, Cillian Ó Curraoin, Liam Ó Conghaile. Subs: Cein Darcy for Ó Curraoin, Daniel Ó Flaherty for Molloy, Sean Kelly for Ó Conghaile, Niall Darcy for Tierney