Tyrone GAA Review of the Year 2024- April to June

APRIL

TYRONE are involved in two dramatic Ulster Championship tussles on successive weekends which each go to extra-time. They accounted for Cavan in a breathless encounter at Breffni Park 1-23 to 3-16, after relinguishing an eight point second half cushion. Darragh Canavan and Michael McKernan kept the scoreboard ticking over but a harsh black card for Padraig Hampsey swung the momentum in favour of the hosts. Debutant Liam Gray scored a first-half goal. Six days later though the Red Hands fell short 0-18 to 0-16 at Celtic Park in the semi-final against Donegal. Darragh Canavan, Niall Morgan, Mattie Donnelly and Ciaran Daly excelled at times. Tyrone led by three at the three quarter mark, but a last gasp Brendan McCoole fisted score meant extra-time was required and throughout that Donegal held the edge.

TYRONE Ladies lost out to Kildare 2-9 to 0-12 in the Division Two League Final at Croke Park. Players like Meabh Corrigan, Joanne Barrett and Orla Mulgrew all produced fine shifts but the Lilywhites experience made that little difference on the day.

TYRONE Under-20s coasted into the semi-finals of the Ulster Championship with a 5-20 to 0-8 thumping of Monaghan in Coalisland. Loughmacrory duo Eoin McElholm and Ruairi McCullagh each weighed in with a goal and three points. However the last four encounter with the Farney a week later was much more competitive as the Red Hands squeezed home by a solitary point at Healy Park- 2-9 to 0-14. Cormac Devlin fired low and hard to the net early on, while Ronan Fox netted the second after the break.

TYRONE Minors got their Ulster Championship campaign off to a winning start when they had three points to spare over Down 2-7 to 1-7 at Dunmoyle. Darren McAnespie and Liam McGeary were the Red Hand goalscorers. They then suffered an away defeat to Donegal 2-12 to 1-8 next time out, Liam McMurray with the visitors three pointer, but got their group campaign back on course easing past Fermanagh in Belcoo 2-12 to 0-4. Goals in either half from Enda Donaghy and Jamie Concannon steered them home. Four second half goals helped them to round off their group campaign in encouraging fashion at Ardboe beating Monaghan 4-13 to 0-10. Paul McGinley, Sean Corry, Jamie Concannon, Enda Donaghy and Lorcan McMurray were among the leading lights.

TYRONE hurlers hopes of a winning start to their Christy Ring Cup campaign were thwarted in emphatic fashion as London sealed a 2-23 to 2-12 win. Goals from Sean Duffin and Aidan Kelly in the second half gave them hope, but that mini-rally was too little and too late. They slumped to a heavier loss to Derry next time out losing 2-26 to 0-13 but team manager Stephen McGarry got the response he demanded against Sligo in their third outing. Sean Og Grogan hit the net twice in the opening 35 minutes as Tyrone claimed a hard-fought 2-17 to 2-14 success on ther road.

TYRONE camogs produced a masterclass in playing on the front foot when they claimed a thoroughly warranted 15-point victory over Wicklow in the Division Four final at Darver. Edendork star Lara Devlin scored a whopping 1-7 from play, while midfielder Oilibhia Farley applied the coup de grace with a superb individual goal late in proceedings.

TYRONE juvenile handballers travelled to Croke Park to represent their clubs and county in the All-Ireland Finals. Emma Conway, from Greencastle, added the U14 All Ireland title to her collection after recently winning the Junior Nationals. Emma’s clubmates Grace Teague and Aimee Fox unfortunately fell short in the U14 Doubles final. The U15 Boys category saw all the medals come back to Tyrone. Sean Donnelly (Carrickmore) and doubles partners Marcus Conway and Aaron McElhone (Greencastle and Carrickmore) claimed golds. At under 17 level Carrickmore’s Shea Munroe added to his Junior National victory.

A POWERFUL fifteen minute purple patch from a very strong Cavan ensured their success in the Ulster Ladies Under-14 Platinum Final at Castleblaney against Tyrone. Two fine saves from Grace Teague and stout-hearted defensive efforts from Orlaith Leonard and Clara McCullagh kept Tyrone in the hunt.

LOUGHMACRORY handball club ended the 40×20 season in spectacular style with two landmark title wins inside a week. Their U15 boys team captured the All Ireland Division One Feile title, six days after Laura Duff had brought the All Ireland minor singles championship title back to the club with an impressive triumph in Croke Park.

SORCHA Gormley scored a remarkable seven goals, completing a first half hat trick in two minutes, as Tyrone eventually saw off a dogged Monaghan at Silverbridge to claim the Ulster Minor Gold Championship title with four points to spare at the end.

TYRONE Camogs secured the All-Ireland Minor C Championship title after recording an excellent victory over Mayo. Pivotal figues in the Red Hand back unit were Una Mc Crory, Clara Doherty and Aodh Bennett. Rhianne Mc Laughlin and Gemma Daly knocked in a couple of quality goals.

MAY

TYRONE Under-20s powered their way to the All-Ireland title with a brilliant display against Kerry in the final at Portlaoise winning 1-20 to 1-14. Joey Clarke’s first half goal provided the ideal platform, while the performances of team captain, Michael Rafferty, Eoin McElholm and Ronan Fox also stood out as they completed this success with real style. A week earlier they accounted for Roscommon 3-18 to 3-8 in the semi-final. Goals from Conor O’Neill, Shea O’Hare and Eoin McElholm set them on their way. At the start of the month in a dramatic Ulster Under-20 Final in Armagh keeper Conor McAneny pulled off three quality saves in the spotkick shootout as Tyrone secured the provincial title at Derry’s expense, the match ending deadlocked at 3-10 to 2-13 after extra-time.

TYRONE opened their All-Ireland SFC group campaign with a chastening 0-21 to 0-14 loss to local rivals Donegal in Ballybofey. Despite the best efforts of Darragh Canavan, Brian Kennedy and Mattie Donnelly the hosts ran way with the contest after the break. One milestone was the second half substitute run-out of Cathal McShane, making his 100 appearance for his county.

TYRONE Ladies crashed out of the Ulster Intermediate Championship losing 2-10 to 0-12 to Monaghan in the semi-final at Smithboro. The Red Hands huffed and puffed but overall there was a lack of potency in attack, with the exception of Maria Canavan who scored ten of the twelve points.

TYRONE Minors fell short to a formidable Derry side in the Ulster Championship semi-final at Owenbeg 2-14 to 1-10. Peter Colton mustered a goal as the visitors battled to the bitter end. Tyrone made the last four courtesy of a hard-fought 1-14 to 0-15 quarter-final victory over Cavan at Healy Park, Liam McGeary with their goal.

ESKRA thumped Killyman in the opening match of the ACL Division Three campaign, hitting eight goals. Elsewhere Strabane accounted for Derrytresk, Killeeshil got the better of Errigal Thirds; Brackaville and Clann na nGael drew; and Drumquin saw off neighbours Castlederg. The Tones also stuck six goals past Urney in another outing this month.

THE Jim Devlin Cup pre-season competition was relaunched with Dromore emerging as the winners, seeing off Trillick in a keenly fought derby in the semi-final and then Clonoe in the final at Coalisland. Jim Devlin’s grandson James presented the cup to winning Dromore captain Conor O’Hara.

TYRONE camogs continued their winning streak as they came out on top in the Ulster Junior Championship final against Down seconds. Hot on the heels of their recent Division Four success, the Red Hands claimed their first provincial triumph since 2014. Lára Devlin scored 1-6 from play.

A THIRD year running in the Christy Ring beckons for Tyrone hurlers after a comprehensive 1-25 to 2-16 win over Wicklow in the final round. Dean Rafferty, Ruairi Devlin and Cormac Munroe were on top in the defence, while Ben Gormley and James McCann linked well with the attack. A fornight earlier they suffered a 2-32 to 0-11 shellacking at the hands of Kildare, their worst hurling defeat in alomsot 26 years.

AGHYARAN made a winning start in ACL Division Two with a victory on the road at Clogher. Kildress easily disposed with Beragh; Naomh Eoghan pipped Stewartstown; Gortin sneeked past Owen Roes by a point; and Moy put five goals past newcomers Drumragh.

STRABANE Sigersons partnered with Ulster GAA to offer opportunities to their young club volunteers to complete the Duke of Edinburgh award or the Gaisce – President’s award – through the joint award initiative. To achieve the award, each individual must complete three elements; Physical Activity (six months), volunteering (three months), and Personal Skill Development (three months).

ERRIGAL Ciaran and St Enda’s are the early pacesetters in Division One of the Ladies All-County League. Emily Loughran scored 2-4 in Errigal’s mammoth victory at home to Aodh Ruadh. Sally McMenamin impressed for Omagh in their win against Moortown.

TYRONE Masters claimed their second successive win in the group stages as they picked up a 3-16 to 1-6 victory away to Monaghan. It was a fine all-round team performance with Conor Gormley scoring two of the side’s goals on the evening.

GREENCASTLE boys team of Seónag Harte, Marcus Conway, Tarlach Tracey and Shane Molloy claimed the National Division 2 Féile Handball title by beating Kilkishen of Clare in the final 30-27.

JUNE

VICTORIES over Clare and Cork got Tyrone back on track in the group stages of the All-Ireland SFC. The Banner men were disposed with 3-15 to 0-10, corner back Niall Devlin the unlikely hero bagging two goals. They made it back-to back victories in accounting for the Rebels 1-18 to 0-17 at Tullamore. Aidan Clarke was excellent at the back, while Ben Cullen scored the key goal. However the Red Hands season comes to a shock conclusion when they lose in the Preliminary quarter-finals in Omagh to Roscommon, 0-14 to 0-12. Hitting five times as many wides over the 70 plus minutes as their visitors, the hosts dug a huge hole for themselves which they couldn’t clamber out of. >f 10151<>f 127<Despite the best efforts of Darragh Canavan, Matthew Donnelly and Michael McKernan after the break, Tyrone failed to turn around a 0-9 to 0-3 interval deficit.

A TEAM display laced with quality climaxed a brilliant Celtic Challenge campaign which saw the Tyrone Minor hurlers finally clinch the All-Ireland title with six to spare over Sligo. Goals at critical stages from hat-trick hero, Shea Munroe and Liam Griffiths, who got two, made all the difference.

TYRONE Ladies suffered a surprising defeat 4-12 to 5-8 against Leitrim in the opening round robin series of the All-Ireland championship, conceding a nine point lead. Goals from Aoife Horisk and Sorcha Gormley saw Tyrone dominating proceedings before they lost their way. They got back on track trouncing Wicklow 3-11 to 0-5, sub Chloe McCaffrey with 1-3. They then secure a spot in the the semi-finals, edging past Clare 2-8 to 2-7, with second half goals from player of the match Aoife Horisk and Chloe McCaffrey.

TIPPERARY prove too strong for Tyrone at Garvaghey in the All-Ireland Camogie group series, despite Roisin McErlean contributing some tidy point conversions. Next time out they do get off the mark against Down, Oilibhia Farley and Aoife McDonald teaming up effectively in midfield.

DIVISION One of the All-County League is up and running. Omagh get off to an encouraging start with victories over Dungannon and Coalisland. Carrickmore get the better of Dromore; Trillick and Errigal Ciaran share the spoils at Donnelly Park; and Pomeroy score four goals in defeating Loughmacrory. At the end of the month it’s Galbally who are out on top registering wins against Ardboe and Eglish to stay unbeaten.

IN ACL Division Two Gortin are the early pacesetters, seeing off the likes of Drumragh and Rock come to Beragh and win; Naomh Eoghan lose narrowly to Cookstown; Greencastle pip Clogher; and newly promoted Fintona account for Stewartstown. After a ding dong clash at Dolan Park a share of the points was probably the fairest outcome from Aghyaran and Owen Roes derby tie.

ESKRA’S winning start in Division Three is ended by high-flying Drumquin; Castlederg have the minimum to spare over Strabane at Sigerson Park; and Urney struggle to get off the mark, losing to the likes of Donaghmore III. At the other end of the table Aghaloo impress away to the Derg to keep up a promotion push.

GALBALLY secured the Grade One U-14 double in style, netting six times at Father Devlin Park in Donaghmore when they defeated a gallant Ardboe side in an absorbing Championship decider.

IN the Ladies Senior League there was a share of the spoils between Cappagh and Omagh. St Macartan’s moved up to second spot recording a big victory over Fintona, though the Pearses bounced back with victory over Aodh Ruadh. There was a big couple of days for Trillick who enjoyed wins against Carrickmore and neighbours Dromore to move up to fourth in the table.