By 
Tyrone 0-28 Offaly 2-13
TYRONE eased their relegation concerns- for now- by dismantling Mickey Harte’s basement strugglers Offaly at O’Neill Park, Dungannon on Saturday night.
After struggling to shake off their Leinster opponents in the first period, leading by just two at the break- 0-12 to 1-7- the hosts eased away fairly comfortably after the break to take the spoils and secure a brace of much needed points in their frantic battle to move up the Division Two table.
Second half sub Darren McCurry looked sharp slipping over three points, while the likes of Seanie O’Donnell, Conn Kilpatrick and Matthew Donnelly also upped their game as Tyrone eased clear.
O’Donnell drilled over the opener for Tyrone inside the first minute, before Keith O’Neill quickly levelled things up for the visitors.
It was the hosts though who enjoyed the more productive opening as corner back Aidan Clarke struck over a tidy score and Lorcan McGarrity doubled their advantage.
As the half unfolded Offaly began to dominate possession as they sought to negate the wind blowing in their faces, and the lively O’Neill converted his second of the half.
The Red Hands were struggling to avail of the elements favouring them but Ruairi Canavan did split the posts with a well-taken two pointer.
O’Donnell knocked over his second to stretch the lead to 0-6 to 0-2, but they suffered a scare when O’Neill rattled the underside of Oisin O’Kane’s bar, before Cormac Egan and Harry Plunkett halved the deficit.
After Cormac Quinn registered a point, Offaly swooped for an equalising goal in the 24th minute, midfielder Jack McEvoy finding the net on the rebound after Jordan Hayes struck the post initially.
Ronan Cassidy and Marcas Dalton then traded scores but a Niall Devlin score and emphatic two point strike by skipper Brian Kennedy ensured Tyrone had their noses in front at the break.
It was a lead they incrementally built upon on the restart with Cullen, Devlin and Donnelly each raising white flags.
Ronan Cassidy, who finished with three points, also got in on the scoring act and with Offaly losing McEvoy to a black card with fifteen minutes remaining the writing was on the wall for them.
While Darragh Flynn did crash home a consolation goal at the death for the Faithful County Tyrone were home and hosed long before the final whistle.
Teams & Scorers
Tyrone: Oisin O’Kane, Aidan Clarke (0-1), Peter Teague, Cormac Quinn (0-1), Ben Cullen (0-1), Niall Devlin (0-2), Michael Rafferty, Brian Kennedy (0-2,tp), Conn Kilpatrick, Seanie O’Donnell (0-3), Ronan Cassidy (0-3), Ciaran Daly (0-1), Lorcan McGarrity (0-1), Matthew Donnelly (0-2), Ruairi Canavan (0-6,1tp,2f). Subs used: Joey Clarke for B Cullen (52mins), Darren McCurry (0-3) for L McGarrity (52), Michael McKernan (0-1) for C Daly (59), Frank Burns for N Devlin (62), Ruairi McCullagh (0-1) for R Canavan (65)
Offaly: Conor Mella, Shane O’Toole Greene, Rory Egan (0-1), Daire McDaid, Lee Pearson, Cormac Egan (0-2), Diarmuid Egan, Jack McEvoy (1-0), Aaron Leavy, Marcas Dalton (0-1), Jordan Hayes, Keith O’Neill (0-4,2f), Harry Plunkett (0-3,1tp), Niall Furlong, Darragh Flynn (1-2). Subs used: Ciaran Murphy for N Furlong (53mins), Conor Dunican for L Pearson (62), Eoin Dunne for M Dalton (60)
Referee: James Molloy (Galway)
