Masters record another emphatic victory

TYRONE Masters continued their surge to the semi-finals of the Mick Loftus Cup with a comfortable group stage victory over Clare at the weekend.

The Red Hands have won all four of their group stage games to date and have two more games to complete (against Donegal and Cavan) before, all being well, taking their place in the semi-finals of the premier All-Ireland competition.

On this occasion the reigning champions travelled to Curry GAA club in Sligo and came back up the road with a convincing 3-15 to 0-3 victory to their name against Clare.

They got off to a strong start with Martin Grimes nailing an early penalty, dusting himself down after getting fouled to convert the spot-kick. Their lead was compounded by points from Martin McGrath and Michael Anderson.

Damian Kelly weighed in with their second goal of the day as they ran into a practically insurmountable 2-7 to 0-1 lead at the interval with all the Banner County able to muster in the opening period a point from a free.

The second half was something of a formality and the management team were able to ring the changes with practically the entire day’s panel getting a run out. Liam Patterson, Karol McQuade and Cathal Nicholas put Tyrone further ahead heading into the final stages. Conor Gormley was moved into full-forward late on and scored 1-2 as Tyrone cruised across the finish line in the latest polished performance from the Tyrone over 40s team.