Minors make easy work of Monaghan

TYRONE 4-13  MONAGHAN 0-10

FOUR second half goals helped to round off Tyrone’s group campaign in the Ulster Minor Championship in encouraging fashion at Ardboe on Saturday lunchtime, leaving them now waiting to see whether it will be good enough to progress directly into the semi-finals as section winners.

The Red Hands bossed this contest up by the lough basically from the first whistle, when even playing against a stiff wind they pegged Monaghan on the backfoot for long periods.

Paul McGinley, Sean Corry, Jamie Concannon, Enda Donaghy and Lorcan McMurray were among the leading lights across the various sectors of the pitch for the home county, leaving the Farney with little prospect of maintaining their 100 per cent winning record in the group.

A flurry of points in the opening ten minutes served as an early indication of Tyrone’s intent, as they looked to work scoring opportunities amid the massed blue defensive ranks.

Peter Colton rifled over the opener, before Lorcan McMurray then grabbed a brace, one cleverly on the turn and the other a free. The latter point arrived in the eighth minute and was one of only two from placed balls for the hosts on the day, with every other score coming from open play.

In contrast all bar two scores from Monaghan arrived via frees, with Cian Rafferty popping over their first in the 12th minute, but for the most part their inside line were fed rations, with Tyrone so dominant out the field.

Liam McGeary and McMurray again rounded off some vibrant and purposeful approach work with accurate finishes over the black spot, as the Red Hands eased into a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage at the midway stage of the first half.

Half-back Sean Corry tormented the Monaghan rearguard all day and after one adventurous sortie was unlucky to see his fierce drive cannon back into play off the inside of the keeper’s far post.

While Killian Kearns tagged on a second pointed free for Monaghan, they struggled to shift the overall momentum of the contest or mount any sustained period of pressure.

Full-forward Shea McDermott knocked over a Tyrone free and then turned creator feeding the overlapping McMurray who was grateful to add to his personal tally on the day.

Evan Treanor blasted over a superb effort for Monaghan in the 26th minute and given the blustery elements working in their favour, it was a surprise they didn’t take more pot-shots from distance. In mitigation though Tyrone were working overtime to limit such opportunities.

The hosts continued to weave some pretty patterns in attack as McMurray got his fifth point of the half, and impressive midfielder Enda Donaghy split the posts, after good play from Sean Og Teague.

Just before the break sub Conor Meehan turned sharply to add to Monaghan’s tally but at half-time the signs looked ominous for them as they trailed 0-9 to 0-4.

Kearns did close the gap further with a pointed free soon after the resumption but Tyrone then swooped for the opening goal in the 33rd minute. The dynamic Corry was at the heart of it, darting in from the left flank and then squaring the ball for team-mate Teague to fist home from close range. With Liam McGeary then latching on a point suddenly the scoreline read 1-10 to 0-5 in the hosts favour.

Monaghan looked fairly poverty stricken as an attacking force despite Rafferty and Kearns each slipping over another pointed free, and the concession of another goal in the 41st minute effectively put the issue beyond doubt.

Defender Davin McKeown did the spadework before releasing McDermott who stormed through and showed real conviction in arrowing a shot low beyond keeper John Flannagan into the far corner of the net.

Sean Corry then demonstrated his overall value to the team with a superb block to deny Shea Corrigan a Monaghan goal, and though Rafferty did convert another brace of frees before the close, it was all Tyrone down the home straight.

Jamie Concannon really came into his own with a dazzling goal and two points, the major coming when he latched onto a poor Monaghan kick-out in the 45th minute before lofting a shot into the net from distance.

Colton scored his second point late on and right at the death sub Darren McAnespie put the cap on an excelllent Tyrone display, finding the net after good work by that man Corry again.

The Scorers

Tyrone

Lorcan McMurray (0-5,1f), Jamie Concannon (1-2), Shea McDermott (1-1,1f), Sean Og Teague (1-0), Darren McAnespie (1-0), Peter Colton (0-2), Liam McGeary (0-2), Enda Donaghy (0-1)

Monaghan

Cian Rafferty (0-4,4f), Killian Kearns (0-3,3f), Andrew Stewart, Evan Treanor, Conor Meehan (0-1 each)

The Teams

Tyrone

Oisin Watson, Paul McGinley, Padraig Goodman, Eoghan Conway, Sean Corry, Davin McKeown, Aodhan Quinn, Enda Donaghy, Padraig Donaghy, Peter Colton, Jamie Concannon, Sean Og Teague, Lorcan McMurray, Shea McDermott, Liam McGeary. Subs used: Eoin Mansell for L McGeary (50mins), Darragh Devlin for L McMurray (56), Darren McAnespie for J Concannon (56), Peter McGoldrick for S McDermott (56)

Monaghan

John Flannagan, Mark McCaffrey, Tiernan McGeough, Senan Carolin, Shea Corrigan, Pauric Carville, Charlie Mone, Simon Du Plessis, Andrew Stewart, Cian Rafferty, Senan Henratty, Darcy Foy, Evan Treanor, Luke McKenna, Killian Kearns. Subs used: Conor Meehan for C Mone (15mins), Stephen Hamill for S Hanratty (h-time), James McKenna for P Carville (h-time), Darragh Keenan for S Carolin (45), Fergal McEneaney for L McKenna (53)

Referee: James Lewis (Fermanagh)