By 
Fermanagh 1-17 Tyrone 2-18
TWO second half goals from Turlough Mullin saw the Red Hands take the spoils from a hard-fought National Hurling League game against Fermanagh in Enniskillen on Saturday.
Fermanagh headed into the game in Brewster Park in bad need of points and a performance following back-to-back defeats to Donegal and Sligo in their opening two Division Three games.
Howevere Tyrone threatened from the start. Straight from the throw in, they charged down the field with Feargal Donaghy firing high, only for Erne goalkeeper Mark Slevin to pull off a good save.
Following the big let off, Fermanagh began to grow into the game with Jimmy Tormey pointing.
Niall McGarel registered Tyrone’s first score after five minutes, before points were traded between Daniel Teague and the classy Red Hands attacker Pierce Mullin.
Tyrone were then dealt a big blow when captain and talisman Aidan Kelly was shown a straight red card by Kildare referee Conor Daly following an off the ball clash with Duffy.
Fermanagh took control of the game hitting four scores without reply, Caolan Duffy firing over before the clinical Teague landed three frees to put the Erne men 0-06 to 0-02 in front.
With 20 minutes played, Michael Little stopped the rot for Tyrone with a well struck free.
Fermanagh were playing well and they extended their advantage with scores from Duffy and Sean Corrigan, while Tyrone hit back through points from Little (2) and Mullin.
Tyrone, who were a man down, managed the latter stages of the first half well with Sean Paul McKernan entering the fray in place of Anthony Crossan, with eight minutes remaining.
Teague and Little traded scores late in the half, before Corrigan had the last say when he pointed from distance to give Fermanagh a 0-10 to 0-07 lead at half-time in Brewster Park.
McGarry rang the changes for Tyrone at the break, introducing Turlough Mullin into the game, with the Red Hands’ number 21 going on to score two goals to fire Tyrone to victory.
McGarel got Tyrone up-and-running with a fine score after the restart.
Tyrone’s first goal came in somewhat controversial fashion. Mullin took a free from 40-metres and the ball dropped short with Erne goalkeeper Slevin collecting and clearing the danger.
Play continued but when Tyrone were then awarded a free, referee Daly stopped the game and after consultation with his umpires, a green flag was raised, with a goal awarded to Tyrone.
While the Fermanagh management team were visibly disappointed with the decision, the Erne men continued to battle and they hit back with their own goal almost immediately.
Following a quick counter attack up the pitch, the ball was played through the hands to Cahir McManus who coolly chipped the ball over the head of Conor McElhatton into the Tyrone net.
After a frantic start to the second half, Little and Corrigan traded scores to leave Fermanagh two in front as both management teams turned to their benches to introduce fresh legs.
Aidan Woods floated over a big score for Tyrone, before Corrigan came to the fore for Fermanagh, hitting back-to-back points to put the Erne men into a three point lead.
With 20 minutes left to play, Tyrone heaped the pressure on Fermanagh, whittling the Erne advantage back to one after two good scores from clinical Red Hands attacker Mullin.
Duffy landed a big score for Fermanagh, but the tables were then turned on the Erne men when Tyrone hit 1-04 without reply to put McGarry’s side firmly in the driving seat in Enniskillen.
After Little pointed a nice free, Mullin struck for his and Tyrone’s second goal.
Turning the ball over deep in their own half, Tyrone lofted the ball high into the Fermanagh square and the Erne defence failed to clear, with Mullin smashing to the roof of the net.
Midfielder Ciaran Magill then scored two successive scores, with Pierce and Turlough Mullin also raising white flags to put McGarry’s charges 2-17 to 1-14 in front.
Ben Corrigan hit a badly-needed score for Fermanagh with 60 minutes on the clock, reducing the Tyrone advantage to five, but it did little to reduce the deficit in Enniskillen.
Little pointed another free for Tyrone, while all Fermanagh could muster was a nice score from Erne substitute Shea McElroy who registered just minutes after his introduction.
Fermanagh needed a goal if they were to get anything out of the game but they weren’t able to break down the Tyrone rearguard, with Corrigan hitting a late consolation point in Enniskillen.
Scorers
Fermanagh: Sean Corrigan (0-6), Daniel Teague (0-5,5f), Cahir McManus (1-0), Caolan Duffy (0-3), Jimmy Tormey, Ben Corrigan, Shea McElroy (0-1 each)
Tyrone: Turlough Mullin (2-1), Michael Little (0-7, 5f), Pierce Mullin (0-6, 1f), Ciaran Magill (0-2), Aidan Woods, Niall McGarel (0-1 each)
Teams
Fermanagh: Mark Slevin, Dylan Bannon, Ronan McGurn, Ciaran Duffy, Ben Corrigan, Caoimhín Heaney, Odhran Johnston, Thomas Burns, Daniel Teague, Danann McKeogh, Jimmy Tormey, Cahir McManus, Odhrán Russell, Sean Corrigan, Caolan Duffy. Subs: Aidan Flanagan for D Bannon (42), Shea McElroy for T Burns (61), Michael Rafferty for D McKeogh (70)
Tyrone: Conor McElhatton, Dean Rafferty, Oran McKee, James McCann, Seamus Sweeney, Fionn Devlin, Anthony Crossan, Aidan Woods, Ciaran Magill, Feargal Donaghy, Aidan Kelly, Pierce Mullin, Niall McGarel, Kiefer Morgan, Michael Little. Subs: Sean Paul McKernan for A Crossan (27), Turlough Mullin for K Morgan (half-time), Liam Griffiths for P Mullin (59), Cian McGuigan for F Donaghy (70), Francie Hurson for C Magill (70).
Referee: Conor Daly (Kildare)
