Tyrone Masters reach All-Ireland Final

Tyrone 1-15  Clare 0-6

TYRONE Masters are one game away from successfully defending their All-Ireland crown after they claimed a resounding victory over Clare on Saturday.

The defending champions laid the foundations for their win with a power-packed first-half display which saw them cruise into a 1-7 to no score lead at the half-time interval.

Multiple All-Ireland winners Stephen O’Neill, Ciaran Gourley and captain Conor Gormley are the marquee names on the Tyrone panel, but they had plenty of assistance from their colleagues, including Martin Grimes, who finished his day’s work with 1-3, the hard-working Ollie McCreesh, and midfield pairing Donal McAnallen and Martin McGrath.

Three early points and an 18th minute goal from Grimes helped establish a comfortable lead which Tyrone never looked like relinquishing. Ryan McCallion, who came on for the injured Stephen O’Neill before the interval, Ollie McCreesh and corner-back Damien McDevitt also contributed to the scoreboard in an entirely one-sided first-half at Dromard, Longford.

Clare came out fighting in the second-half and finally got the scoreboard motoring with points from Dessie Mullan, James Troy and Michael O’Shea, but Tyrone reassumed control of the contest in the final quarter.

By the final whistle, 11 Tyrone players had got their name on the scoresheet with Eoghan Bradley, Conor Starrs, Ederney legend Martin McGrth and substitute Adrian Harley also managing to split the posts.

With the Dr Loftus Cup up for grabs, Tyrone will now face Dublin in a re-run of last year’s final.

On that occasion the Red Hands got the better of the Dubs with late scores from Stephen O’Neill proving the difference between the teams.

Dublin qualified for this year’s decider with a 0-12 to 0-10 victory over Kerry, and while they don’t have as many household names as Tyrone, they’re a formidable outfit with plenty of experience in the over 40s competition.

Their most dangerous forward is Niall Crossan, and they’ve also brought in Denis Bastick this year, a man who won five All-Ireland titles during the Jim Gavin era.

The final will take place in just over a fortnight’s time on the weekend of September 10/11.

Tyrone Scorers

Martin Grimes (1-3), Ollie McCreesh and Ryan McCallian (0-2 each), Stephen O’Neill, Ciaran Gourley, Martin McGrath, Adrian Harley, Conor Starrs, Eoghan Bradley, Damian McDevitt and Michael Anderson (0-1 each)

Tyrone Team

M McCreesh, C Gourley, A Brady, D McDevitt, G Coney, G Gormley, K McQuade, M McGrath, D McAnallen, D Kelly, M Anderson, E Bradley, O McCreesh, S Oneill, M Grimes.

Subs: R McCallian for O’Neill, M Connelly for Coney, J Mullan for McQuade, C Starrs for Bradley, A Harley for Kelly, S Colton for M McCreesh, A O’Kane for McDevitt, A McKenna for Anderson, B Devenney for Grimes, C Kearney for McGrath, B Rice for O McCreesh, C Mulgrew for Gourley