TYRONE SFC FINAL/Clonoe 0-10 Dromore 0-9: CLONOE, MANAGED by new Derry boss Damien Cassidy, won their seventh Tyrone SFC title and their first since 1991 with an extra-time victory over the defending champions at Healy Park.
But it was Clonoe who needed a late equaliser from Stephen McNulty, who also scored the winning point from a 45 five minutes from the end of extra-time.
The newly crowned champions are due to go straight into Ulster club championship action next Sunday against Donegal champions St Eunan's, but Cassidy said the club will seek a postponement.
"We will be putting a request into the Ulster Council through the Tyrone board to have our game knocked back a week," he said. "At the end of the day, it's an amateur game, and we're entitled to have a break.
"Crossmaglen have had the advantage of a break because of Aaron Kernan going to Australia, and their game has been knocked back. So I would like to think that opportunity should be afforded to Clonoe also."
Clonoe struggled to break down Dromore's packed defence, and had only two points from Patrick Doris frees to show for their efforts in the opening half hour.
Paddy Montague steered over three frees for Clonoe, and a quickly-taken free from Dromore's Colm McCullagh sent Eoin McCusker away for the first half's only point from play. Dromore stretched their lead to three points when McCullagh was on target from a free in the 29th minute.
The champions were reduced to 14 men when Emmet O'Neill received a straight red card in first-half stoppage time following an off-the-ball incident.
Clonoe narrowed the gap with a Stephen McNulty free, and trailed by 0-5 to 0-3 at the break.
A low-scoring second half saw Dromore ease ahead through Colm Donnelly, but points from Shane McMahon and Shaun O'Neill regained the lead for Dromore before Stephen McNulty's free levelled it at 0-7 each.
Dromore were restored to a full complement of players for extra-time and they were still deadlocked on 0-8 each halfway through. But in a gripping final period, McNulty drilled a 45 between the posts to give Clonoe them the narrowest of victories.
CLONOE: M O'Neill; C Lynch, A Brady, S McCann; E Teague, D Burke, G Coney; S O'Hagan, S McNulty (0-4, three frees, one 45); S Coney, C Doris, P Doris (0-4, four frees); C Donnelly (0-2), RT O'Neill, RR O'Neill. Subs: PJ Lavery for S Coney, E Hughes for RR O'Neill, N O'Neill for Lavery, J McClure for Lynch.
DROMORE: P Ward; F O'Neill, C McCarron, K Donnelly; H McNulty, R McMenamin, Seán O'Neill (0-1); M Garry, B Collins; P Montague (0-3, three frees), C McCullagh (0-1, free), S McMahon (0-1); E McCusker (0-2), Shaun O'Neill (0-1, free), E O'Neill. Subs: C Donnelly for Montague, C O'Neill for McCusker, McCusker for McNulty, K O'Brien, Rory McMenamin for Shaun O'Neill.
Referee: M Mohan (Eglish).
Dromore manager apologises for post-match altercation
DROMORE MANAGER Noel McGinn last night apologised for an incident at the end of normal-time in the Tyrone SFC final, when he was involved in a clash with a Clonoe player as the teams left the field.
Clonoe won the game by a point, after extra-time, but the incident, highlighted by TV pictures shown by TG4, was one of the main talking points.
"I was very disappointed with myself, with the incident that happened at the end of the match," said the former Tyrone player, who guided Dromore to their first ever senior football championship title last season.
"I know exactly what I did and I am going to have to take full responsibility for that, but in no way should the club suffer. It was a silly thing, and somebody of my experience should have known better, and I want to apologise to the Clonoe club."
