Tyrone 1-17 Antrim 1-9 This Ulster football championship semi-final at Casement Park was never likely to be anything but a convincing Tyrone win.
An eight-point margin might not seem entirely convincing but there was much more between the teams than that suggests. Tyrone had all the answers and showed their vast experience against a rather naive Antrim team that seemed lost at times in the heat of the occasion.
The losers' failure to close down their opponents was remarkable. Tyrone players were often given the freedom of the park for their interweaving runs and neat passing movements.
Antrim were also guilty of giving the ball away at times when it looked like a promising move might lead to a score.
Tyrone started without regular midfielders Cormac McAnallen and Seán Cavanagh but their absence was hardly noticed. Ger Cavlan emerged man of the match, while his midfield partner Kevin Hughes was also highly effective.
"They were both superb and that, of course, gives me a bit of a headache for the final against either Fermanagh or Down," said manager Mickey Harte. "If the other lads are fully fit I'll have to choose who plays at midfield in the final but that's my problem - not a bad problem to have."
Antrim opened brightly with points from placed balls by Kevin Madden, their most effective forward, to balance points by Eoin Mulligan and Peter Canavan, both from play. Canavan shot his team in front but Antrim got a boost on 15 minutes when referee Gerry Kinneavy awarded them a penalty. Opinions varied as to why the penalty was given. Madden tore along the endline, beating a couple of defenders, and as the ball broke in the box goalkeeper John Devine went down to scramble it away but the referee gave the penalty, apparently for a third-man tackle.
In any event Madden rifled the ball to the net amid a crescendo of boos from Tyrone fans in the 20,865 crowd.
That shot Antrim 1-2 to 0-3 ahead but Tyrone, stung by the setback, moved up a gear for centre back Declan McCrossan to rob an opponent and send over a point. The excellent Mulligan, who seemed to get acres of space, added another to level before Stephen O'Neill put Tyrone ahead and Mulligan made it 0-7 to 1-2 after 25 minutes.
Tyrone were never again headed. A point by Gearóid Adams was followed by three more Tyrone scores before substitute Rory O'Loan fisted an Antrim point and Cavlan posted another point even though the ball seemed to curl the wrong side of an upright. This put Tyrone 0-11 to 1-4 ahead and looking comfortable at the break.
Three points from frees by Mark Harte were answered by points from Madden and Darren O'Hare.
Tyrone continued to forage with sharp breaks from defence, where McCrossan had a great game in the number six jersey. Canavan, despite being reasonably well marshalled by Seán Kelly, popped over a couple of points to offset points from Kevin Brady and Madden.
After Madden added another point for the home side the final nail was driven into Antrim's coffin. Once more McCrossan tore forward and lobbed the ball goalward, where Mulligan outfoxed his marker and lashed the ball past Seán McGreevy in the 69th minute. Canavan had the last say with a pointed free five minutes into injury time.
Tyrone did what they had to do to qualify for the Ulster final but even they will agree it wasn't their best performance of the season. They shot 19 wides, 11 in the first half, against just two for Antrim. That, of course, tells the amount of pressure the winners exerted on Antrim. They also forced three 45s.
"I'm just delighted to get over the game and get into the Ulster final," said Canavan. "Potentially this was a tricky game for Tyrone but we stuck to our task. Our midfield was excellent. They gave a great supply of ball into the forwards. Mickey (Harte) wasn't too pleased at half-time and he'll probably have a few things to work on.
"Obviously we haven't thought about the final yet. At least we are there and we have a few weeks to prepare."
Antrim manager PJ O'Hare said: "The boys tried their best and you can't ask more than that."
TYRONE: J Devine; C Lawn, C Holmes, R McMenamin; C Gormley, D McCrossan (0-1), P Jordan; K Hughes, G Cavlan (0-1); B Dooher, B McGuigan, S O'Neill (0-2); M Harte (0-3, all frees), P Canavan (0-7, three frees), E Mulligan (1-3). Subs: C McGinley for O'Neill inj (49 mins), C Gourley for Lawn (70 mins).
ANTRIM: S McGreevy; G Adams (0-1), J McKeever, N Ward; S Kelly, T Convery, A Finnegan; M McCrory, M McGarry; J Quinn, K Brady (0-1), K McGourty; P McCann, D O'Hare (0-1), K Madden (1-5, four frees). Subs: R O'Loan (0-1) for McCann (28 mins), C Kelly for McCrory (65 mins).
Referee: G Kinneavy (Roscommon).
