Tyrone 0-14 Fermanagh 0-8:Tyrone's late flourish secured victory in the end, but it was anything but plain sailing in front of 12,000 supporters at Healy Park on Saturday.
It wasn't until after the dismissal of Fermanagh midfielder Marty McGrath midway through the second half that the visitors' challenge began to fade.
"Fermanagh made us work very hard, and the scoreline flatters us without a doubt. We didn't deserve to win that game by six points," acknowledged Tyrone manger Mickey Harte.
Five Owen Mulligan points and three from Colm McCullagh helped the home side, who remain unbeaten after two rounds of games in Division One A, to victory.
Fermanagh took some time to find their feet, but for half an hour they stayed within two points of the hosts. After Sean Cavanagh and Mulligan had hit early Tyrone scores, Fermanagh tested an experimental home defence with direct lines of running. To an extent it worked.
It was only in the final five minutes of the first half that Tyrone put some daylight between the sides, with Mulligan and McCullagh easing them into a 0-8 to 0-4 lead at the break.
Eamonn Maguire narrowed the gap to three points with a superb score, but McGrath's dismissalproved their undoing.
Tyrone pulled away, and a flurry of late scores from McCullagh, Mulligan and Justin McMahon put a gloss on the final scoreline.
Tyrone's Kevin Hughes was also sent off for a second yellow.
TYRONE: P McConnell, D McCaul, P Donnelly, D Carlin, B Boggs, C Gormley, J McMahon (0-1), K Hughes, S Cavanagh (0-2, one free), R Mulgrew (0-1), O Mulligan (0-5, three frees), C Cavanagh (0-1), R Mellon, C McCullagh (0-3, two frees), E McGinley (0-1). Subs: S O'Neill for Mellon, C McGinley for Donnelly.
FERMANAGH: C Breen; N Bogue, B Owens, S Goan (0-1), R Johnston, H Brady, P Sherry, M McGrath, J Sherry, M Little, S Doherty, E Maguire (0-1), C McElroy (0-1), M Murphy, C O'Reilly (0-4, frees). Subs: R McCluskey for Johnston, T Brewster (0-1, free) for McElroy, R Keenan for Doherty, S McCabe for Little.
Referee: B Crowe (Cavan).
