Tyrone 1-17 Cork 0-14 Feelings about the league are clear in this part of the world. Cork travelled by bus to Dungannon and so had many hours on the road last night to contemplate the fierce passion with which the football community of Tyrone greet league fare.
Yesterday, the reigning champions were in no mood to relinquish that honour, ensuring that they were one of three Ulster teams to make the play-offs with a handsome win against Larry Tompkins men.
"You have to win games to win titles," Mickey Harte affirmed afterwards as the sated locals trickled out of O'Neill Park. "And to win titles you have to play consistently. It doesn't matter what the title is."
Yesterday, Tyrone looked strong and attractive and sharp. Forced to make alterations with Kieran Gourley, Gerard Cavlan and Enda McGinley all drafted in as late replacements, they still had a polished and cohesive look.
Indeed, so prolific was Cavlan - earning his first start of the year at centre-half forward - that Alan O'Connor was withdrawn after just half an hour. Martin Cronin did well when he came in but Cavlan still kicked freely, landing five points from play. "Sure if you can't play here, you can't play anywhere. I'm just pleased to get an opportunity, but I can't see myself keeping Brian McGuigan's place because he has been storming all season," he said afterwards.
And at centre stage, Tyrone has the deadliest. Peter Canavan at 35 appears still at the summit of his powers. When this game was finely balanced midway through the second half, it was the local legend that ripped it open with a couple of dynamic flourishes. Niall Geary and then Sean O'Brien were detailed to shadow him, still the most thankless task in Gaelic Games.
At 55 minutes, with the scores at 0-12 apiece, he reminded the crowd of 5,000 of his different class. First, a typically neat point after he collected a pass from Philip Jordan. Then a burst to greet a similar break by Ryan McMenamin. The youngster overcooked his low inlet to the leader but in one movement, Canavan caught, rolled on the turf and broke cleanly for goals. Another point.
Tyrone never looked back and Cavlan and Kieran Hughes added lovely distance scores before the grace note. The excellent Gavin Devlin got fingertips to the ball to end a promising Cork attack and the home team broke away with Canavan floating a sweet pass for midfielder Sean Cavanagh. Coolly, he swept forward and slotted home a celebratory goal.
It was a rough finish on Cork. For the majority of the game they were equal to their hosts and engineered five unanswered points during a fine period of play following the break. The form of Michael O'Cronin, the hard-working Alan Cronin and Graham Canty is reassuring for the rebels. Their ill-luck was best summed up by the experiences of wing-back Noel O'Leary, who gave a distinguished account of himself only to be dismissed on 68 minutes for a second yellow card handed for a foul that was almost certainly committed by one of his colleagues.
Tyrone minimised the percentage of ball allowed through to Colin Corkery. Corner forward Brian Dooher beavered away around his own half-back line and was the spark behind so many of his sides moves. Using the two-man forward line and direct, old-fashioned straight-down-the-middle ball, Tyrone profited.
The most serious assault on their defensive line came on 33 minutes when an astute, long ball from Brendan Jer O'Sullivan was collected by James O'Shea. He in turn fed O'Cronin but John Devine flicked the low shot around the post for a 50. Corkery, implausibly, sent that floating wide and instead Tyrone broke away with Cavlan dispatching a point to leave them 0-9 to 0-6 ahead at the break. By the end, with word drifting in of results from other grounds, Cork gamely launched a stream of late attacks, but Tyrone were home and dry.
TYRONE: J Devine; R McMenamin, C Holmes, K Gourley; C Gormley, G Devlin, P Jordan (0-1); K Hughes (0-2), S Cavanagh (1-1); S Mulgrew, G Cavlan (0-5), S O'Neill (0-1); B Dooher, P Canavan (0-6, 3 frees), E McGinley (0-1). Subs: M Harte for S Mulgrew (half-time), D Carlin for K Gourley (43 mins).
CORK: K O'Dwyer; N O'Donovan, N Geary, S O'Brien; S Levis, A O'Connor, N O'Leary (0-2); N Murphy, G Canty; J O'Donoghue, BJ O'Sullivan, A Cronin (0-1); J O'Shea (0-1), M O'Cronin (0-4), C Corkery (0-6, 3 frees, 1 50). Subs: M Cronin for A O'Connor (26 mins), M MCCarthy for J O'Donohue (half-time),D Kavanagh for M Cronin (60 mins inj.), C Crowley for BJ O'Sullivan (67 mins).
Referee: Brian Crowe (Cavan).
