Convincing Win For Tyrone Minors

Monday 17.03.2025

 

Tyrone 1-22 Derry 0-11

Tyrone produced a superb team display to get their Ulster minor league campaign up and running on Saturday past. Following a superb team showing they went home having recorded a convincing victory over Derry at Garvaghey.

Derry began well early on and landed the first scores of the game through Sean O’Kane and Emmett Spiers. In truth however that was as good as it got for the Oak Leaf lads as the home side got to the pace of the game.

The Red Hands were always in control of and such was their control of the game they could have won by a greater margin as they created a number of goal chances. Aodhan Quinn and Cathal Farley were Tyrone’s top defenders with James Mulgrew producing a man of the match performance in midfield and Eoin Long and Joel Kerr causing mayhem in the Derry rearguard with their pace and movement.

Derry looked the sharper side in the opening stages of the game after Sean O’Kane had opened the scoring with a fine point. Attacking wing half back Emmet Spiers doubled their lead  in the 4th minute with a superb effort with the outside of his boot. Eoin Long fired over his team’s first point of the day with a seventh minute free and in the next attack they took the lead thanks to a fine two pointer from Mulgrew. Kian Maynes pointed to level the scores at 0-3 apiece at the end of the first quarter but from then until the end it was Tyrone who controlled the game.

Now on top Tyrone began to play some quality football and points from Peter Garrity, Ciaran Mc Crystal and Long stretched the lead. Harley Patton pointed before Maynes got Derry’s last point of the opening half. Tyrone finished the first half in control with points from Mulgrew, Kerr and Farley with the latter also being denied a goal thanks to a good save from keeper Michael Conlon to leave it 0-10 to 0-4 at the interval.

The second half began with Derry registering the first score of the half. Straight from the throw in the visitors narrowed the gap thanks to a third point from the boot of Kian Maynes but any hopes of a comeback quickly disappeared.  Keeper Conlon made another superb save this time to thwart Kerr before Patton opened Tyrone’s second half account.

Keeper Conlon then got forward to split the posts but that score was cancelled out by midfielder Mulgrew with fifteen minutes of the second half remaining. At this stage Matthew Daly entered the action and he was to have a considerable impact hitting three points. Derry full back Blaine Conwell pointed before an excellent move from Tyrone finished with Long going for goal but his effort was tipped past the post by Conlon with Kerr knocking over the resulting “45”.

In the 21st minute the impressive Long hit the score of the game after a move the full length of the field. It had been started by Goodman in defence before the Cookstown clubman added another point in the following attack. Daly and Farley tagged on points before Tyrone finally raised a green flag in the fifty fifth minute. Long’s effort for a point came back off the upright and Mark Kennedy reacted quickest to finish the ball to the net from close range. Codi Rocks converted a brace of 2 point frees either side of Daly on target from play for Tyrone. The home side showed no let up in the closing moments with Kerr on target from a free as well as from play before Long had the final say with his fifth of the day.

 

Match sta

ts: 

Tyrone Scorers:

Eoin Long 0-5 (1F), Joel Kerr 0-4 (1F, 1 “45), James Mulgrew 0-4 (1 x 2pt), Matthew Daly 0-3, Mark Kennedy 1-0, Harley Patton 0-2, Cathal Farley 0-2, Peter McGarrity 0-1, Ciaran McCrystal 0-1

Derry Scorers:

Codi Rocks 0-4 (2x 2ptF), Kian Maynes 0-3, Sean O’Kane 0-1, Emmet Spiers 0-1, Blaine Conwell 0-1, Michael Conlon 0-1

Tyrone Lineout.

Ronan Donnelly, Elliot Kerr, Paudi Goodman, Ciaran McCrystal, Aodhan Quinn, James Daly, Cathal Farley, James Mulgrew, Joel Kerr, Harley Patton, Padraig Donaghy, Thomas Meenan, Peter Garrity, Eoin Long, Mark Kennedy. Subs: Darren McAnespie for Meenan, Matthew Daly for Patton, Pearse McDonald for Garrity, Michael Lennon for Farley, Odhran Curran for Kennedy