Tyrone lose by seven points to Donegal…

Saturday 19.02.2011

Dermot Molloy puts the seal on an impressive Donegal performance as the visitors secure a well deserved 1-10 to 0-6 victory at Healy Park, leaving Mickey Harte’s men pointless after their two league outings. It has been a forgettable night for the Red Hands, who mustered just one point from a free in the second half and only two points from play all night. The manager will be disappointed with the manner of this defeat and will be seeking a massive improvement from his players in the weeks ahead, with promotion already looking like an unrealistic goal…

Apart from a long range pointed free from Sean Cavanagh midway through the second half, it has been a dominant display by Donegal for the entire second half, much to the disappointment of the 3905 attendance at Healy Park, most of whom came with expectations of a first league victory of 2011 for the home team.

The match is petering out towards a very disappointing climax for Tyrone, who promised a lot more in the opening quarter than they have subsequently delivered, Donegal easily turning their early three point deficit into a convincing six point lead with very little resistance coming from the home side who are about to suffer a second NFL division two defeat in as many outings…

Tyrone now appear to be struggling and unless they can produce a remarkable comeback in the last eight minutes, the two league points are heading home with Donegal, who now have a six point cushion thanks to another conversion by Colm McFadden…

Another Michael Murphy point from a free kick, his third of the game, restores Donegal’s five point advantage and Tyrone’s hopes of picking up their first NFL point of the division two campaign are now fading fast as the match enters its closing stages…

Sean Cavanagh registers a much needed score for Tyrone with a brilliant long range strike from a free, his first point of the night. Tyrone will be hoping it can inspire the Red Hands to launch a big finish to the proceedings as Donegal lead by four points entering the final quarter…

Donegal are now rampant as they make it 1-2 without reply in the second half through Colm McFadden to leave a five point gap between the sides, giving them a lead that could prove unassailable…

As Ryan McMenamin picks up a yellow card, Owen Mulligan enters the fray for his first appearance of 2011 in place of Niall McKenna and Mickey Harte will be hoping that Mugsy can provide the spark that has been missing from Tyrone’s play throughout the second half. In fact, Tyrone have mustered just one point from a free since taking a 0-4 to 0-1 lead at the end of the opening quarter…

Donegal are motoring very well at the moment as Dermot Molloy follows up his goal with a neat point from play to send the visitors into a four point lead, 1-6 to 0-5. The scoreline since the 20th minute of the game is 1-5 to 0-1 in Donegal’s favour and Tyrone’s task is getting more difficult all the time, not helped by Enda McGinley sustaining an injury…

The first score of the second half turns out to be very significant as Donegal race into a three point lead with the game’s opening goal via Dermot Molloy, despite a great save initially by Tyrone’s experienced keeper Pascal McConnell who could do nothing about the rebound. Tyrone now have a big fight on their hands if they are to take something from a game that has been going against them since the 20th minute…

Tyrone’s barren spell finally ends as Martin Penrose, arguably Tyrone’s best player so far along with Dermy Carlin, delivers his third pointed free of the evening to level the match for a third time at the halfway stage, with Brian McGuigan responsible for giving Penrose the chance to tie things up at 0-5 apiece. So it’s all to play for in half two, Tyrone having started very nicely with four of the first five points, before Donegal took control with four conversions in a row, the half finishing with that equaliser from Penrose. Things might have been a little different had Niall McKenna been awarded the early penalty that many Tyrone supporters believed he was entitled to…

Donegal are very much the team in the ascendancy with the Red Hands having surrendered the initiative following that eyecatching start to the action which saw Mickey Harte’s men establish a three point lead, only to concede the next four scores…

Donegal’s sequence of unanswered scores continues as the visitors take the lead for the first time in the match through Leo McLoone, who swings over his side’s fourth point on the bounce to leave Tyrone trailing by 0-5 to 0-4 with almost half an hour gone…

Donegal record their third point in succession thanks to Michael Murphy’s second point of the proceedings, putting the sides on level terms once more as Tyrone’s earlier three point advantage is wiped out…

Donegal reduce the deficit to a minimum with a converted free courtesy of Colm McFadden, who notches his second point of the night in good style to keep the visitors very much in the hunt for tonight’s league points…

A brilliant long range point from Michael Murphy doubles Donegal’s tally to two points following a couple of misses at the other end. Just two points in it with 23 minutes gone at Healy Park…

Martin Penrose has the ball in the Donegal net but the play had already been called back by the referee, and in the ensuing passage of play Tyrone increase their advantage to three points, 0-4 to 0-1, with a great effort by Enda McGinley who polishes off excellent approach work by Cavanagh, Penrose and Peter Harte. Tyrone are in a very promising position at Healy Park with just under 20 minutes played…

Tyrone move into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead with an impressive move, the best of the match so far. Davy Harte, Sean Cavanagh and Enda McGinley all play their part before Peter Harte curls over a wonderful score, Tyrone’s first from play…

Excellent individual play by Brian McGuigan, who has been showing up superbly in the early part of the year, earns another opportunity for Marty Penrose and the Aghyaran man points in style to leave Tyrone ahead by 0-2 to 0-1 with ten minutes played…

Tyrone threaten again with good build up play by Niall McKenna, Brian McGuigan and Stephen O’Neill but the move breaks down and Donegal counter attack to good effect with Colm McFadden bringing the sides level with a decent point from play…

Martin Penrose, one of the in form players so far in 2011, opens the Tyrone scoring with a well struck 40 metre free following a foul on Sean Cavanagh. It’s a bright start for the Red Hands who would dearly love to open their division two account this evening following that slender defeat at the hands of Derry in round one, although Donegal, as always, will be formidable opponents…

Tyrone’s National Football Legaue Division 2 encounter with Donegal is underway at Healy Park, Omagh, and we will keep you up to date here on teamtalkmag.com throughout the evening. Errigal Ciaran’s Aidan McCrory makes his league debut in defence for the Red Hands and Niall McKenna makes his first start at midfield, a position filled with great distinction by his father Eugene for many years. Another interesting bit of information is the presence of Owen Mulligan among the Tyrone subs following his time in Australia. The Tyrone subs bench has just eight players on it because of injury.