Tyrone beat Monaghan by two points…

Sunday 05.06.2011

It’s all over and Tyrone’s quest for three in a row continues as they book an Ulster semi-final date with Cavan or Donegal on a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-11. It was very good at times from Tyrone and if the penalty had been converted they might have been out of sight a lot sooner, but they hung on well in poor enough conditions against a determined Monaghan team who mustered just three scores from play all day. Mickey Harte will be seeking an improvement on this display but as first round performances go, this was pretty decent given the amount of rain that fell today. Best for Tyrone were the aforementioned trio of O’Neill, McGuigan and Donnelly in attack, Cavanagh at midfield, and Conor Gormley and Marty Swift in defence, with Philip Jordan growing stronger as the game progressed, just like O’Neill. The scorers were man of the match Brian McGuigan (1-1), Sean Cavanagh (0-4), Stephen O’Neill (0-3), Martin Penrose (0-2), Peter Harte (0-2) and Owen Mulligan (0-1). Well done to all involved with the Red Hands today and good luck in three weeks time in the Ulster semi-final…

Tensions are still running high here as a Monaghan player goes down off the ball before the action is restarted but there’s no action taken by the referee and Tyrone are two points up, plus have two extra men, deep in injury time…

Kevin Hughes picks up Tyrone’s eighth yellow card of the game and moments later Philip Jordan is taken out as he surges up the right wing, Dessie Mone earning himself a straight red card and leaving Monaghan with thirteen men for the last few minutes of this game…

Paul Finlay drops in another high ball which Pascal McConnell catches well but in the ensuing passage of play Finlay gets the ball back and splits the posts with a touch of class, leaving Monaghan just two points in arrears with a minute of normal time left…

Monaghan are still causing problems for Tyrone here, even with a man down, and a dangerous high ball towards the Tyrone goal results in a forty five, Darren Hughes sending it in and another Monaghan player fisting wide…

Mugsy has another shot but his effort goes wide this time, Tyrone’s seventh wide of the afternoon. Brian McGuigan, Stephen O’Neill and Mark Donnelly are all playing well today in the Tyrone forward line, all three working very hard to ensure victory for the Red Hands. Colm Cavanagh has a shot but it drops short into the keeper’s hands and Monaghan record a wide at the opposite end, so it’s still a three point gap with five minutes remaining. Kevin Hughes is now on the field in place of Aidan Cassidy…

Tyrone have opened up a four point gap as Stephen O’Neill once more shows his quality, flicking the ball up for himself close to the endline and fisting over from a difficult angle, but Monaghan’s Darren Hughes brings his tally to 1-1 seconds later with a great delivery from long distance, Tyrone holding a 1-13 to 1-10 lead with nine to go…

Owen Mulligan makes an immediate impact as he receives the ball from Philip Jordan out on the left wing and cuts inside before curling over a typical Mugsy point, putting Tyrone into a 1-12 to 1-9 lead with eleven minutes to go…

Monaghan’s deficit is back down to two points as McManus taps over a close range free kick, leaving it 1-11 to 1-9 with 15 minutes to go. Owen Mulligan is brought on for these concluding stages in place of Martin Penrose and the Ulster champions still have some work to do here…

Tyrone reply to Monaghan’s goal with a welcome score, Stephen O’Neill hitting another class score from out on the right, giving Tyrone a three point cushion with 19 minutes gone in this half. We’re into the final quarter now and this contest is anything but decided…

ANOTHER PENALTY! This time it’s a penalty for Monaghan and Darren Hughes makes no mistake, drilling a powerful low shot emphatically to the net to leave just two points between the sides, the penalty coming about after Ryan McMenamin fouled Conor McManus. Tyrone have a game on their hands now alright as Sean O’Neill comes on for Dermy Carlin with 16 minutes gone in the second half…

Tyrone are five points to the good once again as Sean Cavanagh neatly slots over the bar from an acute angle following a Stephen O’Neill pass and it’s 1-10 to 0-8…

The margin is back to four points again as Paul Finlay finds the target from a free kick on the right wing. They have managed just one point froim play so far in this match but they’re not beaten yet, trailing by 1-9 to 0-8…

There’s more yellow cards being shown here, including one for Martin Penrose, as Peter Harte swings over his second point from a forty five – and it’s his last kick of the day as he is immediately replaced by Colm Cavanagh, Tyrone holding a five point lead nine minutes into this second half…

PENALTY!!! Tyrone survive a dangerous moment at one end and quickly transfer the ball to the other end as the Red Hands counter attack superbly and it’s two of today’s star men, Brian McGuigan and Mark Donnelly, who carve through the Monaghan defence to win a penalty, but Martin Penrose’s rising shot sails wide! It was a chance for Tyrone to effectively put this contest to bed but Monaghan survive…

Mark Donnelly is putting in a great shift today and his hard work earns another free kick which Sean Cavanagh curls between the Monaghan posts to restore the four point lead, 1-8 to 0-7…

We’re underway for the second half and straight away Monaghan show that they’re not finished as Paul Finlay slots over a free kick to leave a goal between the sides, 1-7 to 0-7…

The rain is still coming down heavily and it looks like it’s here to stay for the rest of this match. There’s a crowd of 10,937 in Healy Park for this encounter, most of them holding umbrellas. Monaghan started this game very positively but Tyrone have been taking a grip on the exchanges, although anything can still happen in this second half. Tyrone’s scores so far have come from Brian McGuigan (1-1), Sean Cavanagh (0-2, one free), Martin Penrose (0-2, two frees), Stephen O’Neill (0-1) and Peter Harte (0-1, 45)…

We’ve just received a message from guess where? Kerry, believe it or not! Patrick McAuliffe has sent us this… “blazing sunshine in kerry all day today. great win for kerry over limerick. nice to see tyrone winning as well they have great footballers and mcguigan is a joy to watch – www.teamtalkmag.com great website and fantastic text commentary”… Patrick many thanks for making contact with us. You never know, we could be meeting up before this year is out. Here’s hoping, although Kerry looked very good last night…

We’ve reached the halfway stage here at Healy Park and things are looking very promising for Tyrone, thanks mainly to that wonderful 19th minute goal from McGuigan, which was followed a short time later by the dismissal of Monaghan’s influential midfielder Dick Clerkin. If you have any thoughts you would like to share with us at half time please send them to tyronegaa@btinternet.com.

Stephen O’Neill shows his class with a typical left footed point from an acute angle following a pass from the busy Mark Donnelly, although Monaghan reply a minute later with their first score in a while, Conor McManus firing over a close in free to make it 1-7 to 0-6 with 35 minutes gone. There’s 2 minute of injury time to be played…

Things are getting very heated here as Penrose goes down near the Monaghan goal as the players await another free kick from Sean Cavanagh. The ref shows yet another yellow card to Monaghan full back Darren Hughes – that’s the seventh card since the last score – and Tyrone move into a four point lead moments later thanks to Cavanagh. That’s 1-3 without reply now from Tyrone…

Philip Jordan sets up Davy Harte for a scoring chance from the right wing and he just misses the target, Tyrone’s fourth wide. A big call by the referee moments later as Dick Clerkin gets his second yellow card of the game and is sent off for another foul on Cavanagh, the resultant free sent wide missed by Cavanagh, Tyrone’s fifth wide…

Things are heating up a bit here. Firstly, Philip Jordan is involved in an incident with his man, Jordan getting a yellow card. There’s also a yellow card for both Aidan Cassidy and Owen Lennon, while Sean Cavanagh and Dick Clerkin are getting to know each other away from the action. It’s yellow cards for them as well – that’s 4 for Tyrone and 3 for Monaghan…

Peter Harte makes a great run forward but is just off target with his shot, Tyrone’s third wide of the proceedings…

Tyrone are enjoying a good spell at present as Peter Harte drills over a great point from a forty five to leave that goal from McGuigan separating the teams after 23 minutes of action. It’s not a bad game considering the poor weather conditions…

GOAL FOR TYRONE!!! Brian McGuigan, who has been rejuvenated this year, hits a spectacular shot to the top right corner of the Monaghan net following brilliant approach work by Peter Harte and Stephen O’Neill. It’s a well deserved goal for McGuigan who now has 1-1 to his name, and Tyrone are leading for the first time, 1-4 to 0-5…

Philip Jordan, who has hit many’s a great score from half back, is only narrowly off target as Tyrone go in search of an equaliser. It’s Tyrone’s second wide of the afternoon…

Tyrone respond again as Mark Donnelly earns a free kick, the 18th free kick of the match, and Marty Penrose slots the ball over the bar for his second point of the proceedings. It’s now 0-5 to 0-4 and Dermot Carlin is brought into the action in place of Cathal McCarron who picked up an early yellow card…

Monaghan have restored their two point cushion with another Conor McManus point from a close in free. It’s his third from frees and fourth score altogether, Monaghan now leading by 0-5 to 0-3…

Tyrone respond with a great score from evergreen centre half forward Bian McGuigan who cuts in superbly from the right wing and heads straight for goal, his shot just skimming the top of the crossbar and sailing over the bar, leaving it 0-4 to 0-3. McGuigan finds himself with the ball in his hands in front of goal once again moments later, thanks to Sean Cavanagh’s pass, but it’s knocked out of his hands before he gets a chance to pull the trigger…

Paul Finaly has the audacity to go for goal from 20 meteres out and he’s not far away! Monaghan are enjoying the better of things at the minute. If you have any thoughts on the game, send us an email to tyronegaa@btinternet.com…

For the third time in the match Monaghan go into the lead, this time it’s Paul Finlay who points the free kick out on the right wing. And they promptly double their lead through McManus who converts a dead ball very stylishly from the left wing. It’s now 0-4 to 0-2 in favour of Monaghan with just over eight minutes played, McManus with three points to his credit already…

Tyrone are level again very quickly as Sean Cavanagh makes his first impact on the game, taking a pass from championship debutant Mark Donnelly and firing over a great score to make it 0-2 apiece after 5 minutes. Cavanagh takes a big hit too as he swings the ball over but he’s up again ready to continue…

We’ll say hello at this stage to well known Tyrone supporter Ultan Blee who we think is tuning into teamtalkmag in Australia! The bad news, however, is that Monaghan have regained the lead thanks to a fine strike by Conor McManus, who has made a very bright start for the Farney men…

Tyrone’s first attack also yields a free kick as Brian McGuigan is stopped illegally and it’s Martin Penrose who gets Tyrone’s first score of the 2011 championship as he curls the ball neatly between the posts from 30 metres out. It’s 0-1 apiece with two minutes played…

We’re underway and in the very first attack Paul Finlay is fouled, enabling Conor McManus to open the scoring here at Healy Park from a 20 metre free…

We’re almost set for the repeat of last year’s Ulster final in which the Red Hands retained the Anglo Celt Cup. The national anthem has been played and we’re ready to go. Last week we had a great game between Armagh and Down which brought the 2011 championship to life. Here’s hoping for another top contest today, despite the inclement weather…

Don’t forget that you can interact with us on teamtalkmag.com throughout the match. Send comments to tyronegaa@btinternet.com…

The Tyrone players are in their huddle for a last minute teamtalk before the parade. Among them is of course the amazing Brian Dooher who made his debut at this level back in 1996, a year when he was to become Ulster footballer of the year. Peter Harte, starting alongside him today, was about 4 years of age back then. It’s also great to see Philip Jordan in action today after all the talk about retirement a while back. Philly has started every single Tyrone championship engagement at left half back since he made his debut ten years ago in 2001. The parade is well underway now and it won’t be long until the players are taking up their positions. Hopefully this rain will ease sometime soon…

The teams are warming up here at Healy Park and unfortunately the rain is coming down very heavily. There’s still lots of room on the terracing where umbrellas are the order of the day right now. Here’s hoping that the wet weather doesn’t spoil this game as a spectacle. If you would like to send us your thoughts during the game and have them published in our live updates send them to tyronegaa@btinternet.com. We’ll be back with you again shortly before the throw in…

The Tyrone line up today is as selected on Thursday night:

Pascal Mc Connell

Martin Swift

Cathal Mc Carron

Ryan Mc Menamin

Davy Harte

Conor Gormley

Philip Jordan

Aidan Cassidy

Sean Cavanagh

Brian Dooher (captain)

Brian Mc Guigan

Peter Harte

Martin Penrose

Mark Donnelly

Stephen O’Neill