Tyrone lose by 3 in Ulster Under-21 Final

Wednesday 13.04.2011

Tyrone’s 2011 Ulster under-21 championship campaign is over following a disappointing climax to their five match provincial run at Brewster Park tonight, Cavan picking up their first under-21 title in 15 years with a one goal victory, the deciding goal coming in the very first attack of the Ulster final. In the end Cavan are deserved Ulster champions, Tyrone not quite hitting the heights of previous encounters. Is it possible that the five matches in five weeks finally took their toll on these Tyrone players? Good luck to Cavan in the All-Ireland semi-finals, which interestingly will not feature any of the provincial minor champions of three years ago…

Tyrone’s last attack results in a wide from John McCullagh as the final whistle is blown to see Cavan crowned as Ulster under-21 champions for 2011, Tyrone’s Niall Morgan preventing a second Cavan goal in the dying seconds with a great save…

Another point but it’s at the wrong end from a Tyrone viewpoint, Cavan sub Patrick King splitting the posts to give his side a three point cushion, 1-10 to 0-10, with more than three minutes of additional time completed. It would take a miracle now for Tyrone to survive beyond tonight…

John McCullagh is now on the field for Tyrone as we head into injury time, Diarmuid McNulty carried off with an injury. A missed Tyrone free a few moments ago has left the gap at two points and time is running out rapidly here. Only a goal looks like saving Tyrone at this late stage of the proceedings but there will be a few minutes of additional time here…

Ciaran Gervin, Niall McKenna and Richard Donnelly link up very well allowing Donnelly to thump over another Tyrone point, leaving it a two point game with 4 minutes to go, 1-9 to 0-10. Can Tyrone retrieve this game in these last few minutes?…

There were appeals for a Tyrone penalty there following a dramatic goal line incident but Tyrone have to be content with a close in free and Ronan O’Neill sticks it over the bar to give Tyrone some hope. It’s down to three points again…

Are the signs ominous for the Red Hands as Cavan add another point through Jack Brady, leaving Tyrone with a four point deficit to deal with as we enter the closing stages of this Ulster final…

Cavan hit back with a point from Patrick King to take some of the sting out of Tyrone’s challenge, leaving the Breffni county ahead by three points as we go into the last ten minutes…

Tyrone get a much needed score as Tiernan McCann, Mattie Donnelly, Kyle Coney and Niall McKenna all contribute to a fine build up and the kick from McKenna sails between the posts to leave just two points between the teams, 1-7 to 0-8, as Kevin Mossey and Diarmuid McNulty prepare to come on…

Tyrone are enjoying plenty of possession here but are lacking a finishing touch at the minute, although the scores should come if they keep pressing the way they are at the minute, with thirteen minutes to go. Cavan are not playing with the same zest as they were earlier and the Red Hands are seeing more of the ball as this second half progresses…

Ciaran Gervin is making an immediate impact here and gets his name on the scoresheet as he drives forward and lobs the ball over the bar to leave that early goal separating the teams again, 1-7 to 0-7…

Gearoid McKiernan is a real driving force for Cavan tonight as he powers forward and feeds the ball to Jack Brady who is fouled and then converts the free himself to leave four points between the teams once again, 1-7 to 0-6. Tyrone’s two points early in this half have now been cancelled out and they need to add to their tally again soon before Cavan build any further momentum…

Barry Reilly interrupts the Tyrone comeback as he converts a free to increase the Breffni men’s lead to three points, 1-6 to 0-6, after five minutes of the second half…

Ronan McNabb is just wide at the end of a patient build up involving a lot of Tyrone players, and Kyle Coney adds to the wides tally moments later, but overall this is much better from Tyrone in this second half as Ciaran Gervin enters the proceedings in place of Shea McGuigan…

Tyrone have started the second half in the manner they would have wanted as Niall McKenna and Ronan O’Neill fire over two great points in quick succession inside the first two minutes of the half and suddenly there’s just two points between the teams, 1-5 to 0-6…

Raymond Munroe will be hoping to inspire a lot of players with his half time team talk tonight because none of his players are playing to their capabilities so far in this match. Ronan McNamee, Peter Harte and Ronan O’Neill are probably the pick of a Tyrone side which is experiencing difficulties at half back and in midfield. Cavan are well worth their four point cushion and will be buoyant for the start of the second half but there’s plenty of time to change the complexion of this final…

HALF TIME… We’ve reached the halfway stage of this Ulster under-21 final and Tyrone find themselves four points down, 1-5 to 0-4, as Cavan enjoy a richly deserved advantage at the break. After conceding that goal in the opening 30 seconds, Tyrone played well for the remainder of the first quarter as Ronan O’Neill (two), Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte slotted over good points, but the Red Hands failed to alter the scoreboard for the rest of the first half as Cavan hit three unanswered before the interval to take a four point lead into the dressing room. Tyrone will clearly need to up their game on the restart, in nearly all parts of the pitch, in order to turn this one around but these boys have been here before in this year’s championship and are well capable of rising to the challenge. It has to be said though that this is a very decent Cavan side and they appear physically stronger than the Tyrone lads, so they will take a lot of beating in this next thirty minutes…

Ronan O’Neill just misses the target from a free kick as the Red Hands continue to trail by four points approaching half time. Tyrone haven’t scored in this second quarter and will need to end the barren spell as soon as possible…

Tyrone aren’t attacking with the same menace as they did in the opening dozen minutes and are currently finding scores hard to come by, their cause not helped by Cavan playing a sweeper in defence to curb the supply of ball into the Tyrone full forward line. Raymond Munroe’s men will have to raise their game here but that’s something they have been able to do in every match so far. It’s now 1-5 to 0-4 and Tyrone could do with a score or two before half time…

Once more McKiernan leads by example as he swings over another excellent Cavan score to put four points between the teams, the biggest gap so far…

It’s now 1-4 to 0-4 and Cavan are enjoying a productive spell here as Cavan captain Gearoid McKiernan bursts forward with purpose and thumps over a fine score to leave a goal dividing the teams…

The scores aren’t just coming as quickly now as they were in the opening quarter, with both sides missing opportunities to add to their tally, but Jack Brady finally points a free kick for Cavan after 20 minutes to put the Breffni outfit into a 1-3 to 0-4 lead…

Tyrone create a wonderful opportunity to get at least an equalising point but Ronan O’Neill uncharacteristically sends the ball wide and the Red Hands remain a point in arrears in this entertaining tussle…

Peter Harte’s quality is in evidence for the first time as he charges forward with authority and drills over a brilliant score to leave just a single point separating the teams, 1-2 to 0-4, as we approach the end of this opening quarter. It’s good stuff so far, as Gearoid McKiernan just misses the target for Cavan…

Ronan O’Neill, in just his first year out of minor, is going to be a key figure in the destination of this under-21 title as he pops over a free kick in good style to reduce the deficit to two points after eleven minutes, 1-2 to 0-3…

This is certainly a well drilled Cavan team and Jack Brady polishes off another good build up with a great score to restore his side’s one goal advantage, 1-2 to 0-2…

Cavan register their first point of the evening through Barry Reilly as the gap increases to two points with six minutes gone, Cavan enjoying a 1-1 to 0-2 cushion…

Ronan O’Neill, Tyrone’s leading scorer in this under-21 championship, gets his name on the scoresheet after three minutes as Tyrone settle into the game nicely after conceding that very early goal. It’s shaping up to be a very good contest here, nothing more than we’ve been accustomed to in this year’s under-21 series…

Tyrone respond very quickly and positively as Mattie Donnelly points via the post in the second minute to open his side’s Ulster final account. It’s one score apiece but the Cavan goal is the big one so far…

GOAL FOR CAVAN!!! Straight from the throw-in, which was delayed by ten minutes because of the large crowd, Cavan show they mean business as they go on the offensive and hit the back of the Tyrone net through Niall Murray. Tyrone are now fully aware of the challenge that lies ahead tonight…

The stage is set for what promises to be a cracking Ulster under-21 football championship final and there’s a very large crowd gathering here at Brewster Park. There will be a slight delay to proceedings so the match will not commence at 8.00pm as planned. If Tyrone’s championship campaign so far is anything to go by, this will be an entertaining evening for the big crowd. It has taken the Red Hands more than five hours to qualify for this year’s decider, including an hour of extra time, with Down (three times) and Monaghan providing formidable opposition. Tyrone, All-Ireland minor champions three years ago, and again last year, will be favourites to prevail but this Cavan team is highly regarded and pushed Tyrone all the way three years ago at minor level. The Breffni County faithful have great belief that this group of players can win the county’s third Ulster under-21 championship title.  Tyrone once owned this competition but it’s five years now since Justin McMahon captained the Red Hands to the last of their eleven provincial titles, and you have to go back ten years to the county’s last All-Ireland triumph, There were some big names on that team of a decade ago and Tyrone fans will be hoping that this year’s under-21 crop can go on to emulate the under-21 stars of 2000 and 2001. For tonight, much will be expected of players such as Ronan McNabb, Niall McKenna, Peter Harte, Paddy McNeice and, in particular, the hugely talented full forward line of Kyle Coney, Matthew Donnelly and Ronan O’Neill.

Tyrone team to play Cavan: Niall Morgan, Ryan Pickering, Ronan Mc Namee, Finbar Mc Quaid, Niall Sludden, Ronan McNabb, Tiernan Mc Cann, Niall Mc Kenna, Richard Donnelly, Paddy Mc Neice, Peter Harte, Shea Mc Guigan, Kyle Coney, Matthew Donnelly, Ronan O’Neill. SUBS: Tim Harney, Gavin Teague, Stefan McKenna, Sean Warnock, Michael Slane, Diarmuid McNulty, Brian McGarvey, John McCullagh, Ruairi Keenan, Ciaran Gervin, Kevin Mossey.