Derry hurlers dig deep to beat Tyrone at Celtic Park

Derry 2-20

Tyrone 0-16

In the end, it was two points for Derry, but it came after a significant scare in the second half as Tyrone threatened to come back from a 12-point half time deficit at Celtic Park.

Johnny McGarvey’s side looked to be headed to a very comfortable opening day win as they dominated the first period, but the manager himself knew that a ferocious wind racing through Celtic Park had a huge part to play in that.

The question was, could Tyrone make use of the wind as much as Derry had in the second half, and they certainly gave it a try, scoring seven successive scores to take the deficit right down to five points before they imploded, Derry goals from Corey O’Reilly and Dara Mooney followed each by a red card, to Joe McToal and then Lorcan Devlin. That was the end of the comeback and by full-time, Derry had got back up to a 10-point difference. In the end it was a job well done, but not without some relief on a turbulent and freezing day at Celtic Park.

Full house

In anticipation of the senior football game between two huge rivals later in the day, Celtic Park was packed for the first league game of the season for the hurlers, and they impressed from the start, with Cormac O’Doherty pulling the strings as usual.

Former Antrim player Christopher McNaughton was also a force to be reckoned with and with Corey O’Reilly and John O’Mianain raining in scores, pun intended, the Tyrone players would have welcomed the shelter at half time of a very one-sided first half.

That said, the Red Hands could well have found the Derry net up to three times in the last five minutes of that first period, the most notable chance falling to Dean Rafferty, who saw his penalty saved by Eoin Mulholland.

Derry dominated the early stages and by 10 minutes were five points to the good, with two O’Doherty frees followed by points from O’Mianain, John Mullan and O’Reilly.

Tyrone just couldn’t get going with Aidan Kelly sending an easy free wide, and two more from O’Mianain and two frees from O’Doherty made it 0-9, 0-0 just before the halfway point of the first half.

Moments after Rory Weir hit Tyrone’s third wide of the day, the visitors finally got off the mark 19 minutes in, Kelly scoring a free. That was just brief respite for the Red Hands as Derry went right back at them, scoring five in succession, O’Reilly with three before John Mullan added a point and O’Doherty found his first scire from play, to make it a daunting 0-14, 0-1.

Every point was vital for Tyrone who knew they would have the wind with them in the second half and Mickey Little and Kelly split the posts, only to see Derry respond through McNaughton and Meehaul McGrath.

The last five minutes of the first half was mainly Tyrone, who had three decent goal chances; Eoin Mulholland saved brilliantly from Kelly before Richie Mullan threw his body in the way to deny Cormac Munroe. The best of the lost however was the award of a penalty, but Dean Rafferty saw his effort saved by Mulholland who dived low to his right. A goal then might have made all the difference considering how the second half would go.

Half Time 0-17, 0-5

Keeping possession was key for Derry who knew they had the elements against them after the break, but they just couldn’t manage it as Tyrone flew out of the blocks, scoring seven unanswered points to put a real uneasiness into Johnny McGarvey and his players.

Kelly and Little scored two apiece, while Devlin, Morgan, and Weir all found the target, and a game that looked over was very much back on at 0-17, 0-12.

During a very uncomfortable period, Derry almost gifted their opponents a goal when goalkeeper Mulholland, under no pressure, spilled the ball right at the feet of Mullin, but the Tyrone forward was unable to take advantage.

Fifteen minutes had passed before Derry finally scored in the second half, a badly needed free from O’Doherty. With that, the game began to go against the Red Hands, and a huge moment came on 53 minutes when O’Reilly broke clear to smash the sliotar past McElhatton for the game’s first goal. A red card for Joe McToal soon followed, and with that the comeback was halted.

A second goal arrived on the hour when Dara Mooney forced the all over the line from close range and a second red card spelt the end of Tyrone’s resistance, Devlin devastated with referee James Clarke’s decision.

Tyrone kept going and Tiernan Morgan pulled two scores back, but the game was beyond them, with O’Doherty, unsurprisingly, having the final say of the game with a free.

Teams and Scorers

Derry: Eoin Mulholland, Aimon Duffin, Sean Cassidy, Paddy Kelly, Thomas Brady, Richie (0-1), Meehaul McGrath (0-1), Cormac O’Doherty (0-7, 6f), Ruairi O’Mianain (0-4), Corey O’Reilly (1-4), Christy McNaughton (0-1), Callum O’Kane, Dara Mooney, John Mullan (0-2), Paul Cleary.

Subs – Cahal Murray for Paul Cleary 13’, James Friel for Thomas Brady 42’, Mark Craig for Christopher McNaughton 49’, Darragh McGilligan for Callum O’Kane 52’, Padhraig Nelis for Ruairi O’Mianain 66’,

Yellow – Thomas Brady 40’, Corey O’Reilly 68’,

Tyrone: Conor McElhatton, Dean Rafferty, Ruairi Devlin, Oran McKee, Bryan McGurk, Fionn Devlin (0-1), Tiernan Morgan (0-3, 1f), Ben Gormley (0-1), James McCann, Michael Little (0-4), Aidan Kelly (0-5, 4f), Lorcan Devlin (0-1), Turlough Mullin, Cormac Munroe, Rory Weir (0-1).

Subs – Joe McToal for Turlough Mullin 48’.

Yellow – Turlough Mullin 22’, James McCann 70’,

Red – Joe McToal 56’, Lorcan Devlin 62’

Referee: James Clarke