DONEGAL LOST TO Tyrone and beat themselves all at once as the Anglo Celt was let slip from their clutches on a baking Clones day.
Donegal 0-11 Tyrone 0-13
Donegal led three times in the final quarter, but Tyrone – spurred by the evergreen Sean Cavanagh – turned the tables to win a first provincial crown in six years.
This one will taste sweeter than any of them for Mickey Harte, who was savouring Ulster glory for the fifth time after witnessing his men come back from the brink.
The day was going almost to perfection for Donegal, who led 0-7 to 0-4 at half-time with Tyrone losing Mattie Donnelly and Cathal McShane to black cards before the changeover.
[adrotate group=”43″]A crowd of 33,433 witnessed a defensive contest that kept them on edge right to a gripping conclusion when Tyrone seized the day and reacquainted themselves with silverware they’ll never again take for granted.
Donegal will agonise over this defeat for some time.
Christy Toye, who made a good impact from the bench again, fisted Donegal in front on 68 minutes, but Cavanagh superbly levelled when he slammed over, with Donegal having been denied a free for a foul on Frank McGlynn down the other end.
Donegal hacked away amid a scramble when there were calls for a penalty as Rory Brennan – who stamped a huge mark on the game after his introduction – went to ground.
Six minutes of added time were signalled and the nails were shortened considerably.
Donegal smelt a win when Michael Murphy stood over a long-range free, but when the captain tailed wide from 55 metres, Tyrone set about winning it – and they did just that with Peter Harte and Kieran McGeary clipping memorable points to seal it.
[adrotate group=”53″]For Donegal it was again a case of one that got away.
Having been in a commanding position at the break, they scored just once in the third quarter, having had only six shots in the second half, despite owning possession for long spells.
Donegal were patient with the ball, but Tyrone were quite content to let them have it.
The Red Hands conceded the kick-outs and retreated deep and Donegal perhaps paid for not taking a gamble in the final third of a contest that was enthralling even if it did lack in entertainment.
Donegal survived a real scare 12 minutes from time when Cathal McCarron – who did a fine job in curbing Murphy’s influence – got inside Paddy McGrath only to misdirect his shot wide.
[adrotate group=”38″]What Donegal would have given for a chance like that.
It never arrived and, although they had a mind-boggling nine wides in the first half, Tyrone were once again crowned kings of Ulster.
The day began how it would end: With Tyrone on top.
Goalkeeper Niall Morgan strode forward to fire over a free and McShane doubled the lead as Tyrone settled to their task early.
Donegal, undeterred by four wides in the edgy opening, hit the next four points.
A Patrick McBrearty free and a Murphy ’45 levelled things up and Donegal were soon warming to the task.
Twice in quick succession, Ryan McHugh raised the roof of the green and gold-clad supporters, soaring over two magnificent points when the chances seemed minimal at best.
[adrotate group=”46″]Niall Sludden responded, but another wonderful McHugh point, this one the pick of the three, restored the two-point cushion.
After Cathal McCarron came up from corner-back to stem the flow, Odhrán Mac Niallais landed a gorgeous point from 50 metres that outlined his talents in one, lovely swing of his left foot.
With options light, Mac Niallais lined up his target and aces the shot, perfectly angling over from the prohibitive distance.
A McBrearty free widened the gap to three points, 0-7 to 0-4, by the time half-time arrived.
By then, Tyrone had bigger problems.
The Red Hands suffered two hammer blows in added time at the end of the first half when, first Donnelly was black carded for a late hit on Eoin McHugh and, then, McShane was shown a black for a trip on Anthony Thompson.
It left Mickey Harte with a real quandary at the break, down two key components of his system and the puzzle became even more complex when Donegal signalled intent from the off in the second half.
[adrotate group=”70″]Murphy’s sheer strength and power paved the way and McBrearty drilled over, with the stopwatch showing that just 13 seconds had been played.
That was the zenith for Donegal. The nadir wasn’t far off.
It wasn’t too long before Harte, spurred by Cavan, lined up the colours of the rubix cube and those long-distance points had the red and white tide flowing again in the Clones sunshine.
Each time Donegal hit the lead in that breathtaking finale, they needed the chequered flag to be in sight, but the board went up and six minutes proved too much and not enough.
Donegal: Mark Anthony McGinley; Paddy McGrath, Neil McGee, Eamon McGee; Anthony Thompson, Karl Lacey, Kieran Gillespie; Rory Kavanagh, Odhrán Mac Niallais (0-2); Ryan McHugh (0-3), Frank McGlynn, Eoin McHugh; Patrick McBrearty (0-3, 2f), Michael Murphy (0-2, 1f, 1 ’45) Martin O’Reilly. Subs: Martin McElhinney for Kavanagh (45), Mark McHugh for Thompson (53), Christy Toye (0-1) for McGlynn (62), Eoghan Bán Gallagher for Gillespie (67), Thompson for E.McHugh (67), Colm McFadden for McBrearty (70).
Tyrone: Niall Morgan (0-2, 2f); Aidan McCrory, Ronan McNamee, Cathal McCarron (0-1); Tiernan McCann, Justin McMahon, Peter Harte (0-2); Colm Cavanagh, Mattie Donnelly; Cathal McShane (0-1), Niall Sludden (0-1), Ronan McNabb; Conor McAliskey, Sean Cavanagh (0-3), Ronan O’Neill. Subs: Rory Brennan (0-1) for Donnelly (35 + 2, black card), Mark Bradley for McShane (35 +4, black card), Jonathan Monroe for O’Neill (53), Darren McCurry (0-1) for McAliskey (64), Kieran McGeary (0-1) for McMahon (70).
Referee: David Coldrick (Meath).
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