Niall Devlin of Tyrone celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 2 match between Tyrone and Clare at O'Neill's Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile
All-Ireland SFC Group 3
TYRONE 3-15 CLARE 0-10
By Francis Mooney at Healy Park
Tyrone’s late attacking charge earned them a first All-Ireland group series win and a crushing blow for Clare’s fading hopes of remaining alive in the championship.
It was only in the final 15 minutes that they pressed home the advantage with some much-needed attacking flair, after corner back Niall Devlin had boosted their challenge with two first half goals.
Darragh Canavan burst into spectacular action in the closing stages, hitting a brilliant third goal for his side to ease them to a comfortable yet somewhat flattering 14 points success.
The result sets up a decisive clash with Cork at a neutral venue in two weeks time, with the Rebels on a high following their defeat of Donegal.
Emmet McMahon, with 0-5, top-scored for the Banner, who finished with 14 men following a late straight red card for midfielder Darragh Bohannon, and only an unlikely combination of results in the final round of the group will keep their interest in the series alive.
Centre back Cillian Rouine had Clare ahead inside the opening 15 seconds, but the home side was ahead by the fifth minute, when Devlin added to Ciaran Daly’s opening score.
However, Tyrone failed to capitalise on a black card for Clare defender Ikem Ugweru after three minutes, scoring just a single point during the wing back’s ten-minute absence, with Emmet McMahon cancelling out Devlin’s effort.
McMahon eased the Munster men ahead at the end of the opening quarter, but in the 19th minute, Devlin struck for his first goal. At the end of a lung-busting run, he got on the end of Aidan Clarke’s assist to steer his shot past Stephen Ryan.
Clare responded in positive fashion, with Rouine’s second score bringing his side level, but Devlin struck again in the 29th minute for a second three-pointer.
Mattie Donnelly and Kieran Daly pressed forward as the Red Hands got some control on the contest in the closing stages of the half, and it was goalkeeper Niall Morgan, pushing up as far as the opposition 20 metre line, who provided the final pass for the flying defender to apply another clinical finish and send his side in with a 2-3 to 0-5 interval lead.
Clare’s dynamic attacker Dermot Coughlan, operating in a withdrawn role, had been prevented from making his trademark scything runs by man-marker Ciaran Daly, and with a four points deficit and exit from the All-Ireland series staring them in the face, they needed to get their key man into the game.
Donnelly and Brian Kennedy pushed the Ulster side into a six points lead, but Clare displayed their battling qualities to disrupt and counter, with Ronan Lanigan and Alan Sweeney always looking to press forward from the back.
McMahon and Aaron Griffin pulled back points, but Darragh Canavan finally got going with a couple of placed ball scores as Tyrone, with a light wind now in their backs, pushed for home.
The Canavan brothers displayed their class with brilliantly executed scores, and Donnelly curled over his second.
And as the game slipped away from Clare in the closing stages, the were reduced to 14 men following a straight red card for midfielder Darragh Bohannon.
The floodgates opened in the final ten minutes as the home side tagged on 1-4, including a brilliantly executed goal from Darragh Canavan.
Tyrone scorers: N Delvin 2-2, D Canavan 1-4 (2f, 1m), M Donnelly 0-4, R Canavan 0-2, C Daly, B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick 0-1 each.
Clare scorers: E Mc Mahon 0-5 (3f), C Rouine 0-2, A Griffin, R Lanigan, M McInerney (’45) 0-1 each.
TYRONE: N Morgan, N Devlin, P Hampsey, A Clarke; M McKernan, M Donnelly, K McGeary; B Kennedy, J Oguz; C Daly, M O’Neill, S O’Donnell; D McCurry, D Canavan, R Canavan. Subs: C Kilpatrick for Oguz (49), P Harte for McCurry (53), S O’Hare for McGeary, C McShane for O’Donnell (62), C Quinn for O’Neill (66)
CLARE: S Ryan; M Doherty, C Brennan, R Lanigan; A Sweeney, C Rouine, I Ugweru; B McNamara, D Bohannon; D Walsh, D Coughlan, G Murray; C Downes; A Griffin, E McMahon. Subs: J Stack for Downes (42), E O’Connor for McNamara (51), C Burle for Sweeney (58), J McGann for Griffin (62), M McInerney for McMahon (66)
Referee: J Henry (Mayo)
