Tyrone flex muscles to power into All-Ireland quarters

RTÉ News​

15-06-2025

Table-toppers Tyrone go directly through to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals after seeing off Cavan with some style at Brewster Park.
The Red Hands never looked like losing this one, but were given plenty of trouble by a Cavan side that lacked the ruthless streak that could have kept them in the game.
Darren McCurry and Darragh Canavan shared a 14 points haul as Malachy O'Rourke's side earned a two-week break ahead of their return to Croke Park for the first time since 2023.
But Cavan also go through to the knock-out phase and a preliminary quarter-final next weekend.
Tyrone lost Michael McKernan to a shoulder injury after just three minutes, but his replacement Peter Harte played an influential role in picking holes in the Cavan cover as they eased into a comfortable lead.
Mattie Donnelly, another veteran, also made incisive cuts to pick off a couple of early scores as they went seven points clear by the end of the opening quarter.
Darragh Canavan also landed a delightful score, with goalkeeper Niall Morgan and Harte both raising orange flags.
Cavan put an effective press on Morgan's kick-outs, with Cormac O'Reilly hitting the target twice.
But the Red Hands reeled off 0-07 without reply to lead by 0-09 to 0-03 at the end of the opening quarter.
Dara McVeety's industry helped the Breffni men recover to narrow the gap through O'Reilly and Paddy Lynch, who kicked 0-04, including a two-point free.
And they almost had a goal when McVeety intercepted a Morgan restart to fire in a shot which the goalkeeper redeeming himself with a fine save.
The Red Hands finished the half with another run of scores, Cavan, Darren McCurry, Donnelly and Kieran McGeary all on target for a 0-17 to 0-08 interval lead.
Lynch closed the gap with a two-point free, but the Red Hands pressed aggressively on Cavan's Cavan kick-outs, with Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick and Kieran McGeary winning the battle for possession to keep their side going forward.
Another run of six unanswered points saw the gap stretch out to 13 by the 49th minute, and Raymond Galligan's men needed something special to kick-start their challenge.
McCurry swung over a couple of gems, with Ciaran Daly and McGeary also nailing points, with a Sean McEvoy point the only Cavan reply during a difficult 17-minute spell.
But they threw caution to the wind moving into the final quarter, substitute Ryan O'Neill claiming a two-pointer, with Lynch and Ruairi Curran also raising flags.
The introduction of former All-Star Conor Meyler following a two-year injury hell raised the biggest cheer of the day from Tyrone fans, and the procession towards the Cavan goal continued, with McCurry unerring from placed balls as he brought his tally to 0-09 for the day.
Under-20 Footballer of the Year Eoin McElholm also came off the bench to become the eleventh Tyrone scorer, with Canavan bringing his total to five, and news of Donegal's win over Mayo confirmed Tyrone's top-of-the-table round-robin finish.
Tyrone: N Morgan (0-2, tpf); C Quinn, P Hampsey, N Devlin (0-01); M McKernan, R Brennan (0-03, 1tp), P Teague; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; S O'Donnell (0-01), K McGeary (0-02), C Daly (0-01), D McCurry (0-09, 3f, 1tpf), M Donnelly (0-04), D Canavan (0-05, 1f).
Subs: P Harte (0-02, tp) for McKernan (3), A Clarke for Devlin (29), E McElholm (0-01)for Donnelly (47), C Meyler for McGeary (54), B McDonnell for Kilpatrick (66)
Cavan: L Brady; N Carolan, K Brady, C Reilly; B O'Connell, C Madden, P Faulkner; O Kiernan, E Crowe; G Smith, D McVeety, C Brady; C O'Reilly (0-04), P Lynch (0-09, 3f, 2tpf, 1 '45), O Brady (0-01).