Stunning second half fires Tyrone into minor decider
Tyrone are back in an All-Ireland MFC final for the first time since 2021, a storming second half performance crushing Roscommon's dream at Kingspan Breffni.
The Connacht champions led in the latter stages of the first half, but a two-goal burst swung the game in favour of the Ulster lads, and they performed with resilience and assurance for the remainder of the contest.
Goals from Peter Colton and Joel Kerr had them in control, with even the luxury of a missed penalty in the mix as they moved a step closer to a first All-Ireland title since 2010.
The Rossies went ahead after five minutes through Dean Casey, despite struggling to retain possession off their own kick-out.
And after regaining the lead with a Darren McAnespie two-pointer, the Ulster champions found themselves pegged back again as their opponents pushed on, with Alex Oates, Sam Hannon and Dara Curran leading the charge.
Luke Shally lofted his second score of the afternoon, before Seamie Carthy side-stepped a defender to slice over a gem.
The Red Hands struggled to break down a tenacious defence, but went back in front with a James Mulgrew effort, as they stepped up the intensity with the wind in their backs.
But a tumultous finish to the half produced three goals as the game swung one way and then the other.
The Connacht champions counter-attacked at pace for defender Seamus Hussey to get on the end of a move to smash his shot to the roof of the net for a three points lead.
But less than a minute later, Joel Kerr got a fist to a loose ball for a Tyrone goal, and in stoppage time, Peter Colton smashed home a second to send them in with a 2-6 to 1-5 lead, a seven points swing in the space of four frantic minutes.
They held the westerners scoreless for more than 15 minutes, having stretched the advantage through Pearse McDonald and Eoin Long, and Roscommon needed vital challenges from Diarmuid Higgins and Tadhg Rogers to avoid further goals as Long and Colton broke through.
Aodhan Quinn had the Red Hands 2-8 to 1-6 ahead going into the final quarter, and they had a chance to wrap the game up when they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Kerr, which also led to a black card for goalkeeper Cian Trimble.
Casey stepped in and saved Kerr's spot kick, a let-off which sparked the energy that saw Roscommon rally with scores from Shally and Christopher Feerick as they trimmed the gap to four.
But Tyrone, with Elliot Kerr, Ciaran McCrystal and James Daly rising to the defensive challenge, regained control, reeling off the final three points of the game to book their place in the decider.
Tyrone scorers: P Colton, J Kerr 1-0 each, E Long (1f), D McAnespie (1tp) 0-3 each, J Mulgrew 0-2, P McDonald (f), C Farley, T Meenan, A Quinn 0-1 each.
Roscommon scorers: S Hussey 1-0, L Shally 0-3, D Casey (1f), S Carthy 0-2 each, C Feerick 0-1.
TYRONE: R Donnelly; E Kerr, P Goodman, C McCrystal; A Quinn, J Daly, T Meenan; J Mulgrew, P Donaghy; D McAnespie, P Colton, C Farley; J Kerr, E Long, P McDonald.
Subs: V Gormley for McDonald (48), M Daly for J Kerr (54), M Mullin for Meenan (57), D Martin for Colton (58)
ROSCOMMON: C Trimble; C Tighe, D O'Higgins, S Carthy; S Hussey, T Rogers, J Cassidy; A Oates, S Hannon; C Feerick, D Curran, L Shally; J Price, S McGuinness, D Casey.
Subs: A Killian for Hussey (52), M Shally for Cassidy (54), C Kelly for Hannon (58), T Fallon for Feerick (61)
Referee: C Maguire (Clare).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
How Robbie Brennan's slick man-management awakened the Meath sleeping giant
Tomas Ó Sé was thinking about Meath, and how they've gone from one end of the zeroes/heroes spectrum to the other in a matter of months, and found himself flummoxed. "I tried to figure it out during the week, I don't know what's gone on in Meath," said Ó Sé. "How can they suddenly be properly and really deserving of being in an All-Ireland semi-final? "Everyone has been judging Meath on the last number of years, and what's been there for the last number of years, and there has been nothing in terms of what we're seeing right now." The Kerry man probably doesn't need to look a whole pile further than Robbie Brennan for his answer. It was new manager Brennan that convinced Bryan Menton to come out of retirement, having not played since 2022. Seamus Lavin was even longer away, since 2021, yet both have started all 15 of Meath's League and Championship games this year. Jack Flynn, Menton's midfield partner all year until a recent injury, is in a similar boat, coaxed back after missing much of 2024. Then there's Sean Rafferty, arguably the Meath player most likely to end the county's 17-year wait for an All-Star. He hadn't played a League or Championship game before Brennan came in but has started 14 of the 15 games. Conor Duke's stats are exactly the same as Rafferty's. Ruairí Kinsella didn't start a Championship game for Meath last year either but has lined out in all eight this year. The list goes on. It all comes back to Brennan and his slick man management. "I've been living in Meath a long time and I've played and was lucky enough to win a championship in Meath," said the Dunboyne resident. "So with all of that going on, and I'd be at so many of the matches watching the games, whether Dunboyne were in them or not, I certainly knew the talent was there and I think that was probably the most exciting part of it. "It was a case of, could you get in and awaken the sleeping giant, and so far we have." Brennan rose to national prominence for his work with Kilmacud Crokes, in Dublin, guiding them to county, provincial and national successes. But as the son of a Meath man from Kilberry, just north of Navan, he was on his father Paddy's shoulders for the Centenary Cup success of 1984, the first trophy won in the Sean Boylan era. The family's decision to relocate to south Dublin for work purposes was what brought him to the capital, and Crokes, before Brennan U-turned when older, marrying Liz Gallagher, the sister of former Meath goalkeeper David Gallagher, and settling in Dunboyne. Asked if he sees himself as a Meath man or a Dub, Brennan shot back instantly: "Meath." Supporting Dublin wasn't really an option. "It was drilled into me, so it was never any other way," he said of his Meath-ness. "There were a lot of dark days then when you're living in Dublin, you're involved in Kilmacud, and Meath aren't winning and Dublin are starting to win and you're having to go back to the clubhouse and stuff like that. "I'm living in Dunboyne for 20-odd years so I'm more Meath now if there was ever any doubt. The 7/2 for the Dublin job isn't a good price I'd say looking at it!" Brennan has a long way to go to enjoy the same legendary status within Meath as Dunboyne neighbour Boylan but he may just be getting there. In any other year, beating Dublin, Kerry, Cork and Galway in the Championship would probably have already snagged the Sam Maguire Cup. But they've still got Donegal to go on Sunday. Perhaps they'll get a crack at Kerry or Tyrone then after that. Brennan's approach has been a simple one - let the players express themselves. Sure, Meath have got praise for their tactical acumen this year but it was probably more insightful that he described Jordan Morris losing the ball in attack against Galway last time as a 'creative turnover'. Those are always allowed, even encouraged. "What do we say? The more you control, the less you can create. It's that kind of approach," said Brennan. "They're not spoon-fed. It's exactly what we did in Kilmacud, we just allowed the leaders to take over and we let the group kind of develop. "It's happened way quicker (in Meath) than even I thought it might but there's some exceptional leaders in it, not just obviously Eoghan (Frayne) and Ciaran (Caulfield) as captain and vice-captain. They're all grabbing it with both hands." Despite it all, they'll be written off by pretty much everybody when the ball is thrown in tomorrow. "We'll still come in as underdogs and that's good for us," said Brennan. "Donegal are probably one of, if not the favourites for the Championship, and have been for a long time. I think that'll suit us fine coming in again. We don't have to change much."
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'With Kerry at times I feel like I'm overcritical': the tricky balance of being a Kingdom pundit
After their escapades in 2009, the late Páidí Ó Sé took great relish in singing the tune dedicated to his nephew Tomás Ó Sé and Colm Cooper. Jack O'Connor dropped the pair for the All-Ireland SFC qualifier against Antrim for breaching discipline but it all worked out in the end and 'It Wasn't Lucozade', belted out by Ó Sé in The Boar's Head pub over the All-Ireland final weekend they beat Cork, was the hit that never was. Will O'Connor's latest row with an Ó Sé inspire another ditty? Don't be surprised. Kerry make a habit of making light out of the dark even if O'Connor's thinly-veiled dig at Darragh Ó Sé spoke of a profound difference. Some wounds cut deep. Friendships and associations have ended on the back of commentary. 'The one player who won't talk to me is Ogie Moran," Pat Spillane wrote in his autobiography, No Pat on the Back – Confessions of A Football Pundit. "Ogie was a great player. My problems with Ogie, or more precisely his problems with me, go back to the time when he was manager of the Kerry team and I was very critical of him. One of my dearest wishes would be that Ogie and myself could bury the hatchet." Perhaps sensing his analysis would eventually be interpreted similarly, one of the game's most insightful minds Dara Ó Cinnéide left The Sunday Game after five years. His work commitments with Raidió na Gaeltachta had increased but Ó Cinnéide was also acutely aware of how his words resonated within the county's confines. Being a pundit is akin to an occupational hazard for a Kerry footballer. Of the 20 Kerry players who played in the 2009 All-Ireland final, nine have either had a newspaper or online column at some stage, including Ó Sé and captain Darran O'Sullivan. Since retiring in 2019, the Glenbeigh-Glencar man has worked with the likes of Kerry's Eye, and Off The Ball. He admits he struggles to avoid placing the same expectations on Kerry teams that he had of himself. 'It is one of those things that the longer that you have finished up, the easier it is to be more direct and honest because you don't know the players as much,' says the four-time All-Ireland SFC winner. 'I'm not sure if I am with other counties, with certainly Kerry at times I feel like I'm overcritical because I expect the highest standard of everything, which is unfair. 'When you see back in black and white what you've said or written, your reaction is, 'Ah, I was a bit harsh.' But a lot of that has to do with I as a player liked having that extra bit of pressure and people expecting that we had to do more than anybody else. That our style of football had to be better and I grew as a footballer in a dressing room environment when nothing was ever enough. If we won by 10 points, we'd find a flaw somewhere. 'It is tricky, the punditry, especially when it is your own. You are just putting on them the expectations we put on ourselves. There's always another gear.' For the life of him, O'Sullivan can't remember anything any of the Kerry golden years era that he might have taken exception to during his career. 'Most of what I got was when I was working in the bank and random people coming in with the sole purpose of telling me we were good or bad, that this fella shouldn't be on the team, that this fella should, all that type of stuff. 'Most of the media stuff you'd be aware of it but I would have never read it. I was good for avoiding that stuff. Social media wasn't as big then either so you could ignore things a lot easier.' Living among those he critiques and with the possibility of seeing them on the street is also something O'Sullivan has to consider. 'I try to be straight. If Kerry play badly, I will say they played poorly. I tried not to make it individual so if the defence are leaking scores, I will comment about them collectively. 'You would go as far as saying such and such had a tough afternoon but you wouldn't be thinking, 'Oh, I hope I don't bump into him.' By and large, they would have known they had a bad game and even though you're highlighting that, and they might be thinking 'f- him anyway', more often than not fellas accept it. 'You're going to be called out if you have a bad day. You just have to avoid getting personal or being too personal. At the end of the day, you're there to do a job and call it as you see it, and if you don't do that, you'll be called out yourself for bluffing it. 'There can be awkwardness but so long as you can stand over what you said or wrote that's enough. You're not doing it to hurt anybody; you're saying what you see.'
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
James Clarke bags brace for Bohemians to climb to second
League of Ireland: Bohemians 3 (James-Taylor 47, Clarke 61, 72) Galway United 0 'There's interest in him,' confirmed Bohemians manager Alan Reynolds when asked recently about James Clarke's future at the north Dublin club. 'I'd love to keep him, but he's a 24-year-old lad who probably has ambitions of going and playing across the water.' Everyone can see why Clarke might pack his bags and head to England. He took the headlines away from Douglas James-Taylor, who scored his first goal for Bohemians since arriving from Drogheda United, hitting a brace to sink Galway United worryingly close to the relegation zone. Bohs climb to second in the Premier Division , eight points behind Shamrock Rovers with a game in hand. Galway sit third from bottom. READ MORE All three goals came in the second-half, as a blazing sun set over Dalymount Park. There was 21 minutes on the clock when Robert Harvey whistled for a hydration break. Most players emptied a bottle of water over their heads. Usually, in the League of Ireland, the unofficial 'first quarter' stoppage is due to a goalkeeper requiring medical attention. He almost always recovers. With the thermometer showing 27 degrees at 8pm, Harvey was not taking any chances. Timeout. Nobody wants a player hospitalised with heat stroke. Galway's Robert Burns comes up against Bohemians' Dayle Rooney. Photograph: Dan Clohessy/Inpho The unusually warm week took a toll. It was slightly cooler at Tolka Park on Wednesday when Shelbourne beat Linfield in the Champions League, and on Thursday at Richmond Park when St Patrick's Athletic had Hegelmann of Lithuania's number in the Uefa Conference League. Friday was a scorcher all across Dublin. It initially levelled the playing field for a Galway United squad that is still reeling from Moses Dyer's midseason departure to the more lucrative Cambodian league. With American midfielder Patrick Hickey injured, John Caulfield's team returned to the scene of Dyer's best night without the two men who accumulated 14 of their 27 goals so far this season. Back in March, Dyer rocked the Reynolds project at Dalymount with two sensational finishes. Trinidad international Malcolm Shaw has arrived in place of the New Zealander. Seconds after the water break, he shot wide with an overhead kick. Shaw's power had Cian Byrne on notice all game. Byrne is well known to the opposition, having just returned from a six month loan spell at Galway to replace Seán Grehan, who departed Bohs to further his promising career at Doncaster Rovers. It being July, the comings and goings are constant. Rumour has it that Bohs could sign Hickey if Clarke leaves. A midfielder by trade, Clarke started up front alongside James-Taylor; Caulfield employs an unapologetic low block so Reynolds responded by pushing three attackers up on the five-man defence. Galway's Robert Burns in action against Bohemians at Dalymount Park. Photograph: Dan Clohessy/Inpho Clarke drew an early save from Galway's Welsh goalkeeper Evan Watts but it was the visitors who created the better chances as David Hurley hit the post before Jordan Flores blocked a volley from Shaw. There was another stoppage before half-time when Bohs' defensive linchpin Rob Cornwall limped off to be replaced by Leigh Kavanagh. Mercifully, an evening shade descended for the second-half when it took James-Taylor 100 seconds to open his account for Bohs. Kavanagh fed a low ball into the English centre forward, who turned and punched a shot past Watts from outside the box. Watts is not easily beaten and he denied Clarke with an acrobatic, left-hand save before the Meath man secured all three points for Bohs in the 62nd minute. Dawson Devoy's clever run and cut back for a first-time finish seemed to happen in slow motion. Bohs third, Clarke's second, came 20 minutes from full-time after Garry Burke gave him far too much space to turn on to his right foot and shoot. Bohemians: Chorazka; Byrne, Cornwall (Kavanagh 39), Flores; Devoy, Morahan; Rooney (Mountney 85), Tierney (Whelan 77), McDonnell (Buckley 77); Clarke, James-Taylor (Parsons 85). Galway United: Watts; Esua, Slevin, Cunningham (Piesold 67), Burns, McCarthy (Tollett 83); Bolger, Borden (Buckley 67); Hurley (Brouder 67); Walsh, Shaw. Referee: Robert Harvey.
