Down…1-5 Tyrone…0-23
Down proved no match for a resurgent Tyrone side in the Ulster SFC final replay at Clones, with Mickey Harte's men running out comfortable winners and claiming the Anglo-Celt Cup on a scoreline of 1-5 to 0-23.
The plaudits on the day, predictably, went the way of Tyrone captain Peter Canavan, who amassed a personal tally of 0-11. The afternoon proved a free-for-all for Tyrone's marksmen - with Eoin Mulligan, Kevin Hughes, Conor Gormley, Brian Dooher, Sean Kavanagh, Ryan McMenamin, Frank McGuigan and Ger Cavlin all finding space on the scoreboard.
By any reasonable terms, this never showed signs of being a contest. From the outset, and the early scores landed by Canavan, the O'Neill County were stronger, more focused and more committed to the task at hand. Down never established an advantage, and, from midway through the second half, they were resigned to chasing red and white shadows on the turf at St Tiarnach's.
A half-time score of 0-3 to 0-11 in Tyrone's favour said enough. Down could only notch three more scores in the second half, while having two players - Martin Cole and Colm Gormley- sent off as the Mourne County went into fullscale meltdown, faced by a Tyrone footballing machine which fired all cylinders until the final whistle.
Setting the tone for what would follow, Tyrone drew first blood, with a point from corner-forward Eoin Mulligan in the first minute. This was followed by a pointed free from the hands of captain Peter Canavan on five minutes, the first of his day's tally.
Down responded minutes later with a point from Liam Doyle, but it would another ten minutes before they returned within sight of the Tyrone goal. In the meantime, Tyrone assumed total control in midfield, and swift supply to hitmen Mulligan and Canavan, reaped rewards. Frees from the captain on nine and nineteen minutes, combined with three scores from play, saw the Errigal Ciaran clubman amass a first half total of 0-6.
He was assisted in his work by scores from right-half back Conor Gormley and Kevin Hughes, and two from bleached bomber Alan Mulligan, whose swiftness of foot in the opening half caused huge problems for a lethargic Down defence.
In response, Paddy O'Rourke's men scored twice more - both frees (from Michael Walsh and Liam Doyel), and both hard fought. Tyrone's dominance, then, saw them go in at the break with a 0-11 to 0-3 lead.
The contest, any that there was, collapsed in the second half. Five points from Canavan, along with additions from Brian Dooher, Mulligan and Hughes again, McMenamin, McGuigan and Cavlin, were the logical result of the vaslty superior Tyrone possession.
To the final whistle, through an additional, and agonising, five minutes added by referee Brian White, superior handpassing, and tackling resulted in Tyrone dominance. Liam Doyle snatched a pair of points, one from play, and Ronan Murtagh a late consolation goal, which all only served to emphasise Tyrone's dominance - in the second half alone, eight different player's registered scores for Mickey Harte's side.
After a miserably wet afternoon in Clones, with the attendant greasy surface and slippery ball, Tyrone have reason to be pleased, having thoroughly banished the shaky ghosts of last weekend. They go forward now, to a deserved quarter -final clash - opponents, as yet, unknown.
Meanwhile, Paddy O'Rourke is left with the unenviable task of attempting to raise his players for next Saturday's qualifier, back in Clones, against Donegal. Alas, on the basis of today's performance, the men from the northwest must be smiling.