Derry 0-14 Tyrone 0-10:A PADDY BRADLEY-inspired Derry put themselves back in the race for a National League final berth with an impressive victory over old rivals Tyrone at Celtic Park on Saturday evening.
Against Galway the previous week Bradley had been starved of possession and held scoreless but with Fergal Doherty back at midfield they were able to supply their star forward with the ammunition to shoot down their neighbours.
The Glenullin forward gave the normally unflappable Conor Gormley as torrid a 70 minutes as he's likely to have faced and kicked seven scores, five from play in a scintillating display.
Derry manager Paddy Crozier was understandably delighted with the victory particularly with the way his players had responded after last week's hammering by Galway in Salthill.
"Any night you beat Tyrone has to be a good night. It was a good tough battle. There was greater intensity from us than last week and we knew we were going to need that against Tyrone. You have to show character, after last week's disaster against Galway it was important to bounce back," he said.
The victory now leaves Derry in the driving seat in the race for a league final berth which they can secure with victory over Donegal next weekend. "From our position it's going to be like being in the semi-final of the National League. That's were we have looked to get to in the last couple of seasons and fallen short but we have to produce next Sunday in Letterkenny."
Tyrone boss Mickey Harte knows he has some serious issues to address as his team looked toothless in attack for long spells and he had no complaints about the outcome of the game.
"We've no real arguments. If you meet a better team who are playing better football than you are then you invariably come out on the wrong end of the result," he said. This match produced 14 yellow cards and the amount of niggle associated with this fixture but the opening 20 minutes were refreshingly open. With Bradley and his younger brother, Eoin, looking sharp, Derry looked lively while Tommy McGuigan was prominent in attack for Tyrone as the sides exchanged scores and sat level at 0-5 apiece by the midway point of the half.
A Barry McGoldrick point gave Derry a 0-6 to 0-5 lead but as the half drew to a close Tyrone, with the wind at their back, looked to gain the upper hand and frees from Colm McCullagh and Tommy McGuigan saw them go in a point up at the break. Derry took control in the second half and brace of points from Bradley near the end sealed their victory.
DERRY:B Gillis; K McGuckin, K McCloy, F McEldowney; L Hinphey, G O'Kane, M McIvor; F Doherty, J Conway (0-1); M Lynch (0-1), B McGoldrick (0-1), E Muldoon; C Gilligan (0-3, two frees), P Bradley (0-7, two frees), E Bradley (0-1). Subs: J Diver for McGoldrick (61), C Mullan for Gilligan (65), P Murphy for Lynch (69).
TYRONE:J Curran; M Swift, J McMahon, R McMenamin; D Harte, C Gormley, P Jordan (0-1); C Holmes (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-1, free); R Mellon, R Mulgrew (0-1), E McGinley; T McGuigan (0-3, two frees), C McCullagh (0-2, one free), N Gormley (0-1). Subs: M McGee for Swift (27), P Donnelly for Mellon (49), D Carlin for McGee (54), B McGuigan for N Gormley (60).
Referee:J McQuillan (Cavan).
