TYRONE SFC FINAL Coalisland 0-9 Carrickmore 0-7:COALISLAND WERE crowned Tyrone champions for the first time in 20 years at Healy Park, where they withstood Carrickmore's famed capacity for delivering on the big day.
A youthful Fianna side with not a single county player went in as underdogs, but showed no fear of a Carmen outfit looking for a record 16th title.
They deservedly collected their ninth O’Neill Cup title, but will have to curtail the celebrations, as they’re straight into Ulster Club Championship action against Fermanagh’s Roslea next Sunday.
“The satisfaction of getting a team over the line in what has been a tough season is absolutely fantastic,” said manager Damien O’Hagan, who captained the last title-winning Coalisland team in 1990. “I have had a good feeling about this team all year. They have been working very well for us.”
Defences were on top early on. Peter Donnelly and Paddy O’Farrell impressing at the back for the Fianna, while Colm McGurk and Ciarán McAleer stood firm in Carmen’s rearguard.
But O’Farrell became increasingly effective, building from the back, as Coalisland grew in confidence. They led 0-2 to 0-0 at the end of the opening quarter, Paddy McNeice, from a free, and captain Plunkett Kane both on target.
They had moved into a three-point lead through Brian Toner by the time Barry Daly opened Carrickmore’s account from a free in the 20th minute.
Coalisland’s Peter McGahan was winning his midfield battle with Tyrone star Conor Gormley, but Carmen began to prosper once full forward Mark Donnelly moved out to the central area.
He set up Finbar Magill’s point, which was quickly cancelled out by another McNeice point, but a second free from Kevin McNally narrowed the gap to a single point. Coalisland led 0-4 to 0-3 at the break.
And the Fianna edged the third quarter. Brian Toner and older brother Philip, with a superb long-range effort, along with another couple of McNeice frees, made it 0-8 to 0-5.
Carrickmore’s McNally steered two more frees between the posts, and Finbar Magill narrowed the gap to two. But the Coalisland defence stood firm until the end.
COALISLAND: J Curran; L O'Neill, P Donnelly, L Wylie; S McNally, N Kerr, P O'Farrell; P McGahan, P Toner (0-1); P Kane (0-1), B Toner (0-3, two frees), S Curran, P McNeice (0-4, four frees), T O'Hagan, G Toner. Subs: M Early for Kane, D Thornton for O'Hagan.
CARRICKMORE: P McCallan; P Daly, C McGurk, B McLaughlin; P Hughes, C McAleer, P Cunningham; C Gormley, N Loughran; C Daly, B Daly (0-2, two frees), P McMahon; K McNally (0-3, two frees), M Donnelly, F Magill (0-2). Subs: G McCallan for McMahon, M McCallan for Hughes.
Referee: E McHugh(Aghyaran).
