Ulster SFC Final replay: Tyrone 0-23 Down 1-5 Tyrone might have been regretting all week they didn't finish off last week's exciting drawn encounter. But not as much as Down will be after yesterday's horrendous trimming in the Bank of Ireland Ulster final replay at Clones watched by a crowd of 29,225.
Not even the cliché about all teams having a spell of dominance during every match held up, as Tyrone owned the whole thing from start to finish.
Although they will have had harder training sessions at Christmas, Tyrone can take satisfaction from the iron grip they took on the match. The awesome scoring power of captain Peter Canavan and his former pupil, Owen Mulligan, accounted for 11 and four points respectively. And the intensity of purpose didn't allow their overwhelmed opponents to glimpse even a flicker of light.
Tyrone manager Mickey Harte again demonstrated the depth of talent at his disposal by coping easily with the loss of his first and second-choice full backs.
Harte broke up his top centrefield pairing to move Cormac McAnallen to the edge of the square and switch Kevin Hughes to partner Seán Cavanagh. Seamus Mulgrew came in to fill the vacancy.
Not that McAnallen was sorely tried in the position but he dealt with whatever he had to. Down weren't able to get any decent ball into Dan Gordon and were devising increasingly desperate schemes like forcing their big full forward to chase forlorn punts out to the right corner.
Such was the poverty of Down's play they didn't score from play until the 51st minute and only managed to attempt a score from play on three other occasions. This was painfully counter-pointed by the dazzling patterns being woven by Tyrone.
Only seconds into the match Mulligan had caught his first ball of the afternoon and pointed. Scoring was sluggish at this early stage but it was already noticeable Down's forwards were struggling to deal with the speed and physical pressure being exerted by their opponents.
The absence of the suspended Gregory McCartan at centrefield deprived Down of a physical presence around the middle where the mobility of Hughes and Cavanagh was complemented by the latter's staggering work rate. At one stage he cropped up on the left wing of the attack in a forward movement and when it broke down, he was back around the right corner of his defence within seconds.
Last week the Down forwards combined well and pillaged a hesitant Tyrone defence for four goals. That penetration wasn't on show yesterday and soon the match was settling into the one-way traffic it would become. Another trend became evident, a nasty niggling undercurrent that had referee Brian White haring up and down the field to consult with his umpires at either end.
By the second quarter Tyrone had hit their stride and five unanswered points pushed the half-time margin to 0-11 to 0-2. It could have been more but when Canavan found himself clear on goal his soccer dribble took him around Michael McVeigh but the Down goalkeeper recovered well to block the shot and clear.
The torment continued unabated after the break. The quality of some of Tyrone's scores was striking. Mulligan's ability to win ball and protect the possession allied to Canavan's shrewd use of space and vision meant that most attacks were rewarded with scores.
One of the most eye-catching involved Ryan McMenamin breaking from the back and combining with Mulligan and Canavan for the latter to score in the 47th minute. The roles were jumbled a bit later on when the same forwards sent McMenamin through but with a corner back's modesty he settled for the point.
Down had to bring nearly everyone back when defending and that left them hopelessly short up front when trying to break. And vice versa. When attacking they needed so many players on hand they were vulnerable to the quick break.
They also added this season's customary dash of indiscipline with Martin Cole sent off for a second yellow card and Gordon receiving a straight red after Conor Gormley had been flattened. This brought Down's red cards to four in three matches.
James McCartan's interception and well-timed pass to replacement Glen McMahon should have given Down a goal in the 57th minute but he blew the chance wide. Deep into injury-time Ronan Murtagh finished a loose ball to the net but it would be exaggerating to describe it as a consolation.
TYRONE: 1. P McConnell; 2. D Carlin, 8. C McAnallen, 4. R McMenamin (0-1); 5. C Gormley (0-1), 6. C Gourley, 7. P Jordan; 12. K Hughes (0-2), 9. S Cavanagh (0-1); 10. B Dooher (0-1), 11. B McGuigan, 23. S Mulgrew; 13. E McGinley, 14. P Canavan (0-11, seven frees, one 45), 15. O Mulligan (0-4). Subs: 17. G Cavlan (0-1) for Dooher (58 mins), 27. F McGuigan (0-1) for McGinley (63 mins), 30. M Coleman for B McGuigan (73 mins).
DOWN: 1. M McVeigh; 7. A Molloy, 4. M Cole, 20. B Grant; 6. A O'Prey, 2. J Clarke, 5. J Lavery; 8. S Ward (capt.), 3. B Burns; 10. L Doyle (0-4, three frees), 11. M Walsh (0-1, free), 12. B Coulter; 15. R Murtagh (1-0), 14. D Gordon, 21. J McCartan. Subs: 19. C McCrickard for Walsh, 29. D Sheeran for Burns (both half time), 18. A Scullion for Molloy (51 mins), 24. G McMahon for Coulter (52 mins).
Referee: B White (Wexford).
