Tyrone 1-11 Donegal 0-10: This was a subdued reunion between two Ulster teams with an uneasy recent history. The formbook between Donegal and Tyrone was topsy-turvy last year and this untidy if entertaining game might have gone either way until the closing five minutes.

It was a tough return to first division football for Donegal. Despite finding it difficult to work scores from play, they hung around until the last five minutes when Tyrone claimed the contest with two fine, clean scores.

That they both came from substitutes reminded everyone that just because Peter Canavan is wintering out doesn't mean Tyrone will line out with 14 players. They possess a formidable reserve.

There might have been times yesterday when Chris Lawn, a man of Canavan's vintage, permitted himself a wry smile. A cold Sunday on a soft field in Ballybofey is not necessarily the wisest place for thirty-something footballers to be.

Lawn, however, made light of his years. Named at full back, he faced Colm McFadden, the tall St Michael's sharpshooter who last summer seemed to embody the very best and worst of Donegal football. And although McFadden kept Donegal in touch with a series of elegant frees, he found all his creative impulses bottled up by the veteran from Tyrone.

McFadden, like the rest of the Donegal forwards, found it impossible to work space for scores as Lawn and Ryan McMenamin bossed the last line of defence.

If Lawn represented the old guard, Mickey Harte gave plenty of young contenders their run, with half-back Brian Robinson and substitute Colm McCullagh fitting into Tyrone's slick pattern with ease. McCullogh claimed the game's only goal, loitering on the edge of the square to finish a perfect - and generous - pass from Stephen O'Neill.

"Aye, well, I probably would have missed it," laughed O'Neill afterwards. "It's a team game and if a man is in a better position than you, you give the pass, simple as that."

That is a truth that might be pasted on the Donegal dressing -room wall. The home team wanted nothing in terms of effort but their sleek and complex passing game looked rusty. They might have breached the Tyrone goal twice in the first half.

When Niall McCready stripped Gavin Devlin, a path opened up for Stephen Cassidy but somehow a simple pass to McFadden fell short. Minutes later, Brian Roper found McFadden with a peach of a pass from deep downfield but the ball bobbled out of his hands. In addition, Donegal had six shots drop short into the goalkeeper's hands, five in the first half.

Roper was the pick of the forwards, brilliant for the first hour and somehow guiding his team out of many cul-de-sacs. But he finished with no score after his name, which said a lot about the home team's afternoon.

Tyrone, in comparison, were a lesson in economy. The industrious Brian Dooher drove his side like a cattle herd. He picked out Owen Mulligan and O'Neill with well-placed free kicks in the first half and they responded with some fine distance scoring. O'Neill is setting a high standard at the moment; Dooher, though, is Tyrone's man for all seasons.

His wonderful long pass downfield to Seán Cavanagh opened up the Donegal defence for the game-winning goal and 15 minutes earlier, when the occasion demanded, he unceremoniously big-toed the ball from a crowded midfield. It was not pretty but it was the right thing to do at that time.

This was a game that Donegal are probably glad to have behind them. A light and relatively callow side, the leaden days of early spring does not traditionally bring out the best in them.

Tyrone were a potentially scary prospect and the effort alone was encouraging. Christy Toye was a peripheral figure while young Rory Kavanagh possibly tried too hard to make things happen for them.

Kevin Cassidy grew into his midfield role with Stephen McDermott in the second half but there were times when Tyrone worked the ball smoothly up the Donegal left flank that the Gweedore man's absence was like a gaping hole where a stonewall used to stand.

However, the half-back arena is one where Donegal have a degree of riches. Their game plan was upset a little when big Nial Ó Gallchoir, a newcomer, was yellow-carded. He had made his presence felt around midfield for the first half-hour before the new rules got the better of him.

The carding system did not interfere with the pattern of the game. More noticeable was the frequent diving to the turf for possession, leaving Harte to observe afterwards that the innovation "is dangerous and is going to lead to someone getting hurt". But on this afternoon, Tyrone broke for the border safe and well.

DONEGAL: M Boyle; N McCready, R Sweeney, D Diver; E McGee, B Monaghan (0-1), S Carr; S McDermott (0-1), K Cassidy; R Kavanagh (0-1), C Toye, B Roper; S Cassidy, C McFadden (0-6 frees), B Devenney (0-1, free). Subs: K Lacy for D Diver (25 mins, inj), R Bradley for N Ó Gallchoir (30 mins), B Devenney for S Cassidy (28 mins), B Dunnion for R Kavanagh (60 mins).

TYRONE: P McConnell; R McMenamin, C Lawn, E Bradley; B Robinson (0-1), G Devlin, B Donnelly (0-1); B Meehan, P Donnelly; B Dooher, S O'Neill (0-4, two frees), S Cavanagh; M Coleman, O Mulligan (0-3, one free), R Mellon (0-1). Subs: S Sweeney for P Donnelly (17 mins), C McCullagh (1-0) for M Coleman (24 mins), C Gormley for E Bradley (43 mins), J McMahon for B Donnelly (55 mins), D Harte (0-1) for S Sweeney (59 mins).

YELLOW CARDS: Tyrone: S Sweeney (59 mins) replaced by D Harte. Donegal: N O'Gallchoir (30 mins) replaced by R Bradley.

Referee: S McGee (Armagh).