Tyrone - 4-11 Fermanagh - 1-11 Privately Tyrone would have their reservations about the desirability of further conspicuousness and distraction in the league but it's in the scorpion's nature to sting and it's in this team's nature to react to neighbourly challenges.
So Fermanagh were sliced and diced and sent home with their confidence busted while Tyrone greeted the prospect of a league final with thin smiles.
So their spring is prolonged and will run right up against their summer. Consolation is the confidence that four goals and a couple of runs in the Croke Park prairies brings. And anyway it might have been worse. Neither Armagh nor Tyrone wanted to play each other in the league final and Tyrone will be pleased that the second semi-final provided the comparatively exotic challenge of Laois for the final.
On the way to Croke Park yesterday it was difficult to find reasons to be cheerful. A spiteful wind carried dust and Tayto bags up Clonliffe Road and the Easter chill seemed unlikely to be chased away by the ersatz excitement of league semi-finals. To make matters worse, Tyrone and Fermanagh were coming to town with the number one and number two ranked defences in the country this year.
Five goals then was a bonus. Four of them ending up in the Fermanagh net was a bonus for Tyrone. After years of carrying his five fellow forwards on his narrow shoulders, Peter Canavan finds that he is no longer a beast of burden. Beside him Eoin Mulligan has developed into a serious piece of work capable of matching Canavan score for score. Come summer with the sun glinting off Canavan's marble and Mulligan's bleachtop they should be quite dazzling.
Yesterday they plundered four goals and gave the Fermanagh full back line enough grief to keep them in therapy for years to come. Their goals all had a haymaker quality about them. The sides had gone to the break with just a point dividing them although Fermanagh, who led, will have suspected that they should have made more of the stiff breeze which abetted them.
Tyrone began the second half with Canavan and Mulligan isolated in the full forward line and everyone else under instructions to get the ball in early to them. Instant payout. Almost from the throw-in Canavan was on to the sort of ball he loves. He brushed the challenge of Mick Lilley to one side, used a bit of the space beyond and clipped it home.
Tyrone added a couple of points in succession and then four minutes later a nice move brought more dividends. Sean Cavanagh to Enda McGinley to Mulligan. Quick transfers and Mulligan fisting to the net. Half-an-hour to go, Tyrone suddenly seven points ahead.
The differences between the teams weren't just evident in attack. The Tyrone defence lives up to its billing in terms of parsimony and a remarkable ability to defend in numbers. Even with Cormac McAnallen serving out a suspension Tyrone looked tasty at midfield where Sean Cavanagh's adventurous running has an inspirational quality which almost demands the playing of bugles and the mass cry of charge! And he can score too.
Fermanagh's brief hopes of seasonal resurrection were bolstered by a goal nine minutes into the second half when Ryan Keenan did well to keep his feet and his composure while smuggling a low ball into the Tyrone net. That brought them back to within four points and they desperately needed to consolidate after that and maybe clip the next point or two in the game.
Instead Tyrone scored 1-2. Points from Mulligan and O'Neill before Mulligan rose above Lilley to knock the ball down to Canavan whose chipped kick was delivered with such insouciance that it was only when it softly rippled the far corner of the rigging that the silence was broken by a shocked roar of appreciation.
And that was it. Tyrone were waltzing now. Colm Bradley, a sub, was showing well for Fermanagh but it was too little for sustenance. With minutes to go Gerard Cavlan launched a long pass to Mulligan who made his catch and kick look routine for goal number four. Twelve points ahead and Tyrone switched off the engine. Fermanagh had the last three points. Charity stuff that yielded no pleasure on Fermanagh's first Croke Park visit in 22 years.
Afterwards Mickey Harte, the Tyrone manager, expressed quiet pleasure at the prospect of a final in early May.
"Today we played some terrific football, Considering the elements were against us when Fermanagh had their best spell I thought we did well."
TYRONE: P McConnell; R McMenamin, C Holmes, M McGee; C Gormley, G Devlin, P Jordan; K Hughes, S Cavanagh (0-1); E McGinley, G Cavlan (0-1), S O'Neill (0-3, 2f); B Dooher (0-1), P Canavan (2-4) E Mulligan (2-1). Subs: D Carlin for McGee (15 mins); M Harte for McGinley (64 mins); F McGuigan for Cavlan (64 mins); S Mulgrew for S O'Neill (65 mins).
FERMANAGH: Ronan Gallagher; R McCloskey, B Owens, M Lilley; N Cox, J Gilheaney, S McDemott; P Brewster (0-1), M McGrath; T Brewster (0-6 5f), Raymond Gallagher, C Donnelly (0-1); R McCabe, S Maguire (0-1), R Keenan (1-0). Subs: R Johnson for Gilheany (38 mins); C Bradley (0-2) for R McCabe 59 mins; K Gallagher for C Donnelly (65 mins).
Referee: J Bannon (Longford).
