Daragh Canavan, Tyrone, and Killian Brady and Cian Reilly, Cavan, in All-Ireland SFC action. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
All-Ireland SFC Group Two
Tyrone 0-31 (0-4-23) Cavan 0-18 (0-3-12)
By Francis Mooney at Brewster Park
Clinical Tyrone defeated Cavan with ease to top their group and go straight through to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals.
It’s 42 years since the Breffni Blues have got the better of their Red Hand nemesis in championship football, and that sequence never looked like being broken at Brewster Park.
Malachy O’Rourke’s side were full value for the 13 points margin that secured top place by victory of their round one victory over Donegal.
Now they have a two-week break ahead of their return to Croke Park for the first time since 2023.
Peter Harte came in as a replacement for the injured Michael McKernan after just three minutes to play an influential role in his side’s positive first half display as they quickly built up a substantial lead.
Another veteran, Mattie Donnelly, cut through holes in the Breffni rearguard to pick off a handful of scores and create scoring chances as the Red Hands established control of the contest.
They were seven points clear by the end of the opening quarter, and gaining control of their own kick-out after losing a couple of early restarts, establishing a strong platform in the middle third.
Darragh Canavan also landed a delightful score, with goalkeeper Niall Morgan and Harte both raising orange flags.
Cavan put an effective press on Morgan’s kick-outs, with Cormac O’Reilly hitting the target twice.
But the Red Hands reeled off 0-7 without reply to lead by 0-9 to 0-3 at the end of the opening quarter.
Dara McVeety’s industry helped the Breffni men recover to narrow the gap through O’Reilly and Paddy Lynch, who kicked 0-4, including a two-point free.
They almost had a goal when McVeety intercepted a Morgan restart to fire in a shot which the goalkeeper redeeming himself with a fine save.
The Red Hands finished the half with another run of scores, Cavan, Darren McCurry, Donnelly and Kieran McGeary all on target for a 0-17 to 0-8 interval lead.
Lynch closed the gap with a two-point free, but the Red Hands pressed aggressively on Cavan’s Cavan kick-outs, with Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick and Kieran McGeary winning the battle for possession to keep their side going forward.
Another run of six unanswered points saw the gap stretch out to 13 by the 49th minute, and Raymond Galligan’s men needed something special to kick-start their challenge.
McCurry swung over a couple of gems, with Ciaran Daly and McGeary also nailing points, with a Sean McEvoy point the only Cavan reply during a difficult 17-minute spell.
But they threw caution to the wind moving into the final quarter, substitute Ryan O’Neill claiming a two-pointer, with Lynch and Ruairi Curran also raising flags.
The introduction of former All-Star Conor Meyler following a two-year injury hell raised the biggest cheer of the day from Tyrone fans, and the procession towards the Cavan goal continued, with McCurry unerring from placed balls as he brought his tally to 0-9 for the day.
U20 Footballer of the Year Eoin McElholm also came off the bench to become the 11th Tyrone scorer, with Canavan bringing his total to five, and news of Donegal’s win over Mayo confirmed Tyrone’s top of the table round robin finish.
Scorers for Tyrone: D McCurry 0-9 (3fs, 1tpf), D Canavan 0-5 (1f), M Donnelly 0-4, R Brennan 0-3 (1tp), K McGeary, P Harte (1tp), N Morgan (1tpf) 0-2 each, C Daly, N Devlin, S O’Donnell, E McElholm 0-1 each.
Scorers for Cavan: P Lynch 0-9 (3fs, 2tpfs, 1 ’45), C O’Reilly 0-4, R O’Neill 0-2 (tp), O Brady, S McEvoy, R Curran 0-1 each.
Tyrone: N Morgan; C Quinn, P Hampsey, N Devlin; M McKernan, R Brennan, P Teague; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; S O’Donnell, K McGeary, C Daly, D McCurry, M Donnelly, D Canavan.
Subs: P Harte for McKernan (3), A Clarke for Devlin (29), E McElholm for Donnelly (47), C Meyler for McGeary (54), B McDonnell for Kilpatrick (66).
Cavan: L Brady; N Carolan, K Brady, C Reilly; B O’Connell, C Madden, P Faulkner; O Kiernan, E Crowe; G Smith, D McVeety, C Brady; C O’Reilly, P Lynch, C Madden.
Subs: S McEvoy for K Brady (31), R O’Neill for Smith (49), R Curran for Kiernan (53), K Clarke for C Brady (60), L Fortune for Reilly (65).
Referee: P Neilan (Roscommon).
