Round-up: McKenna Cup wins for Tyrone, Monaghan, and Donegal
Michael McKernan of Tyrone gathers possession of a fielded ball during the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup match between Tyrone and Down at Plunkett Park in Pomeroy, Tyrone. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup
Tyrone 0-18 Down 1-11
Monaghan 1-17 Fermanagh 3-8
Antrim 0-7 Donegal 1-15
By Francis Mooney
Tyrone, Derry and Monaghan have qualified as group winners for the Dr McKenna Cup semi-finals, with Donegal also making the last four as best runners-up.
Tyrone finished topped Section A with a 0-18 to 1-11 win over Down at Pomeroy, finishing both halves strongly to make it two victories from two.
They led by 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval, with Ronan Cassidy, Joey Clarke, Ethan Jordan and Michael Conroy cancelling out Down points from Donal Scullion, Adam Crimmins, Pat Havern and Daniel Guinness.
Donal Scullion netted a penalty four minutes into the second half, but a Jordan two-pointer, followed by scores from Aodhan Donaghy, Mattie Donnelly, Frank Burns and Conroy saw Tyrone push seven clear going into the final ten minutes.
Back came Down with Havern landing a pair of two-pointers, narrowing the gap to two, but the Red Hands stepped it up down the straight, Joe Oguz and debutant Jordan steadying the ship.
Monaghan, inspired by substitute Micheal Bannigan, came from behind to defeat Fermanagh by 1-17 to 3-8 at Castleblayney.
Bannigan kicked 0-8, including a trio of two-pointers, to help his side recover from a six points deficit to win by three.
The home side eased into a three points lead through Stephen Mooney, David Garland and Fionan Carolan, but the sides were level early in the second quarter, as Fermanagh fought back to register scores from Darragh McGurn, with a two-pointer, and Garvan Jones.
They hit the lead on 23 minutes when a speculative effot from Josh Largo Ellis went all the way to the net, but two minutes later, the Farney struck back with a Darragh McElerney goal.
But a strong finish to the half saw Conor Love and Jones send the Erne in with a 1-6 to 1-4 lead.
Shane McGullion cracked home a second Fermanagh goal four minutes into the second half, and a couple of Jones ponts had them six clear.
But the Farney men stepped up the tempo, with Bannigan raising a couple of orange flags, and points also coming from Dessie Ward, David Garland and Eddie Walsh.
Justin McDade netted Fermanagh’s third goal late on, but it was not enough to save them from defeat.
Donegal defeated Antrim by 1-15 to 0-7 at Cargin to extend their involvement in the pre-season action, pulling away in the closing stages for a comfortable 11 points margin.
Shea Malone, Jason McGee and Conor McCahill were on target early on for the visitors, with Pat Shivers keeping the Saffrons in touch with a couple of scores.
Donegal led by 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval, and stretched the advantage through McCahill and Malone, with Antrim’s Sean O’Neil. Paddy McBride and Ryan McQuillan on target at the other end.
Eoin McGeehan broke through for the only goal of the game on 50 minutes, and Donegal tagged on points through Kevin Muldoon, Malone and Senan Carr to take the points comfortably.
