Ulster champions Tyrone went the way of their Connacht counterparts at Clones yesterday. Losing at this stage of the championship is hard enough in a year when provincial champions aren't guaranteed even a trip to Croke Park but losing to bitter rivals whom you've already beaten this summer must be nearly intolerable.

Unlike last June when they danced through Derry for three ultimately decisive goals, Tyrone found yesterday an altogether more claustrophobic affair and the Ulster champions never established the rhythm and momentum that has marked their best displays this year.

The national dimension made little difference to the basic texture of this Ulster neighbourhood clash in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

Hard, demanding and unforgiving it was in the early stages before settling down into a more fluid pattern in the second half.

Derry were comfortably the better team, even if the result remained in the balance in theory until a late couple of points pushed the margin to a more representative five points.

Their major incision came in the 48th minute. A strong, driving run by substitute Dermot Heaney culminated in the ball being played to Gavin Diamond. His attempt at a point dropped narrowly short and whereas Finbar McConnell had it covered, Derry corner forward Patrick Bradley nipped in to punch the ball to the net. The goalkeeper ended up in a heap in the net - an indignity in the circumstances for such a big man.

Afterwards, Tyrone felt there might have been a question of square ball or a foul on McConnell but at the time there were few complaints. The incident summed up the contrasting fortunes of its principals. McConnell had given away a point at the end of the first half by misdirecting a quick free to a grateful Diamond, who popped the ball over from an acute angle.

Bradley went on to be the top scorer for Derry, mixing some sublime points from seemingly impossible angles with some equally from seemingly impossible angles with some equally incredible wides.

A low-scoring first half quickly set the tone for the whole match.

Five players were booked in the opening quarter of an hour and Tyrone never looked as lively as they had done in the Ulster championship.

There was a couple of mitigating circumstances.

Centrefielder Kevin Hughes had been passed medically fit for the match after a car crash during the week but was obviously not fully over the trauma of the accident. A flu bug had done the rounds of the camp last week and centre forward Stephen O'Neill had it as recently as Friday. Consequently, Tyrone never really exhibited the advantages of freshness that might have been expected after a month's rest.

Yet these were peripheral influences compared to the improvement in Derry's play since battling their way through the qualifiers. Their defence was tighter and more alert and centrefield had a grip on proceedings that hardly wavered.

Fergal Doherty was absolutely solid, giving further evidence of his potential. When the teams previously met he was still finding his way. By this stage his partnership with Anthony Tohill has settled.

The newly-appointed Ireland captain was busy yesterday and kicked his frees. Overall, it was an assured performance by the pair.

Another vital factor was the sending-off of Peter Canavan in the 32nd minute. While he's no longer the scoring machine of old, his play-making contribution to the team has still been sizeable. The team mightn't rely on him to keep the scoreboard ticking but they could ill afford to lose him in a match of this intensity and importance.

Even the incident that provoked his dismissal illustrated the point.

Having acted as the fulcrum of an attacking move, Canavan was moving forward to the ball when Johnny McBride obstructed him. The Tyrone man swung at the Derry player and the matter was sealed. He had been shown a yellow card in the 12th minute but on this occasion referee Pat McEnaney went straight for the red.

Early exchanges were tight and if Tyrone were the more incisive looking, Derry got on the board first. Enda Muldoon pointed within 15 seconds of the throw-in and Tohill added a free. O'Neill was Tyrone's most prominent forward but his accuracy and awareness weren't in top gear. Three of his five wides came in the first half and in general he was too preoccupied with his own game.

There were few goal chances and what came fell to Derry. In the 25th minute Muldoon made a fine catch, fed the ball to Dermot Dougan, whose shot was blocked and the rebound came back off the legs of the in- rushing Fergal Crossan and went wide.

Leading by two points and a man up at the interval, Derry were in the driving seat. But they were slow to put the foot down. The match remained scoreless for over 10 minutes of the second half before Gerard Cavlan rounded off a bout of hand-passing with a good point. That was as close as Tyrone got.

Derry were exceptionally organised and played the extra man confidently and effectively. Corner back Gareth Doherty was deployed slightly out the field and patrolled his area well. His clubmate and manager for the day Damien Cassidy (Eamonn Coleman was banished to the stand, serving the last of his three-match suspension) explained the move.

"Gareth plays wing forward for us but he is a footballer. So although he's not big, he reads the game so well that it worked out very well for us - just sticking him in front of the full backs. He got a lot of ball."

The whole team moved fluently up and down the field, swarming back when they didn't have the ball and using possession directly on the break. "You can't look at football as six defenders, two midfield and six forwards. There has to be movement on a zonal basis," said Cassidy.

There was going to be no way back for Tyrone after the goal although the mercurial O'Neill popped over two quick points to reduce the deficit to two points. But they never threatened the goal that would have given them a chance of surviving. A stray pass by Tohill near his own goal was the nearest they came but Seβn Lockhart, Kevin McCloy and Doherty always seemed one step ahead of the at times laborious attack.

A closing burst of three points sealed the issue and a sequence of awful wides from Derry helped emphasise how much in control they were by the end.