NFL Division Two: Tyrone 0-28 Offaly 2-13
Tyrone recovered after a sluggish first half to score a resounding win at Dungannon and push Offaly closer to the drop from Division Two.
After playing into a stiff breeze, the Faithful were just two points adrift at the turnaround, but they could not live with an energised home side once the second period got under way.
Darragh Canavan’s departure for a month in Australia threatened to stifle Tyrone’s attacking system, but they adapted to spread the load, with 14 players getting their names on a scoresheet topped by Canavan’s younger brother Ruairi.
Offaly showed no signs of panic as Tyrone used wind advantage to slot over early points through Seanie O’Donnell, Aidan Clarke and Lorcan McGarrity.
They had come with a plan and that was to frustrate the home side by holding possession for long spells, and they were assisted in this regard by a Tyrone defence that sat deep, reluctant to press the man with the ball.
Keith O’Neill grabbed a couple of scores to keep the Leinster men in touch, and they grew in confidence, with Cormac Egan, Diarmuid Egan and Jack McEvoy at the centre of their game plan.
And in the 24th minute they went level when McEvoy finished to the net from close range after Jordan Hayes had sliced through the home defence and unleashed a shot, which was kept in play by Lee Pearson.
Darragh Flynn had the sides deadlocked again late in the half, but a Brian Kennedy two-pointer helped the Red Hands reach the break with a slender 0-12 to 1-7 advantage.
Malachy O’Rourke’s half-time talk seemed to have done the trick when his side reeled off three quick scores through Ben Cullen, Niall Devlin and Mattie Donnelly.
Now it was the Red Hands who were attacking relentlessly, and a Harry Plunkett two-pointer provided only temporary respite for the Faithful, ahead of another flourish of scores as they fell six behind.
Offaly were struggling to track the runs of Ben Cullen and Conn Kilpatrick, and McGarrity should have hit the net as a kickout malfunction allowed him to get in and crack a shot off a post.
A black card for goalscorer McEvoy signalled another Tyrone onslaught, with Darren McCurry coming off the bench to stroke over three points, with Donnelly also bringing his haul to three.
It was one-way traffic in the final quarter, with subs Michael McKernan and Ruairi McCullagh also on target, but Offaly did finish on a high as Darragh Flynn broke through to grab a late consolation goal.
Tyrone: R O’Kane; A Clarke (0-0-1), P Teague, C Quinn (0-0-1); B Cullen (0-0-1), N Devlin (0-0-2), M Rafferty; B Kennedy (0-1-0), C Kilpatrick; S O’Donnell (0-0-3), R Cassidy (0-0-3), C Daly (0-0-1); L McGarrity (0-0-1), M Donnelly (0-0-3), R Canavan (0-1-3, 2f). Subs: J Clarke for Cullen (51), D McCurry (0-3) for McGarrity (51), M McKernan (0-1) for Daly (59), F Burns for Devlin (62), R McCullagh (0-0-1, 1f) for Canavan (65).
Offaly: C Melia; S O’Toole Greene, R Egan (0-0-1), L Pearson; C Egan (0-0-2), D Egan, D McDaid; J McEvoy (1-0-0), A Leavy; M Dalton (0-0-1), J Hayes, K O’Neill (0-0-4, 2f); H Plunkett (0-1-1), N Furlong, D Flynn (1-0-2). Subs: C Murphy for Furlong (52), E Dunne for Dalton (60), C Dunican for Pearson (62).
Referee: J Molloy (Galway).
