Despite a turbulent season, Tyrone’s first victory in the All-Ireland series has kept their campaign afloat. Against Clare, the Red Hands had difficulty dismantling a tenacious defence but managed to surge late on, with a score of 1-4 following the removal of one of the Munster men. Clare’s bid for the preliminary quarter-final was most likely ended with this second defeat, ahead of a face-off against Donegal at a neutral venue.
For Tyrone, a final decisive group game against Cork, who just claimed a win over the Ulster champions, looms. Troubles still persist that need tackling. “We arrived today in need of two points and pleasingly we secured them which ensures we are still in the running prior to the match against Cork”, Tyrone’s joint manager Brian Dooher, reflected.
He admitted to a lacklustre display saying “If we were truthful, it was arguably a jittery performance. There was a lack of fluidity, but we accumulated enough points. Niall Devlin was essential in the first half, scoring enough to keep us ahead so we could advance in the second half. We slowly got into our stride in the second half, methodically scoring the points we needed.”
Dooher commended his team’s increased intensity in the second half, remarking, “It’s the business end of the season, it’s sink or swim. We had little choice but to succeed today or our campaign would be over. Our players pushed back when their backs were against the wall, particularly in the second half.”
Devlin, the corner back, helped the home team maintain a lead with two initial goals, making up for an attack that underperformed, managing only one point in the first half.
In their first championship encounter, despite having previously clashed only twice in the 1995 and 1996 seasons, Tyrone secured victory over their county rivals. Although they couldn’t quite seize an advantage following the black card dismissal of Clare defender Ikem Ugweri within the opening three minutes, managing only a single point during the defender’s sideline stint, Tyrone eventually pulled ahead. Emmet McMahon had initially pushed Clare to the fore during the first quarter.
Devlin dramatically altered the course of the game in the 19th minute, capitalising on Aidan Clarke’s assist to land a goal past goalkeeper Stephen Ryan. Cillian Roiune’s second goal levelled the field for Clare, but Devlin returned in the 29th minute to set things right. The goalkeeper, Niall Morgan, pushing up to the enemy 20-metre line, managed to lend the all-important pass to Devlin enabling him to finish clinically and provide Tyrone with a lead of 2-3 to 0-5 at half-time.
As the match resumed, Ulster’s Donnelly and Brian Kennedy extended their lead by six points. However, Clare proved to be formidable opponents, tactically disrupting Tyrone and launching counterattacks through the lively defensive duo of Ronan Lanigan and Alan Sweeney. Clare lessened the gap owing to points from McMahon and Aaron Griffin, but Darragh Canavan started to make his mark with a couple of successful shots at goal. As Tyrone, now aided by a mild tailwind, neared victory, the Canavan siblings impressed with adeptly executed scores, and Donnelly scored his second. Midfielder Darragh Bohannon’s dismissal via a direct red card in the game’s latter stages put Clare at a disadvantage, and the home team capitalised this opportunity. Tyrone concluded the contest with a brisk 1-4 tally in the final 10 minutes, including a marvellously netted goal from Darragh Canavan.
The game saw Tyrone’s team comprising of N Morgan, N Devlin who scored 2-2, P Hampsey, A Clarke, M McKernan, M Donnelly who managed 0-4, K McGeary, B Kennedy who scored 0-1, J Oguz, C Daly, who hit 0-1, M O’Neill, S O’Donnell with the duo of D McCurry, D Canavan securing 1-4 which included 2 frees and 1 mark, and R Canavan hitting 0-2.
In the substitutions, C Kilpatrick came in for Oguz in the 49th minute and hit 0-1. P Harte replaced McCurry in the 53rd, O’Hare came in for McGeary, C McShane filled in for O’Donnell in the 62nd minute, and Quinn replaced O’Neill in the 66th.
The Clare team included S Ryan, M Doherty, C Brennan, R Lanigan who scored 0-1, A Sweeney, C Rouine with 0-2, and I Ugweru. The team also had B McNamara, D Bohannon, D Walsh, D Coughlan, and G Murray. C Downes was replaced by J Stack in the 42nd minute. A Griffin and E McMahon partnered with the latter recording 0-5 including 3 frees. Clare’s substitutions saw E O’Connor replacing McNamara in the 51st minute, C Burle coming in for Sweeney in the 58th, J McGann filled in for Griffin in the 62nd and M McInerney was brought in for McMahon in the 66th, he went on to hit 0-1, a 45. The match was officiated by referee J Henry of Mayo.