Five first half pointed frees from inspirational captain Peter Canavan helped Tyrone to their first Bank of Ireland All-Ireland title with a closely fought 0-12 to 0-09 victory over reigning champions Armagh at Croke Park today. Canavan kicked the Ulster champions into a four point half-time (0-08 to 0-04) lead before being replaced at the break, but he made a timely introduction six minutes from time to calm his side's nerves and guide the Red Hand County home to complete a memorable League and Championship double.
Canavan, of course, was ably assisted by many Tyrone heroes, most notably Conor Gormley, Cormac McAnallen, Sean Cavanagh and Gerard Cavlan, who all revelled in the frantic pace in the autumn sun.
A colourful, carnival-like crowd of 79,391 turned up for what was expected to be a bruising encounter between two bitter rivals. However, despite the pre-match hype surrounding tactical ploys like 'blanket defences' and 'sweeper systems', both teams began the match in positive mood and the opening exchanges were surprisingly open.
Having won the toss and opted to play into the Railway End, Armagh quickly found themselves behind in the first minute when Andrew McCann was penalised for an off the ball foul on Brian Dooher and Canavan made no mistake with a 20 yard free. John McEntee responded immediately for Armagh after a fluid move at the other end, but with four minutes gone Canavan teed Gerard Cavlan up for a booming second point to restore Tyrone's lead.
A burst of pace from Diarmuid Marsden two minutes later saw him break through the Tyrone rearguard but he was eventually crowded out and his shot skewed horribly wide. Armagh's Francie Bellew was shown the first yellow card of the game for a foul on Eoin Mulligan and Canavan made no mistake from the resulting free to stretch his side's lead.
McEntee and Enda McGinley then had to receive treatment after a nasty clash of heads before Canavan added another free on 16 minutes. A poor kick-out from Armagh goalkeeper Paul Hearty handed possession straight back to Tyrone and Brian McGuigan outpaced Armagh captain Kieran McGeeney to add an excellent point from 20 yards to put Tyrone four points clear.
Stephen McDonnell responded with Armagh's second point of the day a minute later but they were let off the hook soon after when Cavanagh missed a gilt edged chance for Tyrone after being put through on goal by the persistence of McGuigan. Oisin McConville then hit the upright from distance and the same player reduced the deficit to two points (0-05 to 0-03) with a calmly taken free on 23 minutes.
Unnecessary concession of frees was a disappointing highlight of the first half and Canavan again took advantage of indiscipline in the Armagh ranks with a pointed free following a foul by midfielder Philip Loughran, for which he was booked.
McDonnell, showing the kind of form that has seen him earmarked as a possible Player of the Year, scored a spectacular point from distance with an instinctive effort on the right to reduce the deficit to two, but Canavan hit back with his fifth and final free after a foul on McGuigan.
Just before the break Stephen O'Neill was brought on for McGuigan who had been hampered by 'flu all week and the final piece of action from the opening half almost brought a goal for Tyrone. McGinley found space on the left and his stinging shot on goal was superbly deflected over the bar by Hearty to ensure Mickey Harte's men held a 0-08 to 0-04 lead at the break.
After the restart, Cavanagh had a great chance on goal but pulled his shot to the left of the post with the goal at his mercy and Paddy McKeever, who replaced the injured Diarmaid Marsden in the first half, pointed to open the second half scoring for Armagh.
Mulligan, taking over the free taking responsibilities from Canavan, then converted to restore Tyrone's four points advantage before McKeever added another point from a free. Marsden, back on for the ineffective Ronan Clarke, was soon on the scoresheet with a point from play to reduce Tyrone's lead to 0-09 to 0-07 with twenty minutes remaining.
Mulligan restored Tyrone's three point cushion with an impressive long range free and then Armagh's hopes of retaining their crown were dealt a severe blow when Marsden was harshly sent-off for an off-the-ball incident with Philip Jordan. Referee Brian White consulted a linesman after Jordan was left reeling on the ground, but television replays showed that Jordan may have instigated the incident.
McGeeney was then booked as the game began to descend into the war of attrition many expected. McConville struck with another free before O'Neill replied with an excellent point for Tyrone but Mulligan then squandered the best chance of the game, pulling his shot wide after being put clean through on goal by Cavlan.
The experienced Canavan replaced Cavlan for the last six minutes to steady the ship, but Gormley produced a moment of inspiration with a superbly timed last ditch block to deny McDonnell an equalising goal two minutes from time. McConville registered his third point from the resulting 45 to close it to two points but O'Neill completed the scoring two minutes into injury-time to ensure Tyrone finished with a three point lead to secure Sam for the first time in the county's history.
Filed by Shane Murray
