Derry opened their Allianz League Division Two campaign with a derby win over Tyrone.
Sean Leo McGoldrick’s early goal proved decisive as the Oak Leafers held out in the face of a furious Red Hand fight-back in the second half.
Both sides had goal chances in the opening 90 seconds. Tyrone’s Enda McGinley saw his effort saved by Danny Devlin before Derry hit the net with a defence-splitting move.
Declan Mullan made the run but it was Conleith Gilligan who provided the final pass for Sean Leo McGoldrick, who beat two men before sending a low finish past Johnny Curran.
Tyrone slowly warmed to the task. Sean Cavanagh knocked over a couple of points and, after defender Ryan McMenamin pressed forward to score, they trailed by just a point at the end of the opening quarter.
By this stage of an intense encounter referee Marty Duffy had flashed four yellow cards, three of which were shown to Derry players.
PJ McCloskey and Conleith Gilligan were on target for the Derry, thanks to the foraging of Paddy Bradley, who won plenty of ball in his tussle with Cathal McCarron.
Goalkeeper Devlin came to Derry’s rescue again, saving from Aidan Cassidy, who rounded full-back Kevin McCloy with worrying ease.
But Derry were able to hit their opponents on the counter-attack. A sweeping move involving McCloskey and Sean Leo McGoldrick ended with Ciaran McGoldrick splitting the posts.
Bradley’s scored his first point in stoppage time and, when he added a second point just moments later, it sent his side into the interval with a 1-7 to 0-5 lead.
Tyrone started the second half brightly with scores from Brian McGuigan and Martin Penrose, and as they cranked up the intensity, Derry were forced into errors which led to further points from Cassidy and Penrose.
The introduction of Niall McKenna helped Tyrone gain an edge around midfield. Brian McGuigan had a goal disallowed as creator Cavanagh was penalised for charging, and Derry bounced back with the help of two splendid points from substitute Emmet McGuckin.
Tyrone pressed with feverish intent in the closing stages, narrowing the gap to a single point with two Penrose frees, but Derry held out, despite the second yellow card dismissal of sub Niall Holly.
