Galway are off the mark with their first win of the Allianz League Division One campaign, Cathal Sweeney's second-half goal the key score as they edged out Tyrone by a single point at O’Neills Healy Park.
They trailed by two points at the break, but never lost the lead after Sweeney blasted to the net in the 49th minute to deny the Red Hands.
Tyrone, with two defeats on the spin, find themselves very much embedded in a struggle to avoid relegation, with Mayo due to vist Omagh next weekend.
But the joy of victory was somewhat diluted by a worrying injury to midfielder Paul Conroy, while on the positive side, Sean Kelly’s return for a first appearance of the season provided a huge boost for the westerners.
Rob Finnerty’s crisp fetch and point on the turn eased the Tribesmen ahead, and it was the sure handling of the Salthill-Knocknacarra man that produced another couple of classy points as the fired over three in the opening 15 minutes.
Paul Conroy was also on target from distance as the Tribesmen found a way to circumvent a packed home defence, recycling possession in search of a spare man or a yard of space.
The Red Hands were happy to hit their opponents on the breakaway, with goalkeeper Niall Morgan pressing forward to pick out Ciaran Daly for a mark, and Darragh Canavan on target from a free.
But they went 16 minutes without a score, before Peter Harte curled over a gem, followed by a Morgan effort from play, and a Darragh Canavan point, their third in as many minutes, to go in front for the first time just before the half-hour mark.
Conn Kilpatrick had a crack at goal kept out by Connor Gleeson as the Red Hands stepped up the pressure, with Morgan’s press from deep a huge element in their offensive set-up.
And they found a way to frustrate a somewhat one-dimensional Galway strategy, with Ciaran Daly forcing a couple of turnovers and intercepts from Aodhan Donaghy and Peter Harte, the latter preventing a goal chance as he got a hand to Johnny McGrath’s pass.
Galway, having lost their way, failed to score for the closing 24 minutes of the half, and a Morgan free sent the home side in with a 0-6 to 0-4 lead.
A further blow for Galway saw influential midfielder Conroy fail to show for the second half, his leg heavily strapped and a major worry for manager Joyce.
But they started with a flourish, Matthew Tierney flashing over a point after just 15 seconds, and a breakaway Johnny Heaney point brought the sides level.
But place-kicking presented a problem for the Connacht men, with Finnerty and Tierney both missing the target with scoreable efforts, while at the other end, Canavan edged the Red Hands back in front.
Sean Kelly came off the bench for his first appearance of the season, with instant impact, as moments later he was involved in the move that saw Rory Cunningham send Cathal Sweeney in to crack home a 49th-minute goal.
Now they committed all 15 men to the resistance cause as they defended a slender lead, but remained dangerous on the breakaway, adding points through Heaney and Daniel O’Flaherty, while Sweeney was denied a second goal by Morgan’s brilliant save.
Johnny McGrath finished off a slick move with a point to put three between the sides with five minutes to play, and now it was all about game management.
Tyrone: N Morgan (0-02, 1f); C Devlin (0-01), P Hampsey, A Clarke; N Devlin, M McKernan (0-01), C Quinn; B Kennedy, A Donaghy; P Harte (0-01), C Kilpatrick (0-01, m), S O’Donnell; L McGarrity, D Canavan (0-03, 1f), C Daly (0-03, 1m).
Subs: R Canavan for D Canavan, K McGeary for McGarrity, M McGleenan for Donaghy (59)
Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath (0-01), S Fitzgerald, S Mulkerrin; D McHugh, J Daly, K Molloy; P Conroy (0-01), J Maher; J Heaney (0-02), M Tierney (0-01), C Sweeney (1-00); R Finnerty (0-04, 1f, 1m), C O Curraoin, L O Conghaile.
Subs: C Darcy for O Curraoin (31), R Cunningham for Conroy (h-t), D O’Flaherty (0-01) for Molloy (42), N Daly for Tierney (63)
Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).
