McKenna Cup: Tyrone turn on the power in second half

A second-half recovery helped Tyrone overturn a four-point half-time deficit and secure another four-in-a-row of McKenna Cup titles on Saturday.

Cavan were pumped up and purposeful in the first half and fully deserved their 0-10 to 0-6 interval lead at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh.

Mickey Harte responded by making three half-time substitutions, introducing heavy artillery in the shape of Mattie Donnelly, Colm Cavanagh and Darren McCurry, with the latter kicking four points of Tyrone’s 1-7 second-half tally.

Cavan failed to score in the second half; the pace and accuracy of their counter-attack and high-energy running game becoming a distant memory as Tyrone raised their intensity and emulated the four-in-a-row of McKenna Cups previously achieved in 2004 - 2007.

“I wouldn’t like to go through a first half like that again,” Harte said. “We were just second best to the ball on most occasions, and Cavan probably could have been further ahead.

“I suppose it is good that if you get a bit of a scare and you’re over-run a bit by another team, that you still have a chance to salvage something from it.

“We ought to learn something from that, and I’m hoping that we will.”

Despite the loss of suspended Gearoid McKiernan (who an Ulster Council statement confirmed had issued a personal apology to Monaghan’s Drew Wylie over comments made during last week’s McKenna Cup tie), Cavan bossed the first half.

Nine of their scores came from play, with Martin Dunne causing huge problems for the Tyrone fullback line.

New Tyrone midfielder Padriaig McNulty showed great leadership, kicking two points early in the second half, and the sides were level at 0-10 apiece after 56 minutes.

A minute later Niall McKenna scored the only goal of the game to complete the turnaround.