Tyrone narrowly beat Galway to go top of Division Two

Galway 1-09 Tyrone 1-11

Some might look at this as a moral victory but even though Galway had trailed by eight points with time against them in Pearse Stadium, they left this one behind them.

There was no doubt Tyrone were the better side throughout but Kevin Walsh’s side piled on the pressure late on in both halves and it almost paid dividends in this Division 2 clash.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte knows his side are far from the finished article, although their bench looks equipped to take on the top four in the country, but he was pleased with what he saw.

“At stages of the game we were really in control. At periods in the first-half it was 1-6 to 0-2 and we let them back into the game.

“You have to give credit to Galway. They were going to have their purple patch at some stage, and when they did get their purple patch they made it,” said Harte.

“There is lots of things to work on. But it is essential that you keep picking up the points, because this is where we want to be. We want to be heading to the top of the table.”

Tiernan McCann’s goal ultimately settled it, but it was Damien Comer’s 67th minute strike that conjured up the dramatic finale.

It brought the deficit back to 1-11 to 1-6, and as Peter Cooke, Eamon Brannigan and Shane Walsh slotted points the comeback looked on. Yet Niall Morgan stood tally to save from Walsh, and that was the crucial intervention.

Galway’s Tom Flynn got black early on and then Paul Conroy was shown red after a black, when he had earlier got yellow, in the 43rdminute and that only added to Galway’s claims that they showed promise. Tyrone’s Colm Cavanagh also got black late in the game.

Galway trailed 1-6 to 0-5 at half-time, after Eddie Hoare kept them in the game with three late frees. But Tyrone eased away from Galway in the third quarter and Galway’s comeback was too late.

“In the end it came back to two points and Tyrone were living on a bit of an edge for the last two or three minutes there. In a way it’s a nice way for us to end, to say we finished off strong enough and asked them questions.

“It was disappointing to lose the game, it was there for us but at the same time you have to be happy with the finish and how we worked together,” said Kevin Walsh.

Tyrone: N Morgan; A McCrory, R McNamee, C McCarron; R Brennan (0-1), J McMahon, T McCann (1-0); C Cavanagh, P McNulty; N Sludden, M Donnelly, C Meyler; D McCurry (0-2, 0-1f), C McAliskey (0-1), R O'Neill (0-2, 0-1f). Subs: HP McGeary for McCarron (35 mins), S Cavanagh (0-1) for Meyler (42 mins), M Bradley (0-2, 0-1f) for McAliskey (42 mins), L Brennan (0-2, 0-1f) for McCurry (49 mins), R Donnelly for McNulty (58 mins), C McShane for C Cavanagh (66 mins).

Galway: T Dolan; E Kerin, D Kyne, D Wynne; L Silke (0-1), G O'Donnell, J Heaney; P Conroy, F O Curraoin; T Flynn, E Brannigan (0-3), E Tierney; D Comer (1-0), A Varley, E Hoare (0-3, 0-3f). Subs: P Cooke (0-1, 0-1 '45) for Flynn (23 mins, black), S Walsh (0-1, 0-1f) for Tierney (48 mins), S Denvir for Hoare (63 mins), D Cunnane for Kerin (68 mins), R Greene for Kyne (68 mins).

Referee: Derek O'Mahony (Tipperary).