Cavanagh brothers take centre stage

ALLIANZ NFL DIVISION ONE Tyrone 1-11 Kerry 1-10:THE CAVANAGH brothers took centre stage on a night of high drama at Healy Park on Saturday night.

Seán returned to the starting line-up for the first time in eight months to give struggling Tyrone a new dimension. And younger sibling, Colm, plundered the last-gasp goal that kept their Division One survival hopes alive.

It was a shocking end for Jack O’Connor’s Kerry. They had moved five clear of 14-man opponents in the final quarter, and appeared to be easing to a comfortable win and mid-table safety.Defender Cathal McCarron had been sent off at the start of the second half, and a Declan O’Sullivan goal had given Kerry a cushion. But when Aidan O’Mahony received a straight red card six minutes from the end of normal time, the All-Ireland champions lost their shape as Tyrone drew on their primal instincts, and everything was thrown into attack.

And in the very last act, Cavanagh jnr fisted to the net. While all the plaudits were being showered on him, Mickey Harte was lavishing praise on his brother. “He gives us a real cut and thrust that’s not there without him,” he said. “He’s a great influence around the team, there’s a great confidence when the players see him there.”

A missed free by Owen Mulligan in the dying moments proved to be a blessing in disguise. Two points adrift, they were forced to go for broke. “I just thought, it’s not going to happen for us,” Harte reflected. “Ironically, it was the winning of the match, because if he had scored that point, we would have been happy with a point.”

O’Connor said: “It’s a hard one to take. I thought we deserved something. We probably invited them on to us a bit too much at the end.”

Seán Cavanagh announced his return with two points as Tyrone eased into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead early on, but the emergence of Séamus Scanlon in midfield sparked Kerry’s response. They dominated the second quarter, shooting four points through David Moran, substitute Darran O’Sullivan and Colm Cooper. But the warning signs had been flagged up. Cavanagh snr forced a superb save from goalkeeper Brendan Kealy and the home side trailed by just a point, 0-7 to 0-6, at the break.

The game turned in Kerry’s favour in the opening five minutes of the second half. Cooper’s marker, Cathal McCarron, picked up a second yellow, and seconds later Declan O’Sullivan planted the ball in the net. A sublime effort from Darran O’Sullivan 15 minutes from the end made it 1-10 to 0-8. Tyrone dug deep, Martin Penrose landed a couple of points, and the sending off of O’Mahony gave them impetus. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, a high ball from the left wing was flicked on by Joe McMahon, and Cavanagh jnr dived to punch past Kealy. Healy Park erupted.

TYRONE: P McConnell; D Carlin, J McMahon, C McCarron; D Harte, C Gormley, R McMenamin; A Cassidy, C Cavanagh (1-0); K Coney (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-2), P Harte; T McGuigan (0-3, two frees), M Penrose (0-3, two frees), O Mulligan (0-2, one free). Subs: P Jordan for McMenamin half-time, B McGuigan for T McGuigan 52 mins, S O'Neill for Coney 59 mins.

KERRY: B Kealy; P Reidy, T Griffin, T O'Sullivan; M Ó Sé, A O'Mahony, K Young; S Scanlon, A Maher; D Moran (0-3, one free), Declan O'Sullivan (1-0), D Walsh (0-2); C Cooper (0-2, one free), K Donaghy (0-1), K O'Leary. Subs: Darran O'Sullivan (0-2)for O'Leary 20 mins, D O'Callaghan for Walsh 48 mins, B Sheehan for Maher 54 mins, A O'Connell for Reidy 62 mins.

Referee: P Hughes(Armagh).