Sport

Derry net goals and profit

Cormac O'Neill and Paul Young blasted home the goals that gave Derry their first Ulster minor title since 1995 at Clones yesterday…

Mon Jul 17 2000 - 01:00

Cormac O'Neill and Paul Young blasted home the goals that gave Derry their first Ulster minor title since 1995 at Clones yesterday. The superb strikes early in each half added an extra gloss to a wonderfully exciting game of attacking football, with Derry's sparkling forward play giving them a decided edge.

Their explosive opening saw them race into a six-point lead inside the first 10 minutes. Centre forward Ciaran O'Neill was at the heart of it all, hitting three early points before sending Young in for a superbly-executed 11th-minute goal.

Tyrone were struggling, their sporadic scoring efforts falling into the arms of goalkeeper Brian Scullion. But gradually Tyrone shook off their early lethargy to turn the game around. Scores from Sean Kavanagh, Anthony McGonagle, Shane Mallon and skipper Patrick O'Farrell brought the sides level by the 27th minute. Gavin Donaghy broke an 18 minute barren spell, however, to hit the target and give Derry a slender 1-5 to 0-7 half-time lead.

Two cracking goals within five minutes of the restart set the scene for a pulsating second half. First O'Neill strode through at least five attempted tackles to plant a low shot in the corner of the Tyrone net.

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Two minutes later McGonagle somehow steered the ball home with the outside of his right foot to reduce the gap to just a point.

Jim Kelly and Cormac O'Neill swapped scores with Aidan McCarron, Martin Penrose and O'Farrell, and with just seconds to play, Derry's lead was still no more than a single point. Penrose had an opportunity to level it, but the chance was lost, and Derry wrapped it up with injury-time points from Kelly and Ciaran O'Neill.

DERRY: B Scullion; M O'Kane, C Feeney, P Mooney; S McKenna, S Scullion, G McMaster; K McCann, D Canning; G Donaghy (0-1), Ciaran O'Neill (0-4), Cormac O'Neill (1- 1); M Donaghy (0-1), J Kelly (0-3), P Young (1-1). Sub: B McGuigan for Cormac O'Neill.

TYRONE: P Ward; A O'Kane, S Sweeney, N Quinn; C Mullan, O Devine, P O'Farrell (0-2); K Hughes, P Donnelly (0- 1); R O'Neill, S Cavanagh (0-2), A McGonagle (1-2); M Penrose (0-1), P McMahon, S Mallon (0-2). Subs: S McNeice for McMahon, A McCarron (0-1) for Mallon, B Maguire for Mullan.

Referee: J White (Donegal).