Tyrone 2-14 Monaghan 1-7: The best is the enemy of the good. Voltaire's famous remark was comprehensively borne out in Saturday's fourth-round qualifier at Croke Park. The fact that Monaghan captain Damien Freeman was sent to the line after receiving a second yellow card with 10 minutes left had no bearing on the result.
The imbalance in terms of experience was put into context by former Donegal manager Brian McEniff.
"Most of these Tyrone guys have played together on winning All-Ireland teams at minor, under-21 and senior level, not to mention MacRory Cups," he said.
In comparison, Monaghan's high point so far was gaining Division One league status a few months ago, but their manager's post-match contention that his team showed they are not afraid of the big stage was justified. Monaghan played like potential winners in the first half, but their deterioration accelerated unexpectedly after half-time.
Tyrone had invaluable sources of inspiration on and off the pitch, with Stephen O'Neill scoring 2-6 and manager Micky Harte cleverly scheming and coming up with the correct tactics from the sideline.
O'Neill contributed hugely to tearing the Monaghan challenge apart while Harte made a number of astute changes that galvanised his side after a subdued display in the opening 20 minutes.
O'Neill was convinced Tyrone would have been in serious trouble before the interval but for a stunning save by Pascal McConnell from Rory Woods, who along with Tomás Freeman was the chief menace to the unsettled Tyrone defence. Monaghan had just celebrated a superb goal by Tomás Freeman for a 1-4 to 0-2 lead after 13 minutes.
"Had Pascal not brought off that big save I don't know what would have been our fate," said O'Neill.
Harte admitted: "We played as well as we were let in that poor display for most of the first half."
Tyrone's problems were illustrated by their nine wides in that first half - 15 overall. Their defence, short of suspended Ryan McMenamin, was ragged and full back Chris Lawn was taken off by Harte after earning a yellow card.
The manner in which Freeman took his goal chance after running in from the right as though there was no cover had to be worrying for the Tyrone management.
Concern loomed for the Monaghan dugout, however, as Tyrone tagged on 1-3 without reply in a golden second-quarter period. Up to then a Tyrone forward had not scored.
O'Neill and Owen Mulligan accounted for the points before they linked up for a brilliant goal that sent Monaghan reeling. Mulligan made the opening with a clever overhead pass for O'Neill to run on to and the Clan na Gael wizard drilled a great shot past Shane Duffy.
The sides were level, but Tyrone were yet to go in front. Hugh McElroy restored Monaghan's lead with a pointed free and they held that slender advantage at half-time.
Monaghan's Jekyll and Hyde act was completed in the second half, during which they struggled to score a point.
The reshuffled Tyrone back line, with Conor Gormley having moved from midfield to full back, was showing marked improvement and Peter Canavan's half-time introduction brought about further positional switches. Canavan had a mixed-bag appearance; he started with a bad wide, received a yellow card and was denied a goal by Monaghan goalkeeper Shane Duffy.
Later, the Tyrone star delivered a deft diagonal pass that led to O'Neill's decisive second goal with six minutes remaining.
Monaghan manager Séamus McEnaney was satisfied his team had "come a long way" in 12 months.
Tyrone manager Micky Harte confessed his team played as well as they were let for most of the first half.
"Monaghan were fast out of the blocks. The position regarding Ryan (McMenamin) was a distraction for us. We didn't know until after two o'clock whether or not he would he playing and we had to change the script," he said.
TYRONE: P McConnell; J McMahon, C Lawn, S Sweeney; D Harte (0-1), G Devlin, P Jordan; C Gormley (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-1); B Dooher, B McGuigan, S O'Neill (2-6, four frees); R Mellon (0-1), O Mulligan (0-1), E McGinley. Subs: M McGee for Lawn (25 mins), P Canavan (0-2, one free) for Sweeney (half-time), M Penrose (0-1) for Mulligan (54 mins), H Meenan for Mellon (71 mins).
MONAGHAN: S Duffy; D McArdle, J Coyle, C Flanagan; D Freeman, V Corey, G McQuaid; D Clerkin, O Lennon (0-1, free); J McElroy, P Finlay (0-2), R Woods (0-1); T Freeman (1-0), H McElroy (0-3, frees), S Gollogly. Subs: F Duffy for Gollogly (54 mins), N Corrigan for J McElroy (54 mins), D McKernan for Woods (58 mins), J Corrigan for Clerkin (59 mins).
Referee: M Monahan (Kildare).
