LORY MEAGHER CUP FINAL/Donegal 2-12 Tyrone 0-17:CIARÁN MATHEWSON goaled in the 70th minute as Donegal snatched victory in the Lory Meagher Cup final on Saturday, having lost the previous two finals.

It was an outstanding day for Mathewson who finished with a tally of 2-3.

It was a memorable too for Donegal captain Colm Breathnach, who was sent off early in the 2010 decider. This time around, the man from the Waterford Gaeltacht of An Rinn led a stout defensive resistance that kept them in the game.

Tyrone played their part in a game of high quality and, with Rory O’Neill prominent, led 0-7 to 0-2 before Donegal finished strongly with help from another Mathewson goal and Niall Campbell’s accuracy from frees.

Justin Kelly and Conor Grogan enabled the Red Hands to edge clear again with time almost up before Mathewson rounded his man with ease and rifled an unstoppable shot to the Tyrone net.

DONEGAL: P O’Brien; S O’Connor, C Breathnach, A McDermott; J Donnelly, C Dowds, J Boyle; S McVeigh (0-1), P Sheridan (0-1); E Organ, S Boyle, C Mathewson (2-3); M McCann (0-1), E McDermott, N Campbell 0-6 (0-4 frees, 0-1 65). Subs: P Hannigan for Organ (47 mins), L Henderson for McCann (63 mins), M McGhee for Boyle (68 mins).

TYRONE: J Devlin; Ryan O’Neill; D Maguire, R Winters; SP Begley, S Donnelly, M Grogan; C Gallagher, M O’Gorman; G Fox (0-1), J Kelly (0-5, 0-3 frees), A Kelly (0-3, 0-2 frees); C McErlean, Rory O’Neill (0-2), C Grogan (0-3). Subs: P O’Connor (0-3) for McErlean (half-time), T Hughes for O’Gorman, M Winters for Kelly (both 60 mins).

Referee: F Smith (Meath).