Tohill's boot defies the elements

THERE were some outbreaks of good football between the wind and the rain and the rough and the tumble at Celtic Park yesterday.

October league games in the far off north seldom seem too enticing, but Derry and Tyrone have a past which lends a spice to the present. So it was yesterday as thundering championship clashes in the past two years and a developing managerial situation in both counties lent some context to the league limberings. For a game which contained only three points from play, things could have been much worse.

Tyrone, playing into a gale force wind, got to the half time break without having scored. That won't have worried Danny Ball too much. His first competitive half hour in charge of Tyrone had yielded some play which mixed patience and passion in commendable measure. All they lacked was Peter Canavan. Not an easy deficiency to overcome. Despite some evidence of keen appetite amongst the home players and the hindrance of having to play into a howling wind, Tyrone limited Derry to just one score from play before the break.

Unfortunately for Tyrone, defending proved to be their parlour trick. When the teams turned around for the second half, the Ulster champions lacked any edge up front.

Predictably, that first half was pockmarked by the odd skirmish and Pat McEnaney decorated his notebook with four names (two from each side). The wind and past enmities played a role in upping the physical stakes, but for the most part Derry and Tyrone were content to set about beating each other on the scoreboard.

Derry, for their part, are resting a number of big names for the foreseeable future and could report mixed results from the new recruits. Ronan Rocks of Loup, from whom much is expected, flashed intermittently in the first half. The two McGuckans, big names already by dint of heritage, mixed the rough with the smooth.

Ronan, at full back, enjoyed the easier passage and Adrian was substituted at half time. Stephen McLarnon won plenty of ball at corner forward but failed to convert for scores.

Emmet McKeever, at corner back, looked also to have inherited a little of the perspicacity of his brother, while Gary Coleman and Sean Martin Lockhart both showed promise and adventure at wing back.

Other changes were more profitable. Henry Downey coped well with the range of duties at midfield. Rory Boylan brought a midfielder's muscle to forward duties, and Dermot Heaney's latest posting saw him survive and prosper at centre back.

Derry went into the break leading by five points to no score, most of the damage having been done by the big boot of Anthony Tohill who, unperturbed by the vagaries of the wind, kicked four points from frees. Joe Brolly, a lively presence in an inexperienced full forward line, added the other score.

Critically after the break Derry got the first score of the half, Tohill unleashing a 45 into the teeth of the wind and seeing it drop over the Tyrone bar with yards to spare. Minutes later he added another free and Tyrone were in trouble.

Tohill emerged as the most influential figure of the second half, dominating exchanges at midfield, hoofing it back to defence when needed, and generally ensuring Mattie McGleenan had a subdued return to inter county football. Tohill's catching and kicking were the principal differences between the sides after the break.

It took 47 minutes before Tyrone actually scored, Eoin Gormley's free taking the bare look off the scoreboard, but failing to serve as a launching pad for better things.

Indeed, not long after events took a turn for the worst when Paul Donnelly crashed heavily and late into Seamus Downey. Having been already booked, it left McEneaney no alternative but to send him to the line.