ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION TWO: Tyrone 2-15 Derry 0-9:TYRONE MAINTAINED their impressive early season form by beating neighbours Derry convincingly at Healy Park.
Mickey Murphy and Peter Harte scored the goals for the Tyrone and at the end, their 12-point winning margin could have been much greater.
“It is nice to have four points tucked away ahead of this mini-break that’s coming up. There’s still a lot of hard games to play, but I’d rather be where we are than where we were last year anyway,” said manager Harte.
Derry attacker Paddy Bradley conceded that the Derry players just aren’t fit enough, saying: “We have lost here before and you don’t like losing heavily at the home of your biggest rivals. We would expect a response but there is no doubt some of our players, including myself, aren’t at the necessary fitness levels required at this stage.”
Derry had early points through Mark Lynch and Charlie Kielt, but once the home side got a foothold in midfield through Aidan Cassidy, Murphy and Martin Penrose, they assumed control.
Owen Mulligan and Murphy hit the target to bring the sides level by the 12 minute, before Penrose gave Tyrone the lead.
And in the 26th minute, a sweeping move involving Harte and Cassidy ended with Penrose crossing for Murphy to punch to the net to help his side gain a 1-7 to 0-3 lead at half-time.
Mark Donnelly and Mattie Donnelly steered over spectacular points after the restart.
Derry suffered a double blow in the 51st minute when Patsy Bradley picked up a second booking after conceding a penalty, which Harte drilled to the bottom corner of the net.
Tyrone allowed the tempo to slip in the closing stages, during which Derry pulled back scores through Paddy Bradley, Kielt and PJ McCloskey.
TYRONE: J Curran; A McCrory, C Clarke, D Carlin; C McCarron (0-1), P Harte (1-1, 1-0 pen, 0-1 '45), D McCaul; M Murphy (1-2), A Cassidy; Mattie Donnelly (0-2), Mark Donnelly (0-2), R McNabb; O Mulligan (0-2, two frees), M Penrose (0-2), S O'Neill (0-2, one free). Subs: Joe McMahon for Cassidy, K Coney (0-1, free) for O'Neill, S Cavanagh for Mulligan, Justin McMahon for Murphy, S McNally for McCarron.
DERRY: P Morgan; B McCallion, B Doyle, A McAlynn; C McKaigue, C Kielt (0-2), SL McGoldrick; J Diver, Patsy Bradley, E McGuckin, M Lynch (0-1, 45), K O'Neill, C O'Boyle (0-2, two frees), Paddy Bradley (0-3, two frees), E Lynn. Subs: M Friel for Diver, N Forrester for O'Neill, C Gilligan for McGuckin, B Gormley for Lynch, PJ McCloskey (0-1) for O'Boyle.
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
