February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Mike Fitzpatrick
Leitrim 2-11, Tyrone 1-12
Duke Devlin’s league-leading Tyrone football side came up against what they can be forgiven for thinking was a somewhat off-form Leitrim side Sunday at Gaelic Park. Leitrim were disappointing in their first runout this year when they suffered a defeat at the hands of Cavan, and then had to be satisfied with a share of the points in what turned out to be a repeat performance of last year’s final with Stamford. Though when they won last year, a draw had to suffice this time around. Tyrone had Martin Slowey back in their side following suspension, but were missing his brother Michael. And miss him they most certainly did.
The game was always going to be a tough tie to predict the outcome of, what with Tyrone’s good form of late, and Martin Slowey’s return. Then, on the other hand, Michael Slowey missing the tie, Leitrim’s disappointing run this year, the return to action of some of their stars, and the added bonus of having sanctioned player Vinnie Murphy over from Ireland for the day — all combined led to the pundits at the park unable to predict the outcome.
Murphy proved to be the difference in the early stages of the tie, hitting an early goal and two points, though the Northern side quickly fought back thanks to points from Danny Barr, Gary McConnell, John Cormican and Martin Slowey. Tyrone obviously had not the usual firepower that we’ve come to expect from them due to the absence of the aforementioned Michael Slowey, having proved his class versus the best of them in Castlebar a couple of weeks back. Gary McConnell of Tyrone hit a rich scoring streak and kept his side in the balance with a number of well-taken points, and it became clear that this game would go to the death, with neither side able to outscore each other for long.
Cookie Meehan had a fine game for Leitrim in midfield, while his opposing numbers, Danny Barr and Paddy Redmond, both registered points for the Ulster club. The second half continued in much the same way, though Leitrim stepped up a gear and began to control the game a little better. Neville Dunne and Morgan Nix prevented the Tyrone forwards from scoring on a number of occasions, and veteran Sean Jones, playing in goal for Leitrim, was eventually beaten by an effort from Barry Tally. The man who made the real difference for Leitrim in the second half, though, was Alan McFadden, who, alongside Murphy upfront, proved to be a lethal finisher, hitting four points for his side. Frank Brady will be delighted with this Leitrim victory, and will hope that having now defeated the league leaders, the season has begun to turn around for them.
Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter
Leitrim: Sean Jones, Kieran Walsh, Malachy McHugh, John McGuinness, Mike Murphy, Morgan Nix, Neville Dunne, Kieran Treanor (0-1), John Meehan, Jim Donaghue, Alan McFadden (0-4), John Donaghue (0-1), Joe Moloney, Vinnie Murphy (2-4), Peadar Reynolds. Sub:Mike Joe Hennessy (0-1).
Tyrone: Mike Deere, Aidan Lloyd, Sean Teague, Mark Daly, Collie Fearon, Martin Slowey (0-1), Philip Sloane, Danny Barr (0-1), Paddy Redmond (0-1), John Cormican (0-1), Barry Tally (1-0), Darren Flanagan (0-2), Philip Mallon, Gary McConnell (0-6).