Tyrone 2-23
Westmeath 1-13

Tyrone cut loose in the second half at Healy Park to hammer bottom-of-the-table Westmeath who are destined for a quick return to Division 2.

Ronan O'Neill and Sean Cavanagh both found the net as the Red Hands put last weekend's disastrous defeat to Kerry behind them to cruise past the struggling midlanders, who had only trailed by a point, 0-9 to 0-10 at the break. While the victory revives Tyrone's hopes of reaching the league semi-finals, Westmeath are all but relegated with two rounds still to play.

The visitors, who suffered a setback before the throw-in when John Heslin cried off and was replaced by David McCormack, were first on the scoreboard thanks to Denis Glennon. However, it was the only time that they led as Tyrone hit back with points from Kyle Coney (free) and Sean Cavanagh before Dessie Dolan made it 0-2 apiece.

Scores from Conor Grugan and Coney doubled the Red Hands' advantage, but Westmeath stuck to their task and Dolan had the sides level on 0-5 each midway through the opening half.

Tyrone upped the tempo again as scores from Niall Morgan (free), Cavanagh, Ciaran McGinley and Conor McAliskey pushed them into a 0-9 to 0-6 lead. But the visitors rallied again with points from Ger Egan, Glennon (his third) and Kieran Martin to trail by the minimum at the break.

With the Cavanagh brothers dominating midfield, the second half turned into a one-sided affair as the home side took complete control. A flurry of points from Mark Donnelly, Conor McAliskey, Niall Morgan, Shea McGuigan, Danny McBride and Ciaran McGinley had opened up a 0-17 to 0-10 lead before Ray Connellan's 49th minute goal revived Westmeath's hopes.

But the momentum remained firmly with Mickey Harte's men as Morgan drew a huge cheer from the home support with a massive 60-metre free before goals from half-time substitute O'Neill and the outstanding Cavanagh in the final 15 minutes completed the rout.

Tyrone - N Morgan (0-3, 2f, 1'45); A McCrory, R McNamee, R McKenna; C Clarke, Mattie Donnelly, Peter Harte; C Cavanagh (0-1), S Cavanagh (1-2); C McGinley (0-4), S McGuigan (0-1), C Grugan (0-1); K Coney (0-3, 1f), Mark Donnelly (0-2), C McAliskey (0-5, 2f). Subs: D McBride (0-1) for R McNamee, R O'Neill (1-0) for C Grugan, PJ Lavery for C McGinley, P Hughes for S McGuigan, K Gallagher for Mark Donnelly, D Carlin for Mattie Donnelly.

Westmeath - D Quinn; S Gilmore, K Gavin, K Maguire; J Gonoud, P Sharry, J Gilligan; D McCormack, D Duffy; K Martin (0-1), G Egan (0-2f), C McCormack (0-1); D Dolan (0-2), D Glennon (0-5), J Dolan. Subs: R Connellan (1-1) for D McCormack, Damien Dolan for J Gilligan, J Egan for C McCormack, R Foley for P Sharry, A Giles for K Martin.

Referee - B Cassidy. Tweet

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