Sean Cavanagh made his first appearance of the year as relegation-threatened Tyrone secured their first win in Division 1 of the NFL at Cork's expense in Omagh.

Tyrone 3-9
Cork 0-16

The victory was also a measure of revenge for last year's All-Ireland semi-final loss to the Rebels, with two goals late in the first half and another 10 minutes from the end proving decisive.

Colm Cavanagh and Tommy McGuigan both found the net in the dying moments of the first half, and after Cork had stormed back into the lead, sub Ryan Mellon grabbed a third in the 60th minute to clinch a crucial win for Mickey Harte's men. The return of Sean Cavanagh, who came on as a second half sub, was another big plus for the Red Hands who still face a massive task to stave off relegation.

Tyrone started brightly and led by 0-4 to 0-2 before the unbeaten Rebels scored six points in-a-row, including two each from Paul Kerrigan and Colm O'Neill, to lead by 0-9 to 0-5. But a lobbed goal by Colm Cavanagh and another from McGuigan moments late gave the home side a 2-5 to 0-9 interval advantage.

Cork resumed with points from Colm O'Neill, Kerrigan and Daniel Goulding to regain the lead before Owen Mulligan landed his third point to bring the Ulster side level at the beginning of the final quarter.

It remained in the melting pot until Mellon pounced for Tyrone's third major after Aidan Cassidy's initial effort was blocked by Ken O'Halloran in the Cork goal, and the Rebels' misery was compounded when attacker Donncha O'Connor received a straight red card in the closing stages.

Scorers - Tyrone: T McGuigan 1-1, C Cavanagh, R Mellon 1-0 each. O Mulligan 0-3, M Penrose 0-2 (2f), D Harte, C Gormley 0-1, S O'Neill 0-1 each. Cork: C O'Neill 0-5 (3f), D Goulding, P Kerrigan 0-3 each, P O'Neill 0-2, P Kissane, D O'Connor, J Hayes 0-1 each. Tweet

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