McKenna Cup final: Tyrone regain crown as Orchard pay the penalty
January 19, 2019
Tyrone's Declan McClure and Brendan Donaghy of Armagh. ©INPHO/Philip McGowan.
Tyrone 0-16
Armagh 0-14
Tyrone have been crowned Dr McKenna Cup champions for the seventh time in eight years and 17th time in all after edging out Armagh in a typically niggly affair between the great rivals before a bumper attendance of 11,318 at the Athletic Grounds.
Darren McCurry posted 0-9 for the visitors as Kieran McGeeney’s charges were left to rue a missed penalty by Rory Grugan with five minutes of normal time remaining. The groans from the home crowd were audible when Grugan skied his spot-kick at a time when Tyrone were clinging on to a two-point lead.
Despite the final being a warm-up for the Allianz League, referee Joe McQuillan had his hands full and brandished red cards to Armagh duo James Morgan and Aaron Kay as well as Tyrone’s Ronan McNamee in the closing stages. The restricted handpass rule wasn't implemented after Central Council delegates had voted to ditch it for the Allianz League earlier today.
The hosts raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead after 11 minutes thanks to two Niall Grimley placed balls, a Grugan free and a Stefan Campbell effort from play after Darren McCurry had opened the scoring for Tyrone from a free.
McCurry and Grimley traded further points before the Red Hands scored five-in-a-row per Cathal McShane, Niall Sludden (two), McCurry and Declan McClure to take a 0-7 to 0-5 lead. Another Grimley free left the minimum in it before two McCurry frees helped Mickey Harte’s men to a 0-9 to 0-6 interval lead.
Tyrone's Peter Harte lifts the McKenna Cup. ©INPHO/Philip McGowan.
Grugan and McCurry exchanged frees on the restart, while Stefan Campbell notched his second from a free before Niall Morgan came up from goal to float over a free and restore the Red Hands’ three-point advantage, 0-11 to 0-8.
A Grimley free was cancelled out by a Ronan McNamee score from play before unanswered points from Jamie Clarke, Rian O’Neill and Grugan (free) brought the Orchard County level on 0-12 each with 14 minutes to go.
Two McCurry frees, either side of a second yellow card for Armagh corner back Morgan following a challenge on Darragh Canavan, put Tyrone back in front before they had a major let-off in the 65th minute when Grugan drove a penalty over the bar after the ball had been picked off the ground inside the small parallelogram.
As the tension mounted, Ronan McNamee and Aaron Kay both received red cards before McCurry popped over his ninth point from a free. Six minutes of injury-time were signalled and Grugan left it a one-point game once again from a free. Grimley then missed the chance to level before a Cathal McShane free from an offensive mark sealed Tyrone’s seventh title in eight years after last year’s blip against Donegal.
Tyrone - N Morgan (0-1f); C McLaughlin, R McNamee (0-1), L Rafferty; T McCann, A McCrory, M Cassidy; C Grugan, D McClure (0-1); N Sludden (0-2), R O’Neill, C McCann; D McCurry (0-9, 8f), P Harte, C McShane (0-2, 1m). Subs: C Meyler for C McCann, M Donnelly for M Cassidy, D Canavan for R O’Neill, K McGeary for L Rafferty, K Coney for C Grugan.
Armagh - B Hughes; C Mackin, A McKay, J Morgan; R McCaughley, B Donaghy, G McCabe; S Sheridan, N Grimley (0-5, 4f, 1'45); J Hall, R Grugan (0-5, 4f, 1pen), R McShane; S Campbell (0-2), R O’Neill (0-1), J Clarke (0-1). Subs: J McElroy for B Donaghy, J Og Burns for R McShane, C Vernon for G McCabe, J Duffy for J Clarke, R McQuillan for J Hall.
Referee - J McQuillan.
