Donegal 2-10
Tyrone 0-10

Colm McFadden and substitute Ross Wherity both found the net as Donegal opened their Ulster and All-Ireland defences with a surprisingly comfortable victory over Tyrone at a rain-soaked Ballybofey.

For the third year-in-a-row, Jim McGuinness' men proved too strong for the Red Hands, who finished the game with 14 players after Joe McMahon received a second yellow card in the 62nd minute. The Sam Maguire Cup holders led by 1-6 to 0-7 at half-time and, while Tyrone fought back to level early in the second half, the hosts never looked back after Wherity's 49th minute goal, which came within seconds of his introduction.

Despite enduring a torrid spring which culminated in relegation to Division 2 of the Allianz League, Donegal were slicker and more composed. They had just four wides in comparison to the losers' 12. Surprisingly, half of Tyrone's wide tally was accounted for by goalkeeper Niall Morgan, who had a bad day at the office after his memorable kicking display in last month's Allianz League final against Dublin.

Colm McFadden, Michael Murphy and Paddy McBrearty led the Donegal attack superbly as the All-Ireland champions set up an Ulster SFC semi-final against the winners of next weekend's quarter-final between Derry and Down, and sent their saturated supporters home happy.

While Tyrone lined out as selected, Karl Lacey and Mark McHugh didn't start for Donegal and were replaced by Declan Walsh and David Walsh respectively. Tyrone played with the elements in the first half, but fell behind to a second-minute Colm McFadden free which was greeted by a deafening roar for the home fans in the 18,000-strong crowd.

The Red Hands were level almost immediately when Conor McAliskey - who was making his first championship start - collected a lovely pass from Martin Penrose and fired over. As the rain started to lash down, Michael Murphy restored Donegal's lead from a 20-metre free which had been awarded for a push on Paddy McBrearty.

A free about 55 metres from the Donegal posts provided Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan with his first opportunity of a score, but he was off target. The green and golds doubled their advantage in the seventh minute when, after Anthony Thompson was fouled, the ball was brought forward for dissent, and McFadden slotted over from almost the same position as from which he scored his first free.

Donegal were warming to their task nicely and they opened up a 0-4 to 0-1 lead when David Walsh finished off a brilliant move involving Paddy McBrearty and Anthony Thompson. Tyrone had to wait until the 15th minute for their second point from Sean Cavanagh after Stephen O'Neill had won a free out of nothing.

They reduced the deficit to the minimum four minutes later when Morgan - from his second attempt - pointed from just outside the 45-metre line. But McFadden quickly restored Donegal's two-point lead with his third and first from play as Mark McHugh entered the fray in place of Frank McGlynn, who carried a hamstring injury into the game.

By now, Tyrone were starting to take a grip at midfield and they narrowed the gap again when Stephen O'Neill scored an outrageous point off his leg peg, despite being given little room by his marker Paddy McGrath. They regained parity in the 25th minute when rampaging wing forward Mattie Donnelly got a glimpse of goal but opted to take his point.

Colm Cavanagh then took on Anthony Thompson and scored a booming point to give the visitors the lead for the first and only time, 0-6 to 0-5, but that was wiped out in the 32nd minute when McFadden scored his eighth ever championship goal after running on to McBrearty's knockdown from Michael Murphy's long delivery in from a free.

Murphy then measured a 50-metre free brilliantly to propel Donegal back into a three-point lead for the second time. Mattie Donnelly responded with his second point before Leo McLoone became the first Donegal player to be booked.

Tyrone had a chance to get to within a point just before the break when Mattie Donnelly was fouled to the right of goal, but Stephen O'Neill's free struck the post and went wide.

Both teams made changes for the second half with Dermot Carlin replacing PJ Quinn in the Tyrone full back line and Marty O'Reilly coming in for Ryan Bradley on the Donegal team. The half almost got off to a sensational start when Mark Donnelly was grounded inside the large parallelogram, but referee Joe McQuillan waved away penalty appeals and Tyrone had to settle for a point after the ball was worked back to Justin McMahon.

Morgan missed two scoring attempts (one '45) either side of an equalising point from Sean Cavanagh, which was given despite Donegal claiming his high shot was wide.

The home side then made three substitutes in quick succession which saw Marty McElhinney, Karl Lacey and Ross Wherity replace David Walsh, Anthony Thompson and Leo McLoone. In what was his first championship appearance, the lanky Wherity made an immediate impact by palming home Donegal's second goal after Paddy McBrearty cut in from the right sideline and laid it on a plate for him.

The margin was now back to three points, 2-6 to 0-9, and Tyrone's frustration increased when Mark Donnelly registered their 12th wide. Entering the last 20 minutes, Donegal made the push for home with two quick-fire points. The excellent McBrearty fisted the first after taking a return pass from Rory Kavanagh before Michael Murphy cut inside the tiring Tyrone defence to land his first from play.

The play was becoming increasingly scrappy as Joe McMahon picked up a yellow card for using his studs to free himself from Ross Wherity's grasp. Colm Cavanagh was lucky to escape with just a yellow card for a high tackle on Rory Kavanagh, but seconds later, McMahon did see red for a needless trip on Michael Murphy in front of the Tyrone goal.

Five points in arrears and a man down for the last 11 minutes (including three minutes of stoppage time), Tyrone's hopes were all but ended and Rory Kavanagh hammered another nail into their coffin with his first point. At the opposite end, Mark McHugh made a heroic block to deny Peter Harte a goal before Donegal swept up the field and tagged on their 10th point through the elusive McBrearty.

There were shades of last year's encounter when Paul Durcan tipped over Martin Penrose's injury-time effort for a consolation score - Tyrone's first in 33 minutes - as the impressive Tir Chonaill men won with plenty to spare.

Donegal: P Durcan, P McGrath, N McGee, F McGlynn, E McGee, Declan Walsh, A Thompson, R Kavanagh (0-1), N Gallagher, R Bradley, L McLoone, David Walsh (0-1), P McBrearty (0-2), M Murphy (0-3, 2f), C McFadden (1-3, 2f). Subs: M McHugh for McGlynn, M O'Reilly for Bradley, M McEhinney for David Walsh, K Lacey for Thompson, R Wherity (1-0) for McLoone.

Tyrone: N Morgan (0-1, f), PJ Quinn, C Clarke, C McCarron, Justin McMahon (0-1), Mattie Donnelly (0-2), C Gormley, C Cavanagh (0-1), Joe McMahon, P Harte, S Cavanagh (0-2, 1f), Mark Donnelly, M Penrose, S O'Neill (0-1), C McAliskey (0-1). Subs: P McNeice for McAliskey, D Carlin for Quinn, A Cassidy for Justin McMahon, K Coney for Mark Donnelly, A McCrory for Carlin (blood), K Coney (0-1) for Mark Donnelly.

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan). Tweet

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