Tyrone into All-Ireland quarters with big Cavan win

BBC News

15-06-2025

Tyrone cruised into the last-eight of the All-Ireland series by beating Cavan by 0-31 to 0-18 to top Group Four at Brewster Park. The Red Hands were rampant in attack and gave a resounding reaction to their defeat by Mayo at Healy Park a fortnight ago with 11 different scorers.Darren McCurry top scored with 0-9 while Darragh Canavan finished with 0-5. Tyrone finish top of the group beating Donegal on the head to head rule after the Tir Chonaill beat Mayo in Roscommon, and it means they go straight through to the quarter-finals.Malachy O'Rourke's side led 0-18 to 0-7 at the break and hit seven unanswered points in a row including two, two pointers, first from Niall Morgan from a free before Peter Harte raised an orange flag to establish a seven point lead. Rory Brennan and Paddy Lynch who finished with nine points of his own traded two pointers but it was the speed and flair of the Red Hand attack that really was the story of the half despite seeming to struggle early on with their own kick-out as Cavan brought a physicality that was lacking in their Ulster defeat to the same opposition in April. The one blemish on the Tyrone first-half was losing Michael McKernan to injury after just two minutes with the Coalisland attacker exiting the field holding his left arm. Raymond Galligan's side needed a spark in the second half and got it through another Lynch two pointer. McCurry and Cormac O'Reilly traded scores before Tyrone hit six unanswered scores to lead 0-24 to 0-12 with twenty left to play. Arguably the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Conor Meyler, who returned to be play for Tyrone for the first time in almost two years after a horrific run with injury. His last appearance came against Kerry at Croke Park in the last-eight of the All-Ireland in 2023. The Red Hands finished with a flourish as McCurry landed another two pointer while Under 20 footballer of the year Eoin McElholm came off the bench to put the icing on the cake and seal a thirteen point win for his county. Tyrone: Niall Morgan (0-2 2ptf); Cormac Quinn, Padraig Hampsey, Niall Devlin (0-1); Michael McKernan, Rory Brennan (0-3 1 2pt), Kieran McGeary (0-2); Brian Kennedy, Peter Teague; Seanie O'Donnell (0-1), Conn Kilpatrick, Ciaran Daly (0-1); Darren McCurry (0-9 3f, 1 2ptf), Mattie Donnelly (0-4), Darragh Canavan (0-5 1f).Subs: Peter Harte (0-2) for M McKernan (3), Aidan Clarke for N Devlin (30), Eoin McElholm (0-1) for M Donnelly (47), Ben McDonnell for C Kilpatrick (67)Cavan: Liam Brady; Niall Carolan, Killian Brady, Cian Reilly; Brian O'Connell, Ciaran Brady, Padraig Faulkner; Oisin Kiernan, Evan Crowe; Gerard Smith, Dara McVeety, Oisin Brady (0-1); Cormac O'Reilly (0-4), Paddy Lynch (0-9 1 45 3f 2 2ptf), Cian Madden.Subs: Sean McEvoy (0-1) for K Brady (32), Ryan O'Neill (0-2 1 2pt) for O Brady (50), Ruairi Curran (0-1) for O Kiernan (54), Killian Clarke for C Brady (61), Luke Fortune for C Reilly (66)Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon)