Tyrone.......0-23
Wexford.......1-14
By Barry O'Donnell

A THIRD All-Ireland senior title in five seasons now hovers tantalisingly on the horizon as Tyrone continued their incredible resurgence by seeing-off battling Wexford at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.

The final winning margin might suggest this was a regulation success for the hotly-fancied Red Hands yet they were given a huge fright by Jason Ryan's upstarts who came back from the dead having trailed at one stage by nine points.

Ciaran Lyng's bullett of a goal reduced the deficit to two points just past the midway mark in the second half but Tyrone dug deep and ultimately won with something of a flourish.

The outcome sets up a 'battle of the decade' epic with Kerry in the Sam Maguire showdown in three weeks time, the Kingdom themselves having surrendered a huge lead on Sunday in their replayed clash with Cork before sneaking across the winning line.

Tyrone struggled to maintain the consistency and sheer quality of their stunning quarter-final demolition of Dublin, however their impressive scoring tally indicates that they are in fine fettle approaching the September 21st collision with the reigning champions.

As was the case the last day, the vast bulk of their scores arrived from open play, further evidence of their expansive , industrious approach which finds full expression in the vast swaths of Headquarters. In contrast Mickey Harte might not be too pleased to have conceded 1-14, though full credit has to go to the Model County who overcame the loss of their injured talisman Mattie Forde to mount a sterling fightback.

The high-scoring nature of the encounter should also not detract from the defensive diligence and discipline of the likes of Justin McMahon, Ryan McMenamin and Conor Gormley who again turned in accomplished displays in front of the Tyrone posts.

They received ample support as usual from the retreating half-forward unit, led as always by team captain Brian Dooher, and while the midfield partnership of Colin Holmes and Enda McGinley struggled on occasions after the break with the physical prowess of Wexford in that sector, they still got though a trojan amount of work.

The sixteen points evenly spread around the attack underlines the fluent nature of the Red Hands forward thrusts, though special mention has to go to Colm McCullagh who again pulled the strings effectively around the '40' and proved a more than capable stand-in playmaker in the absence of Brian McGuigan.

The Ardboe ace was a late cry-off because of a flu bug yet he did make a significant impact when introduced as a second half sub just as the match was threatening to drift away from Tyrone.

After falling behind to a first minute Lyng point, the Ulster men were quickly into their stride, appearing to pick up seamlessly from where they left off against the Dubs. Wexford sought to deploy Paddy Colfer as a sweeper but Tyrone were still able to cut through them at will. Philip Jordan and Sean Cavanagh (twice, including one free) hoisted over fine points inside the first ten minutes, and while skipper Colm Morris responded for Wexford, they were soon beginning to toil.

Tyrone hit them with a blistering scoring burst, registering eight successive points between the 10th and 24th minute, their movement, method and incisiveness vastly superior to that of their opponents.

Only McCullagh's white flag conversion came from the dead ball, the rest stroked over confidently to put the seal on vibrant passages of top notch attacking play. Dooher, Penrose, McCullagh, Jordan, Cavanagh and the adventurous McMenamin were all on the mark as Tyrone steamrollered 0-11 to 0-2 in front.

An ignominious ending to their memorable Championship campaign looked on the cards for the Yellowbellies but with their defence taking the lead they held Tyrone to a solitary score over the next ten minutes, while hitting four themselves. Adrian Morrissey, Philip Wallace, PJ Banville and Lyng with a close range free gave their fans some reason to be optimistic, despite McGinley's sole riposte at the other end.

Naïve defending in first half stoppage time enabled Cavanagh (free) and the hard-working Tommy McGuigan to slip over scores that looked to halt Wexford's momentum and hand Tyrone a healthy 0-14 to 0-6 interval advantage.

With the previously subdued Matty Forde limping out of the fray at the break with a recurrence of an old hamstring injury (though he was getting little change out of Gormley anyway) Wexford's cause seemed a forlorn one.

Sprightly sub Shane Roche floated over an excellent effort from a narrow angle to give them hope and while McCullagh split the posts with a stylish finish, Tyrone's pace and poise visibly slackened off as the half unfolded.

Lyng hoisted a hat-trick of close range points, including two frees, and Paddy Colfer also registered. Davy Harte surged up the middle to guide one over and McCullagh also slipped over a free after a foul on Cavanagh brought about his early withdrawal from proceedings though a leg injury.

Wexford really needed the boost of a goal to kickstart their challenge and it duly arrived in the 49th minute, Lyng latching onto Brendan Doyle's booming delivery to race clear of the Tyrone defence and hammer a shot high past John Devine.

When he tagged on a close range free shortly afterwards the scoreboard read 0-17 to 1-12 and a frantic finale looked on the cards. From nowhere Tyrone were now in a real dogfight, yet the introduction of Brian McGuigan helped to steady any frayed Red Hand nerves.

They recaptured some of their earlier composure to ride out the storm and with Wexford desperately playing catch-up Tyrone were able to pick them off lethally on the break.

Jordan and McMenamin both rampaged through to notch up precious scores, Ricey with the fist, and from there to the close there were able to keep Wexford at arms length. The razor sharp Penrose twice found space to rifle over points and though Wallace pointed to keep the Model men just about in contention, late breakaway points by Tommy McGuigan and Dooher helped the Red Hands set up the dream final with Kerry later this month. Let the great ticket scramble begin!