TYRONE.....................0-13
Donegal....................1-11
By Barry O'Donnell
NEW Year cheer and optimism, generated by a string of eye-catching scorelines, was punctured somewhat on Saturday evening as Tyrone suffered their first competitive defeat of 2010 and more pertinently saw their most potent attacking weapon Stephen O'Neill stretchered off.
Red Hand supporters won't have lost too much sleep at the failure to collect another McKenna Cup but they will anxiously await the medical bulletins on O'Neill's welfare after he sustained a serious elbow injury in the second half at Brewster Park.
Fears that he could be sidelined until the eve of the Ulster Championship will have diluted the feel good factor sweeping the county in the early weeks of January, and when Donegal's David Walsh slotted home a dramatic winning goal in injury time it merely compounded Tyrone's miserable evening.
This was an enjoyable showdown on a biting cold Enniskillen night, though not the attacking spectacle the same two counties served up in the group phase of the competition ten days earlier in Ballybofey.
Tyrone's young terriers, after enjoying a smooth introduction to top flight senior football in previous games, will have learnt a few salutary lessons against a teak-tough, imposing Tir Connail challenge but the weekend contest will assist their development much more than any facile triumphs over hapless opposition.
The likes of Kyle Coney and Peter Harte didn't shirk their responsibilities as the match built to a frenetic conclusion, though ably assisted by more experienced colleagues such as Dermot Carlin, Conor Gormley, Joe McMahon and the man of the match Martin Penrose.
Penrose, a hat-trick hero in the last meeting with Donegal, slotted over the first point from open play after robbing Paddy McDaid of possession, which added to O'Neill's third minute free as Tyrone enjoyed a promising beginning.
However holders Donegal were soon into their stride with Leo McLoone looking sharp in their half-forward line. Neil Gallagher swung over a fine effort from 40m to set the holders on their way and then when McLoone was twice impeded in quick succession, Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden slipped over the close range frees to give their side the slight edge.
O'Neill and Murphy then exchanged frees as the match started in expansive, enterprising fashion, the accurate incisive passes of the likes of Coney catching the eye, as were the dynamic bursts from deep of Carlin.
The nippy Penrose darted onto Niall McKenna's short pass to fire over the leveller once more approaching the midway stage of the first half.
The sides now began exchanging scores on a regular basis as the tempo increased. David Walsh's clever swivel and tidy finish was cancelled out when Harte benefited from good work by Penrose and O'Neill to cleverly split the posts.
Joe McMahon then popped up on the right flank to accept O'Neill's delivery and fire over only for the fleet-footed Adrian Hanlon, a constant scourge for his first half marker Colm McGurk, to slip away and blast over.
It was 0-7 apiece after O'Neill and McLoone swapped scores but in the run-up to the interval Tyrone began to assert themselves. Martin Swift intercepted a poor Donegal clearance to tee-up Tommy McGuigan for the go-ahead point, and then Carlin pounced on a poor kick-out by Paul Durcan to send Coney through to send a rasper over the top and so give the Red Hands a 0-9 to 0-7 cushion at half-time.
Murphy, such a thorn in Tyrone's side the previous week, was being well-shackled this time around by the defence though he should have done better than drill rashly off the mark when Walsh set him clear shortly after the restart with the goal gaping.
Coney's sliderule pass enabled Penrose to dart through and finish with authority on his left peg and when O'Neill converted his third free of the match in the 41st minute Tyrone had opened a four point gap and looked well set to push on for victory.
Their evening took a turn for the worse as O'Neill went down in a seemingly innocuous tackle but the scream he let out in doing so suggested that it was a serious setback. Play was held up for a total of ten minutes as the multi-All-Star winner was attended to by paramedics on the pitch, before being stretchered into the waiting ambulance.
Understandably the action was somewhat laboured and lethargic when it resumed, Tyrone in particular struggling to re-establish their earlier fluency and cohesion. Donegal took full advantage of their opponents sloppiness to gradually gnaw away at the deficit.
Eoin Wade found Hanlon to slot over the first of four unanswered Donegal points and when McFadden landed a 20m free and Murphy converted from an underhit Curran goal-kick the gap was down to one.
With Tyrone going a full twenty-fine minutes without registering a white flag, Donegal continued to press and Walsh eventually hit the equaliser.
Ten minutes of additional time were added on by referee Jimmy McKee, who was overly-fussy throughout, and after missing an easier opportunity Tyrone sub Niall Gormley put over a wonderful point from an acute angle to ease his side in front with two minutes remaining.
It seemed that Tyrone might cling on but there was to be one final twist as Gallagher's huge punt caused confusion in the Tyrone square and Walsh took advantage to stab a shot into the net past Curran. Tyrone did respond through a Cassidy point but that was to prove the last kick of the match.
