tyrone.....................................................2-15

Cavan.........................................................1-11

TYRONE took delivery of the Inter-County Cup for the fourth successive season with a victory that owed much to economy in attack, coupled with hard graft in defence, at Clontibret on Tuesday.

The final scoreline tends to veil what was a determined Cavan challenge and indeed Tyrone defenders had to show agility on at least four occasions to block down Breffni shots near the Red Hand goalmouth.

Superbly marshalled by Greencastle's Conor Carson at the heart of their defence, Tyrone played solidly as a cohesive team unit.

Peter Devlin and Steven Curran had a battle on their hands but they fared quite well against a strong Cavan midfield duo in Eugene Keating and James McEnroe.

At the business end of the park, the holders proved adept at stringing nice moves together and picking off tidy scores into the bargain with Martin Rodgers, Kyle Coney and Paul McAleer giving the Breffni defence a torrid time.

Paddy McNiece, sub Jamie Donnelly, captain Sean Robinson and several others played their part too in a very pleasing team effort overall.

The holders began brightly with the wind behind them and they had galloped six in front after 12 minutes, Martin Rodgers landing three fine scores, with McAleer swinging over both from play and a placed ball and Ardboe's Kyle Coney curling over the other one.

Rory Dunne got the Breffni side off the mark with a point on 15 minutes, closely followed by a Keating point but Coney and Rodgers knocked over tasty points apiece in response.

Tyrone defenders did well to charge down a Fergal Tackney goalbound shot as Cavan counter-attacked and the Red Hands moved swiftly up field for Paddy McNiece to fire over the top.

Adrian Cole notched a point for the Breffni team and Tyrone full-back Carson intercepted a second Tackney goal attempt not long after.

An intricate Red Hand move involving Coney, Donnelly, Rodgers and McAleer finished with McAleer netting two minutes from half-time, Coney complementing this with a super point one minute later.

Cavan battled back courtesy of Barry Tully and Barry Watters points but they still had an eight-point gap to make up when coming out for the wind-assisted second half.

James McEnroe had a shot blocked down as he tried to grab an early Breffni goal two minutes after the restart, this following a Conor Smith point as the highly regarded full-forward managed to find a shooting angle.

Smith tagged on a follow-up point on 36 minutes but a McAleer point after 42 minutes opened Tyrone's second half account at a timely moment.

Cole claimed a point for Cavan but Tyrone hit back in style with Coney, Donnelly and Rodgers carving up the Cavan defence and McAleer did the rest with a well-placed goal finish midway through the half.

Smith squandered a goal opportunity as Cavan drove forward with some menace but the Virginia man made amends when set up by Cole on 47 minutes, Smith drilling home in Cavan's only goal of the game.

Keating scored a free and a point from play but McAleer did precisely the same and it was clear that Tyrone were not going to wilt by any manner of means.

Cavan soldiered on but a Keating point was all they could muster in the closing stages, Tyrone wrapping victory up with Donnelly and Gavin Treanor both confidently landing points.

Tyrone are now eyeing up an All-Ireland semi-final fixture with Munster champions Cork the weekend after this as they strive to carry on the good work at national level.

The Ulster McDevitt Cup(U-14) final replay, meanwhile, between Ballygawley St Ciaran's and Bessbrook St Paul's has been pencilled in for next Wednesday, March 28, at Scotstown(12 noon).