Ulster MFC final: Derry 1-12 Tyrone 2-16Tyrone produced an outstanding second half of attacking football to overcome a two point half-time deficit and brush aside Derry to retain the Fr Murray Cup. Conan Canavan, superb throughout, top scored with 1-4 while Logan O’Connor accounted for the other Tyrone goal.A Don Mulholland free, his second of a tightly contested first half, handed Derry a 1-7 to 1-5 lead at the break. The Oakleafers enjoyed the perfect nerve-settling start when midfielder Conor O’Kane took full advantage of a defensive mishap in the Tyrone rearguard to slip the ball into the back of the net.Holders Tyrone edged the opening quarter but, plagued by a number of uncharacteristic wides, trailed 1-2 to 0-1 after the early skirmishes. Conan Canavan’s goal, however, in the 14th minute brought the favourites right back into contention with the dangerous corner forward palming home from close range.Derry stretched their slight soon after courtesy of a two-point free from Neil McDermott, which was immediately responded to by a mighty Canavan two-pointer for Tyrone. Aodhan Corry’s 27th minute point straight after pulled the sides level for the first time in the contest.Kieran Glackin’s men, nonetheless, finished the half strongly with a third McDermott point and a free from Mulholland handing Derry a two-point lead at the interval.Matthew J Daly’s two-pointer shortly after the resumption quickly wiped out Derry’s lead, after that Gerard Donnelly’s Tyrone never looked back. Six unanswered points laid the foundation for victory with Logan O’Connor’s 47th minute goal handing his side an unassailable 2-13 to 1-8 advantage.With Canavan in imperious form, Tyrone produced a scintillating second half with Derry netminder Michael Doherty pulling off a number of top-class saves to deny further goals.Pol McPeake nailed an injury time two-pointer for the Oakleafers, but this was emphatically Tyrone’s night.Derry: Michael Doherty; Dan McEldowney, Conor Sargent, Dara McKaigue; Connail Campbell, Joey Mullan, Jarlath McCartney; Gabriel Gormley, Conor O’Kane (1-0-0); Donnacha Collins, Lorcan Higgins, Neil McDermott (0-1-2, 1f); Tomas Devlin (0-0-2), Tadhg Bradley, Don Mulholland (0-0-3, 3f). Subs: R Devlin (0-0-1) for D Collins (35), U McCloskey for J McCartney (40), D McKenna for C O’Kane (43), P McPeake (0-1-0) for N McDermott (51), C McDonnell for T Devlin (51)Tyrone: Ronan O’Neill, Tiernan McCarron, James Maguire, Ciaran McCrystal, Matthew J Daly (0-1-0), Aodhan Corry (0-0-1), Conor Fyffe (0-0-1), Tomas Gallen, Charlie Meenan (0-1-1), Logan O’Connor (1-0-1), Brian Og McGuckin (0-0-1), Ruairi O’Neill (0-0-1), Conan Canavan (1-1-2, 2f), Matthew F Daly (0-0-1), Vincent Gormley (0-0-1). Subs: C Shevlin for R O’Neill (43), F Quinn for V Gormley (57)Referee: Neil McGeown
Conan Canavan stars as Tyrone produce superb attacking performance to win Ulster minor title
Derry had no answer for the Red Hands’ blistering display after the break
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