Tyrone ease to victory over Lake men

As was widely expected, Tyrone extended their unbeaten record in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League with an unflattering nine-point win over Westmeath in Omagh last Saturday night. But the visitors will take heart from a spirited display in the final half-hour, when a mauling had looked likely after 40 minutes. The home side may have lost a number of marquee players to 'father time' in recent months, but their team - and, even more significantly, their bench - is still sprinkled with quality performers. The crowd of 3,176 (well over 3,000 of whom were supporting the winners) was treated to some bouts of good football (mainly from Tyrone), but Denis Glennon's 24th-minute introduction gave all fans and the watching television audience regular glimpses of the Tyrrellspass man's talents. His return to 70-minute action will be crucial to Pat Flanagan's charges fight to avoid an immediate return to Division 3 as, of course, will be the decisions taken by the Garrycastle contingent when their glorious club campaign ends (barring a draw) next Saturday. While Mark Gorman, whose eventful eight-minute cameo ended with a red card in the 70th minute, spurned a great late chance of finding the net, the wide count of 15 to 4 in Tyrone's 'favour' is an indication that the outcome was never really in doubt, despite another gutsy and wholehearted Westmeath shift. A lovely night in Healy Park was ideal for football and Tyrone got off to a flier when the distinctive figure of Owen Mulligan popped up for a point with less than half a minute played. A '45' from Kieran Martin dropped short in the third minute while a great catch by John Heslin was wasted. Both goalkeepers had routine shots to deal with before Tyrone doubled their lead in the 12th minute, Kyle Coney kicking a wonderful point, moments after his opposite number, Alan Giles had shot weakly at the other end. Mickey Harte's men took control at this juncture with four unanswered points in an 11-minute spell via Kyle Coney (two - both outstanding finishes), Martin Penrose (a free after an uncharacteristic lapse when Gary Connaughton handled the ball on the ground outside the box) and overlapping wing-back Damian McCaul. A few minutes after being sprung from the bench, Denis Glennon stamped his class on proceedings with a neat point to open his side's account. Peter Harte was prominent all through at centre half-back and he was to the fore again before Micheal Curley pulled down Patrick McNiece close to goal in the 31st minute, with Harte's decisive spotkick being the first time Gary Connaughton was beaten in over 150 minutes of league action. In added time, John Heslin (whose return from Australia has undoubtedly been of enormous help to his county's cause at both senior and U21 level) popped over a free, to leave the scoreboard at the interval reading: Tyrone 1-6 Westmeath 0-2. The gap widened to a worrying ten points a little over 20 seconds after the resumption of play, Tyrone profiting from sloppy Westmeath defending, with Mark Donnelly teeing up Martin Penrose for the white and reds' second goal. When points ensued from Owen Mulligan and Martin Penrose (both frees) a rout looked a distinct possibility. However, Mickey Harte started to spring players from his star-studded bench and this disruption, combined with the visitors' resilience, meant that the Lake County 'won' out in the time remaining by 0-6 to 0-3. Points from Denis Glennon (a classy score), Ger Egan (following great fielding by John Heslin) and substitute Ronan Foley (an opportunist effort) gave the handful of travelling fans a lift. Kyle Coney and Denis Glennon traded quality points, as did David Glennon and Tyrone's former All Star, Sean Cavanagh. The latter player then shot an untypically wild wide (his team's 13th). In the closing stages, Kieran Martin pointed (after Mark Gorman's close-range shot was smothered by Pascal McConnell's imposing frame), with another impressive Tyrone sub, Jonathan Lafferty rounding off match scoring with a tidy point. There was still time for Mark Gorman to pick up a second yellow card, bringing to an end a decisive Tyrone performance, but nonetheless a game which saw a continuance of Westmeath's resilient attitude even in adversity. Scorers - Tyrone: M Penrose 1-2 (0-2f), K Coney 0-4, P Harte 1-0 (pen), O Mulligan 0-2 (1f), J Lafferty, D McCaul and S Cavanagh 0-1 each. Westmeath: Denis Glennon 0-3, David Glennon, K Martin, R Foley, G Egan and J Heslin (f) 0-1 each. Tyrone: Pascal McConnell; Aidan McCrory, Justin McMahon, P.J. Quinn; Cathal McCarron, Peter Harte, Damian McCaul; Niall McKenna, Joe McMahon; Ronan McNabb, Mark Donnelly, Patrick McNiece; Owen Mulligan, Martin Penrose, Kyle Coney. Subs used: Colm Cavanagh for Joe McMahon (h/t), Conor Gormley for McCaul (44), Sean Cavanagh for Penrose (49), Jonathan Lafferty for Mulligan (52), Stephen McNulty for Quinn (55). Westmeath: Gary Connaughton; Micheal Curley, Kieran Gavin, Kevin Maguire; Daniel McDermott, Paul Sharry, Aidan Finnan; John Heslin, Paul Bannon; Kieran Martin, Ger Egan, Philip Sheridan; Alan Giles, Michael Ennis, David Glennon. Subs used: Denis Glennon for Giles (24), Ronan Foley for Sheridan (26), Ben Moran for Maguire (62), Mark Gorman for Egan (62), John Egan for Ennis (66). Referee: Joe Curley (Meath).