Tyrone were staring down the barrel of a gun at the start of this month with their Division 1 FL status in serious doubt but they have bounced back in spectacular fashion.
What makes their comeback even more pleasing from a Red Hand point of view is that they backed up their victory over All-Ireland SFC champions Kerry with another polished display against Monaghan today.
Consistency has not been their calling card since landing All-Ireland honours in 2021 but successive wins – and more importantly backing up the defeat of the Kingdom – will please joint bosses Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan.
With man-of-the-match Brian Kennedy in top form at midfield, the visitors started the better in Clones with a penalty from Peter Harte and a cracking goal via corner-back Cormac Quinn helping them into a three-point lead at the break (2-5 to 0-8).
The game took a sharp turn for the worse for Vinny Corey’s Monaghan, however, as they lost both Jack McCarron and Killian Lavelle to red cards in the opening minutes of the new half.
Having failed to make numerical advantage count against Galway a fortnight ago, the boot was now on the other foot and the Farney men were forced to regroup but they never looked like causing the visitors any real problems down the home stretch as it finished 2-15 to 0-13.
With Darragh Canavan and Darren McCurry dazzling up front – and veteran Mattie Donnelly back to his best – Tyrone kicked on and impressively wound up with 1-13 from play while Corey will be now hoping for a favour from their Ulster counterparts if they are to retain Division 1 status yet again.
Monaghan (4 points) will need Tyrone (6 points) to do them a turn against Armagh (5 points) next week while they will also need to get their own house in order by defeating Mayo when they make the trip to Castlebar next Sunday.
Another fascinating finale in store!
