Tyrone 4-10 Donegal 2-7
By Frank Craig
TYRONE booked their place in the TG4 Ulster SFC final with a comprehensive nine-point win over Donegal in Lifford.
In a lopsided opening period, last term’s intermediate All-Ireland winners built up a nine-point lead thanks in large to a brace of goals from the excellent Chloe McCaffrey (above)
Katie Dowds and Shauna McFadden had kicked Donegal 0-2 to 0-1 up on eight minutes but it was all one-way traffic after that as the likes of Aoife Horisk, Sorcha Gormely (3) and McCaffrey helped propel the Red Hands out to 2-5 for the half.
Tyrone’s ability to cut through the middle again reaped the ultimate reward on the restart as Slaine McCarroll and McCaffrey, completing her hat-trick, again rattled the net.
Evelyn McGinley did raise a green flag for the hosts at the three-quarter hour mark and Ciara McGarvey also grabbed a second Donegal goal late on.
Still, Tyrone comfortably kept the hosts at arm’s length throughout to deservingly progress to meet champions Armagh in the decider.
Scorers – Tyrone: C McCaffrey 3-1; S McCarroll 1-2; S Gormley 0-3; N O’Neill 0-3 (3f); A Horisk 0-1.
Donegal: T Hegarty and C McGarvey 1-0 each; S McFadden 0-2; K Dowds, B McLaughlin, C Brennan, E Gallagher and E McGinley 0-1 each.
TYRONE: L Kane; J Lyons, G McKenna, E Quinn; C Canavan, M Corrigan, C Campbell; M Mallon, A McHugh; Sl McCarroll, C McCaffrey, E McCanny; N O’Neill, S Gormley, A Horisk. Subs: C McNamee for McCanny (46), C Colton and M Maxwell for McCaffrey and Corrigan (both 58).DONEGAL: C Friel; N Carr, E McGinley, S McFeely; T Hegarty, F McManamon, S McFadden; U Boyle, R Rodgers; B McLaughlin, K Dowds, N Boyle; S White, J McFadden, C McGarvey. Subs: E Gallagher for McManamon (43), M Bennett for J McFadden (46), C Brennan for McLaughlin (49).
REFEREE: M Farrelly (Cavan).
TG4 Ulster Junior Championship
Antrim 4-21 London 1-6
TG4 Ulster Intermediate Championship semi-final
Monaghan 0-13 Down 0-8
