Donegal defeat Tyrone in fiery Ulster SFC derby

Donegal made it four wins in a row over Tyrone after edging a fiery Ulster derby by 1-13 to 1-10 in Ballybofey.

Three unanswered points from Michael Murphy in the final 14 minutes settled a physical, bad-tempered affair that saw 10 cards dished out, two of them red.

Martin McElhinney netted in first-half injury-time to help the reigning champions into a 1-8 to 1-6 interval lead, but Tyrone responded after the restart and levelled proceedings for the third time with 20 minutes remaining.

Neil Gallagher and Sean Cavanagh were both sent off within three minutes of each other as tempers flared, but Donegal captain Murphy kept his head and converted three placed ball to book an Ulster quarter-final date with Armagh on June 14.

Despite playing into a strong breeze in the opening half, Donegal got off to a positive start as they converted possession into scores.

Frank McGlynn pointed after 27 seconds and further efforts from Paddy McBrearty, Christy Toye and McElhinney underlined the home side's early dominance.

However, Donegal were caught napping on nine minutes when Tyrone took a quick free and Peter Harte found the unmarked Darren McCurry, who picked his spot past Paul Durcan.

Donegal replied with points from Colm McFadden and McElhinney but the scores then dried up, with McCurry blotting his copybook by missing the target from a close-range free.

Harte was denied by Durcan on 19 minutes after a producing a wonderful piece of skill on the left wing, and the rebound fell nicely for Justin McMahon to kick their first point.

A brace of Sean Cavanagh frees sandwiched a fisted effort from Toye on the half hour, but Tyrone then hit a purple patch and took the lead for the first time.

The Red Hands fired over four points in as many minutes, full-back Ronan McNamee popping up to give them a two-point lead late in the half.

But Donegal responded with a stunning late show. McGlynn passed inside to the unmarked Odhran Mac Niallais and although he was denied by a fine save from Michael O’Neill, the excellent McElhinney reacted quickest and fired to the net.

McFadden added a point in injury time to give Donegal a two-point interval lead, and there were angry exchanges between sets of players and management as the teams headed for the dressing rooms.

Tyrone took just two minutes to restore parity after the restart through points from Cavanagh and Connor McAliskey, but Donegal replied with a brace of their own, McBrearty and Karl Lacey on target.

McBrearty forced another superb save from O’Neill on 48 minutes and McGlynn blazed wide from the rebound, and two further points from McAliskey drew Tyrone level.

But a grandstand finish never came. Instead, both teams became embroiled in a number of off-the-ball skirmishes.

Gallagher picked up his second yellow after a bout of jersey-pulling with Cavanagh, and the Tyrone skipper followed him minutes later after adding a black card to the yellow one already received when he cynically fouled Paddy McGrath.  

Murphy’s treble from placed balls gave Donegal a three-point lead with two minutes remaining. Tyrone rallied, with Colm Cavanagh fisting the ball off the crossbar and Mattie Donnelly shooting narrowly wide, but Donegal held on.

Donegal: P Durcan; P McGrath, E McGee, N McGee; R McHugh, K Lacey (0-1), F McGlynn (0-1); N Gallagher, M McElhinney (1-2); M O’Reilly, O Mac Niallais, C Toye (0-2); P McBrearty (0-2), M Murphy (0-3, 2f, 1 '45), C McFadden (0-2).

Subs: M McHugh for O'Reilly (39), A Thompson for Toye (67), D Walsh for McElhinney (70), D McLaughlin for McFadden (70).

Tyrone: M O’Neill; A McCrory, R McNamee (0-1), C McCarron; R McNabb, J McMahon (0-1), P Harte; C Cavanagh, C McShane; R Brennan, M Donnelly (0-1), B Tierney; D McCurry (1-0), S Cavanagh (0-4, 2f), C McAliskey (0-3).

Subs: P McNulty for McShane (42), T McCann for Tierney (54), M Bradley for McCurry (62), R O'Neill for McAliskey (67).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).