Tyrone 1-20 Cavan 0-7: Red Hands cruise into Super 8s

Tyrone are through to the Super 8s, after beating Cavan 1-20 to 0-7 in Clones.

They may have taken the scenic route, but 2018 All-Ireland finalists Tyrone are back in the big time. What is even more worrying for Roscommon, Cork and Dublin, who they will face over the coming weeks, is that Mickey Harte's charges have used the qualifiers to hit top form.

The Red Hands simply blew Cavan out of the water in St Tiernach's, impressively cruising to a thoroughly deserved 16-point victory.

It did not take long for Tyrone to find their feet. While the sides were level, 0-2 apiece after Gearoid McKiernan's 13th-minute free, the tide was only moving in one direction.

Tyrone soon began to make their dominance count on the scoreboard.

Niall Morgan, having misfired last weekend in Newbridge, had his scoring boots on. The goalkeeper moved up the field to slot a number of frees. They were finding scores from play too, as Colm Cavanagh, Niall Sludden and Darren McCurry finished off well-worked moves. Patiently waiting to find a gap in the Cavan rearguard, Tyrone were ruthlessly efficient with their accuracy when chances presented themselves.

Indeed, McCurry fired off three points in the space of five minutes to contribute to seven consecutive Tyrone points, as they built up a 0-12 to 0-4 half-time lead.

It was more of the same after the break. The Breffni County went on a run of over 20 minutes without troubling the umpires at the Tyrone goals, as they could not find a score.

Cathal McShane grew more and more into the game, fielding high balls and invariably sending it over the bar.

In the 62nd minute, Tyrone finally struck for a goal. A high ball landed in on top of Ben McDonnell, the newly-introduced substitute fielded and tucked it into the Cavan net.

Tyrone eventually won by 16, but in truth it could have been more. A late black card to Peter Harte was the one thing to dampen proceedings from a Tyrone perspective, as his third such dismissal of the year means he'll miss next week's trip to Roscommon.

They now look ahead to the Super 8s over the coming weeks, having breathed fire into their season. After delivering the most impressive performance of the season to date, Tyrone are major players in the All-Ireland conversation.

Cavan's positive 2019 campaign ends on a sour note, but they can be satisfied with the progress made in Mickey Graham's first year at the helm.