The foundations for their win were laid in the first half as goals from Aileen Hackett and Rebecca Mc Crory put the Red Hands in control, while a fantastic move upfield involving Laura Mc Creesh and Kerri Grimes was expertly finished to the net by Aisling O’Kane. In between, Sarah Connolly had fired over four fantastic points, as Tyrone had cruised to a 3-6 to 0-2 lead. Cavan fought back late in the half though, scoring 1-3 without reply to narrow the deficit before the break and to set up an intriguing second half.
It was inevitable that a strong Cavan side, previous winners over Monaghan, were going to come back strongly and so it proved as the Tyrone rearguard was bombarded in the opening fifteen minutes of the half. However, with goalkeeper Sinead Mc Veigh and full-back Laura Mc Gillion in inspired form, they were unable to break through for the scores they needed as the tenacious defence limited their scoring opportunities.
Two Cavan points narrowed the gap, but Tyrone came back strongly as a point each from star attackers Connolly and Mc Creesh maintained Tyrone’s momentum and eased the pressure on the defence. Cavan had strong appeals for a penalty waved away by Derry referee Gerry Mc Crystal, before Tyrone broke downfield and Sarah Connolly finished off a mazy sixty metre run with a fantastic finish as she blasted to the back of the net to reinforce Tyrone’s stranglehold on the tie. Connolly, with her confidence high, pointed from what seemed an impossible angle wide on the right, before substitute Claire Scullion rattled her shot against the crossbar, as the rebound fell for fellow replacement Louise Mc Cann to fire to the net and end the tie as a contest, with Tyrone leading 5-9 to 1-7.
It took Cavan until late in the half to eventually breach the Tyrone defence, as a great finish from substitute Jenny Mc Guigan fired home to narrow the final scoreline, but the final say went to Tyrone as the impressive Mc Creesh set up Rebecca Mc Crory for the closing score and leave Tyrone ahead by 5-10 to 2-07 at the final whistle.
In what was a much improved all-round team performance by Tyrone, the side reaped the rewards of playing as a fluid unit with every player having a key role in proceedings. The defence was rock solid, and kept a lively Cavan attacking unit at bay with their tenacious tackling as they crowded their opponents and denied them scoring chances. In attack, Laura Mc Creesh and Sarah Connolly once again led the line, and were ably assisted by those around them. However the key to the win was the immense performances by midfield duo Neamh Woods and Maeve Cobane. The joint-Captains turned in an awesome display throughout the course of the game, their high workrate seeing them cover almost every blade of grass over the hour as they helped out their defence and were the starting point for numerous Tyrone attacks.

Tyrone Team & Scorers

Sinead Mc Veigh, Rachel Molloy, Laura Mc Gillion, Britta Quinn, Niamh Mullin, Michaela Richie, Maria Donnelly, Neamh Woods, Maeve Cobane, Aisling O’Kane (1-1), Sarah Connolly (1-6), Laura Mc Creesh (0-1), Rebecca Mc Crory (1-2), Kerri Grimes, Aileen Hackett (1-0).
Subs Used: Sarah Owens, Claire Scullion, Louise Mc Cann (1-0)