TYRONE'S senior ladies side suffered the heartache of an All-Ireland senior semi-final defeat at the hands of Mayo at Breffni Park on Saturday, when despite turning in their best performance for some years, they still came up five points short against the National League champions.
Despite the loss, Tyrone can take enormous pride in their performance, in a game in which only for a few key decisions going against them could have brought a very different outcome for the Red Hand girls. The sin binning of Tyrone goalkeeper Elaine Mallaghan for reacting to goading from Cora Staunton after the Mayo attacker goaled from a penalty after a great initial save by the Galbally shotstopper, six minutes before the break, was a critical turning point in the game. Referee Tony Clarke made the rather dubious penalty call as the Mayo attacker headed for goal and was shepherded and closed out by a number of Tyrone defenders. The Dublin whistler was not happy with their tackling and pointed to the spot.
Staunton, who went on to win the Player of the Match award from sponsors TG4, ran back towards the Tyrone ?keeper after scoring at the second attempt, and shouted in her face in the sort of manner the Dublin side were ambasted for over recent weeks. Mallaghan reached out and caught Staunton around the waist, the Mayo player hitting the deck in rather theatrical fashion and the referee showing the keeper the yellow card. This meant Tyrone were forced to use up two substitutions, the first to get substitute keeper Siobhan McCarney onto the field at the expense of corner-forward Joline Donnelly, and the second to reverse that change once the sin-binned keeper was allowed back into the game. In the meantime, Mayo substitute Diane O?Hora had found the back of the Tyrone net just 40 seconds after the restart, putting her side firmly back in control after Tyrone had ulled level at 1-5 a piece at the break. That score went a long way to killing off the Red and chances in the tie, and despite enjoying plenty of the ball they could not find the goal they so badly needed until the very last minute, as Gemma Begley rifled home a penalty but by then it was too little, too late.
Despite some understandable early nerves, Tyrone started brightly with Joline Donnelly pointing, and they could have had a dream start had her sister Cathy?s shot not been well smothered by the opposition goalkeeper. That seemed to spur Mayo into life, with Staunton opening her account and Fiona McHale and Aoife Herbert also finding the target to put Mayo 0-3 to 0-1 up.
An Eilish Gormley free from distance bounced in front of the Mayo goal and over the bar, and soon after the impressive Begley played a clever ball to Cathy Donnelly on the edge of the square, and the St Macartans player made no mistake as she turned and buried the ball to the back of the net to make it 1-2 to 0-3. Two pointed frees from Staunton drew Mayo level with 20 minutes played,before a fantastic Begley point from wide on the right wing put Tyrone's noses back in front, only to be knocked for six by the penalty incident.
Tyrone didn't let their heads drop and despite being down in numbers, theyfought back to draw level once more through a Begley pointed free and then a left footed point from the Carrickmore sharp-shooter to make it 1-5 a piece. It was inevitable that Mayo would throw everything at Tyrone in the opening stages of the second half and try to capitalise on their numerical advantage for the first four minutes of the second period, but Tyrone will be disappointed with the manner in which the Mayo goal came about. A long ball into the square was spilled by the Red Hands full-back Maura Kelly, the only blot on an otherwise impeccable display by the experienced defender, and O?Hora made no mistake powering the ball home.
The Red Hands rallied and hit a series of wides, those missed opportunities coming back to haunt Tyrone as had they converted the chances it could have been a different result. Kelly was back to her best with a fantastic block on Staunton when a goal seemed a certainty, Fiona McHale pouncing on the loose ball for a point. Begley pointed a free to keep her side in the hunt, but Tyrone were dealt a blow once more as Lynda Donnelly was shown a yellow card for a foul on Staunton, and once again Tyrone were down to 14.
Staunton was typically unerring from the dead ball, and added two morepoints either side of an effort from play, and Mayo captain Christina Heffernan also got in on the scoring act with a fine point. Joline Donnelly finished off a fine Tyrone move with a good score, butStaunton was once again on target from a free to cancel that out. Just as Tyrone got back to a full compliment of players with the re-introduction of Donnelly, who marked her return with a fantastic run and point, Mayo lost their centre-back Martha Carter to the sin bin, with Aoife Herbert following soon after as the Westerners shut out the game.
Despite their pressure, Tyrone could only manage Gemma Begley?s late penalty, and with only 50 seconds left on the clock it was too late for a comeback and Mayo secured their place in the All-Ireland decider with Cork. It was a disappointing end to a fantastic campaign for Tyrone, and when the dust settles and the pain of defeat eases they will clearly see the giant strides forward that have been made this term, with Tyrone showing
that they can once again compete at the very highest level. Players who were previously on the periphery have become key members of the first team, and with time to prepare Tyrone can bounce back as an even stronger force next season.
Match Stats
The scorers
Tyrone: Gemma Begley 1-4 (penalty, 2 frees), Cathy Donnelly 1-0, Joline Donnelly 0-2, Eilish Gormley 0-1 (free), Lynda Donnelly 0-1
Mayo: Cora Staunton 1-8 (penalty, 5 frees), Diane O?Hora 1-1, Fiona McHale
0-2, Aoife Herbert 0-1.
The teams
Tyrone: Elaine Mallaghan, Sinead McLaughlin, Maura Kelly, Carol McGlinchey, Siobhan McGarvey, Lynda Donnelly, Kellie Meehan, Lucy Meehan, Sarah Donnelly, Anne Dooher, Eilish Gormley, Katrina Murphy; Joline Donnelly, Gemma Begley, Cathy Donnelly 1-0.
Subs: Siobhan McCarney for J Donnelly (26), J Donnelly for McCarney (37), Katrina Daly for K Meehan (48), Orla O?Neill for S Donnelly (56)
Mayo: Yvonne Byrne, Sharon McGing, Helena Lohan, Nuala O?Shea, Claire O Hara, Martha Carter, Caroline McGing, Claire Egan, Ciara McDermott, Christina Heffernan, Cora Staunton, Fiona McHale, Lisa Cafferkey, Noelle Tierney, Aoife Herbert Subs: Diane O?Hora for Cafferkey (31), Marcella Heffernan for McGing (43),
Michelle Kelly for Tierney (60).
Referee: Tony Clarke (Dublin)
