A strong second half second-half performance from Tyrone turned over a
half time to leave Sligo with their third defeat in this year’s Allianz Hurling
League Div 2B winning by 10 points at Markievicz Park om Sunday.
Playing with the wind breeze, Sligo had the better of the first half and
led by two points 0-7 to 1-2 at half time.
They will look back however on a missed opportunities as, repeating the
experience of the previous games against Donegal and Meath, they registered 17
wides, 11 in that first-half.
For Tyrone, the reliability of free taker Dermot Begley was critical with
eight conversions that set the tone for the day.
Sligo had a strong start and opened up a 0-5 to 0-0 ahead by the 11th
minute, with Conor Hanniffy, Joe McHugh and Andrew Kilcullen on the mark to establish
a strong base
But Sligo only scored twice more in the first-half as Tyrone got into
the game when Lorcan Devlin with the first goal of the game after 23 minutes.
Tyrone set out their intent with the wind after half time to convert the
first five points of the second half to turn the game their way.
Their second goal, converted by Brian McGurk after Sligo goalkeeper Luke
Comerford saved a long range effort from Chris Kearns' put space between the
sides that Sligo really looked like they could recover.
While Sligo kept plugging away – with two points from Diarmuid Hanniffy and
one from Eddie O'Donoghue, they ended up being outscored 1-13 to 0-4 to end up
10 points behind at the final whistle– 2-15 to 0-11
Sligo – L Comerford; N Kilcullen, J Weir, K O'Kennedy; R Molloy, R McHugh, D
Cawley; F Connolly, E Comerford; C Hanniffy (0-1), J McHugh (0-1), D Hanniffy (0-4);
T Cawley (0-1), A Kilcullen (0-3,1f); E O'Donoghue (0-1).
Subs: D Hanley for Comerford (57), C Flynn for Molloy (57), F Moylan for
Cawley (65), L O'Kelly-Lynch for C Hanniffy (68), D Keaveny for Weir (70).
Tyrone – C McElhatton; O McKee, R Devlin, D Begley (0-8, 8f); R Slane, C Kearns
(0-1), C Devlin; SP McKernan, B McGurk (1-0); J McCann, C Grogan (0-3), S
Duffin (0-1); M Little (0-1, f), L Devlin (1-0), L Dunphy.
Subs: T Morgan for McKernan (52), F Devlin for Little (52), A Crossan (0-1)
for Dunphy (62).
Referee – J Connors (Donegal)