NY GAA: Senior Football final preview: Down v Cork

Ciaran Lyng had a few balls that inexplicably went through his hands, but still turned up with 0-5 while his shot created the second goal and his excellent flick set up the first.

Tyrone had a brilliant regular season, but will be devastated with the early ending. John McGinley, in his last performance in Gaelic Park, did nothing wrong, and his save on Lyng before the goal was superb. We wish him well in San Francisco where he is headed.

Ger McCullough went off injured early which was a huge loss. Joe Bell, Steve Keating and Seamus Skeffington tried hardest.

While the side tried to help the forward line by putting Aiden Power up there at the start, hindsight will say that he should have been left where he had a very good year at wing back. He did return there in the second half, but the game was gone at that point. 

The midfield got going far too late and their influence was minimal. Up front Conor Downey was the best and most active. John Murtagh had his quietest game of the year, and Eamonn Lyons had patches when sent to full forward.

Tyrone: 1 John McGinley, 2 Joe Bell, 3 Gerard McCullough, 4 Sean Coyle, 5 Paul Mulhern, 6 Steve Keating, 7 Seamus Skeffington, 8 Gary Reilly, 9 Eamonn Lyons, 10 Darren Doherty, 11 Conor McNabb, 12 Aiden Power (1-0), 13 Conor Downey (0-2), 14 John Murtagh (0-6), 15 Packie McMullen. Subs: Darren Petit, Conor Skeffington, Cathal Skeffington.

Cork: 1 Evan Byrne, 2 Denis McCarthy, 3 Alan Rafferty, 4 Paddy Harrington, 5 David Crimmins, 6 Kevin Cotter, 7 Jack Hoare, 8 Sean Lordon, 9 Rory Stafford, 10 Nicky Dineen, 11 Rory Woods (0-1), 12 Colin Daly (0-2), 13 Ciaran Lyng (0-5), 14 J.P. Boyle (1-3), 15 Joe O’Neill (1-0). Subs: John Fitzpatrick, Pat Mahoney, Liam Hanley.

Man of the match: David Crimmins (Cork). Active, battling, strong going forward, brilliant display. 

Referee: Lawrence McGrath (Donegal).

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