Tyrone 6-14

St. Raymond's 1-6

TYRONE returned to senior football after a five year absence with an emphatic win over St. Raymond's in the Junior A final last Sunday.

Going undefeated throughout the season (they had three draws with eight wins), they added the Charlie Sweeney Cup to the John Brady Knockout that they won in August. A superb team display was punctuated by a four goal salvo by Barry McElduff that trumpeted their leaving of the junior ranks.

Tyrone stormed out the gate with a brace in the first two minutes from John Kelly. Add to the equation the sending off of Philip Wickham with a straight red for an infraction in the corner and it was a terrible opening for St. Raymond's.

Tyrone added a free from Pakie McMullan and a driving score by Gary Reilly to make it a four point lead before their opponents finally settled. While still on the defensive, Keith Hennessy, Robert Murphy and Shay Furlong started to win the exchanges for the next 10 minutes, while the forwards who were now playing five on six put a point on the board, with Donie Broderick firing over.

They needed more. It did not arrive, and McElduff then finished the game as a contest in the space of five minutes as he put on a record breaking display. A solo run by Cathal Skeffington who stormed forward ended with his fisted pass being added to by McElduff, who finished it to the net.

He drove home his second major within a minute, a soccer style drive, and after a Kelly point two more goals by the new Big Mac Attack gave Tyrone the Charlie Sweeney title.

His fourth was a bullet to the top corner of the net and it stamped his man of the match display for that 10 minute outburst alone. It was now a game akin to the hurling final in Ireland. It was 4-5 to 0-4 at the short whistle, with Raymond's playing for respect in the second half.

They started on the road to redemption immediately with a four player move that ended with Aiden Ryan blasting to the net in the first minute. They followed it with a Broderick point when he took a 52 and converted.

They were now pressing Tyrone back, but it was hard to decipher if it was a result of better play or a relaxation of the leaders due to the nine point advantage. McMullan and Richie McMahon swapped scores, but Tyrone extended their lead with points from Gary Reilly and McMullan again.

The game coasted after that point with Tyrone scoring at their ease. Paul Tierney came off the bench to snatch their fifth goal and points rolled over. When Marty Hughes poached goal number six the crowd cheered wildly for the new champions.

Stars all over in this one for Tyrone. They have a dominant defense with the Skeffingtons, Martin Hamill and Ryan Canavan all doing extremely well. Gary Reilly was outstanding in the middle, with Barry McElduff, John Kelly, Pakie McMullan and subs Paul Tierney and Eunon Meyler all having major roles up front.

St. Raymond's had Dennis Kilkenny, Shay Furlong, Robert Murphy, who had a brilliant day on a tough afternoon, Donie Broderick and Aiden Ryan as their best players.

Questions on the legality of a player before the game were unusual and consequently unfounded. He is clearly shown as a sanction on the Croke Park list but was not on the New York list.

He did not influence the game in a winning or losing direction, but tried his hardest on the field. A club recently was thrown out of the New York championship when the same claim was made, that a player was a sanction although not on a New York list.

He actually left his game for an extended period with a black eye and did not have a major influence on his contest. While the combination of the junior division quite possibly wouldn't have beaten Tyrone in this outing, such was their skill level, an asterisk certainly remains.

Tyrone: 1 Damien Corrigan, 2 Sean Coyle, 3 Gerard McCullough, 4 Cathal Skeffington, 5 Ryan Canavan, 6 Martin Hamill, 7 Seamus Skeffington, 8 Gary Reilly (0-3), 9 John McMullan (0-1), 10 Caolan Tierney (0-1), 11 Pakie McMullan (0-4), 12 John Kelly (0-2), 13 Conor Skeffington, 14 Garth McCrory, 15 Barry McElduff (4-0). Subs: Paul Tierney (0-2), Sean Hall, Sean Conway, Marty Hughes (1-0). St. Raymond's: 1 Ryan Sullivan, 2 Shay Furlong, 3 Dennis Kilkenny, 4 Philip Wickham, 5 Keith Hennessy, 6 Robert Murphy, 7 James Huvane, 8 Richie McMahon (0-1), 9 Aiden Ryan, 10 Niall Callanan (0-1), 11 Donie Broderick (0-4), 12 Darren Reilly, 13 Danny Murphy, 14 Peter Downey, 15 Mike Creegan. Subs: Thomas Huvane, Stephen O'Shea, Brian McNaughton.

Referee: Jimmy Naughton (Roscommon).

Man of the match: Barry McElduff (Tyrone).

Four goals. No disputing the award on a brilliant team day.