Football League Division One: Tyrone, Donegal and Monaghan lose openers

Indiscipline was a feature of Tyrone's game in Tuam as the Red Hands finished with 12 players

Ulster's Division One sides Tyrone, Donegal and Monaghan all suffered narrow defeats in their Football League openers on Sunday.

Damien Comer's early goal helped Galway beat Tyrone 1-9 to 0-8 as the Reds Hands' finished with 12 men.

Kerry beat Donegal in a 2-18 to 3-14 thriller at Killarney as the visitors had Nathan Mullins and Tony McCleneghan red carded.

Mayo edged out Monaghan 0-13 to 0-12 after a controversial finish at Clones.

Monaghan boss Malachy O'Rourke remonstrated with referee David Gough after the final whistle following the Meath whistler's decision not to award his team a free after an apparent foul on Dessie Ward in injury-time.

The sides were level when the referee instead awarded Mayo a free out and the beaten All-Ireland finalists in 2016 and 2017 moved upfield to hit the winning point as Paddy Durcan was on target.

Galway hold off Red Hands in niggly contest

At Tuam, Comer's goal after only 15 seconds helped Galway take an early five-point lead and left the Red Hands chasing the game for the remainder of the contest.

Tyrone hit back with scores from Tiernan McCann and Connor McAliskey, but lost attacker Darren McCurry to a straight red card ten minutes before the break.

Cathal McShane added another quality score for the Red Hands, and at the interval, they trailed by three, 1-3 to 0-3, after playing with wind advantage.

Galway shot four in a row in the third quarter, including two from Eamon Brannigan and a Shane Walsh gem.

Driven on by Peter Harte, Tyrone finally began to ask questions of the Galway defence, and pulled back scores through Mattie Donnelly, Harte and Ronan O'Neill as they trimmed the deficit to two.

But they lost Harte and league debutant Michael McKernan to black cards late on, and Comer and Walsh rounded off a profitable afternoon for the Tribesmen.

Donegal league debutant Nathan Mullins was sent off after only 20 minutes in Killarney

Kingdom and Donegal in absorbing contest

Kerry and Donegal produced an absorbing contest at Fitzgerald Stadium which seesawed one way and then the other before Daithi Casey's last-gasp point secured the League champions victory.

Donegal's display was resolute after Nathan Mullins' 20th-minute dismissal, following an off-the-ball incident, meant they played nearly three-quarters of the match shorthanded.

Mullins's straight red card came two minutes after Stephen O'Brien had netted Kerry's first goal to put them 1-5 to 0-4 ahead.

Debutant David Clifford's two points helped extend Kerry's lead to five before Patrick McBrearty responded in kind to leave a goal in it at the break.

However, Donegal moved ahead shortly after the restart helped by McCleneghan's goal and they were back three ahead on 58 minutes after Odhran MacNiallais had blasted to the net.

But Kerry moved two ahead again as Paul Geaney netted after firing a penalty over the Donegal bar moments earlier and Stephen O'Brien, Sean O'Shea and Killian Spillane also tagged on further points.

Remarkably, Donegal regained the lead a minute into injury-time as Darach O'Connor netted seconds after coming but O'Shea's 45 and Casey's point secured the Kingdom victory.

Monaghan boss Malachy O'Rourke remonstrated with referee David Gough after the final whistle at Clones

Mayo snatch win over Monaghan

Paddy Durcan's last-gasp point earned Mayo victory at Clones as the home side finished the game with 12 players.

Monaghan's indiscipline came late on as Ryan Wylie was red carded following an apparent tangle with Aidan O'Shea with Barry Kerr dismissed after picking up a second yellow card and Dermot Malone also receiving a black card.

A fine Karl O'Connell point helped Monaghan take an early two-point lead but late inclusion Andy Moran opened Mayo's account, with Evan Regan's four points helping the visitors level at 0-7 to 0-7 by half-time.

Mayo began to boss possession in the second period but missed several chances to put the game beyond Monaghan as the Farney men got on terms after being three down with 13 minutes of normal time left.

David Gough's failure to award Monaghan a free for the challenge on Dessie Ward in injury-time looked debatable as Mayo burst upfield to hit the winner.

WEEKEND ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE RESULTS