Donegal 0-13 Tyrone 1-18: Red Hands find form to reach All-Ireland quarter-finals

Tyrone became the fourth Ulster county to reach Monday's All-Ireland Football quarter-finals draw as they earned a dominant 1-18 to 0-13 win over Donegal in Ballybofey.

The Red Hands were in control from the start as Ruairi Canavan punished a Shaun Patton mistake to net their goal.

That helped them lead 1-3 to 0-1 and they were 1-10 to 0-8 up at half-time.

Tyrone's lead was extended to eight after the start while it was cut to five, a Donegal comeback was never on.

The Red Hands could have had four goals in the first half as their running game regularly cut open the Donegal defence, while in contrast the home side had to work hard for their scores.

Prior to his third-minute goal Ruairi Canavan missed a chance in the opening 20 seconds after charging through the heart of the opposition defence with man of the match Conor Meyler also butchering a glorious opportunity before Darragh Canavan blasted over the bar just before half-time when a pass to either his brother or brother-in-law Peter Harte would surely yielded another green flag.

After three straight points following the resumption extended their lead to eight, Tyrone seemed to take their foot off their pedal but they hit four of the last five scores to leave a margin which in no way flattered them, with Donegal finishing the game with 14 players after Patton's red card for an off-the-ball kick at Michael McKernan in the dying seconds.

Tyrone snuff out Donegal hopes in emphatic fashion

Prior to the Ballybofey contest, the 2021 Sam Maguire winners' championship campaign had been laboured and they were a kick of the ball away from exiting in shock fashion last weekend as they hung on to draw 0-18 to 0-18 against Westmeath when John Heslin missed a last-gasp free.

For their part, Donegal's win over Monaghan had given them belief that they could demonstrate their continuing revival following their torrid Spring by beating the Red Hands.

Tyrone led 1-10 to 0-8 at half-time in Ballybofey

However, the Red Hands ended Donegal's summer in emphatic fashion and after this display, they will believe they can be a factor in the remaining stages of the championships which will will continue with next weekend's quarter-finals.

As Tyrone played with the aid of a stiff breeze in the first half, Donegal had an immediate scare as Ruairi Canavan burst directly through their defence in the opening 20 seconds but delayed his shot as he rounded Patton and the Errigal Ciaran man then blazed wide as he seemed to lose his bearings.

However, Canavan did hit the net 90 seconds later as Patton's occasional weakness under the high ball manifested itself once again as he fumbled a high ball from Darren McCurry, which the Tyrone half-forward gathered before eventually hooking to the net despite the Donegal keeper's frantic efforts to remedy his error.

While Donegal late inclusion Patrick McBrearty replied a minute later from a free, Tyrone's running game was causing the home side all manner of difficulties as McCurry, corner-back Michael McKernan and Darragh Canavan were all on target by the ninth minute to put the visitors five up.

By that stage, Tyrone were winning all the key battles with Padraig Hampsey sticking like glue to Donegal's dangerman Oisin Gallen and the two Canavans and McCurry tormenting the home defence at the other end.

Conor Meyler was also producing the type of all-action display which was a trademark of the 2021 campaign while the midfield dominance produced by Brian Kennedy and the particularly impressive Conn Kilpatrick, who contributed 0-2, will have delighted joint-managers Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher as we reach the business end of the championship.

Donegal's dangerman Oisin Gallen hit 0-4 but was well shackled in open play by Padraig Hampsey

Donegal rallied to hit three of the next four scores as a Gallen free was followed by Odhran Doherty and McBrearty efforts from play to leave a kick of the ball between the sides.

But McKernan's second burst straight through the centre of the Donegal defence to score which extended their advantage to 1-5 to 0-4 showed a Red Hands side that had attacking options from all over the park.

Errors by Kieran McGeary, a late inclusion in place of Joe Oguz, as he was first turned over and then fouled McBrearty with a high challenge, allowed Donegal to briefly trim the margin to two as Gallen and the Kilcar man punished the mistakes.

However a brilliant fetch by Kilpatrick after a McKernan long ball yielded a free for Darragh Canavan which started a further period of Red Hand dominance as they moved 1-10 to 0-7 up, with the again excellent Mattie Donnelly among their scorers, before another Gallen free cut the margin to five by the interval.

Donegal needed a fast start to the second half but instead Tyrone killed off their challenge as two more McCurry frees were split by a sensational Darragh Canavan score with his left foot after he had cut inside his marker Mark Curran from the right sideline.

The home side's prospects weren't helped by the wind noticeably dropping in the second period after the Red Hands had had the benefit of the elements in the opening period.

Tyrone's attempts to run down the clock allowed Donegal to rally with three points of their own but Donnelly's second score in the 61st minute sparked the Red Hands to regain their fluency.

By that stage, Darragh Canavan had been surprisingly substituted despite his 0-5 haul but Tyrone were still able to finish strongly with four further points which included a concluding champagne score from Donnelly with the outside of his right boot.

Donegal: S Patton (0-1); M Curran, B McCole, C McColgan (0-1); C Ward, E Ban Gallagher, S McMenamin; C McGonagle, H McFadden; D O Baoill, J Brennan, C Thompson (0-2); O Doherty (0-1), O Gallen (0-4), P McBrearty (0-3).

Subs: J McGee for O Doherty half-time, G Mulreaney for Curran 72, P McBrearty, R O'Donnell for McFadden 47, B O'Donnell for McColgan 62, J McKelvey,L McGlynn (0-1) for O Baoill 44.

Not used: D Dorrian, J McKelvey, JR Molloy, J McGroddy, P Brennan.

Tyrone: N Morgan; M McKernan (0-2), R McNamee, P Hampsey; C Quinn, M O'Neill, P Harte; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick (0-2); C Meyler, K McGeary, R Canavan (1-1); D McCurry (0-5), M Donnelly (0-3), D Canavan (0-5).

Subs: F Burns for McGeary 56, N Devlin for R Canavan 71, R Donnelly for D Canavan 62,

Not used: L Quinn, A Clarke, N McCarron, J Oguz, M McGleenan, C McShane, S O'Neill, N Sludden

Referee: Conor Lane (Cork)