Tyrone and Monaghan met in the semi-final of the Dr. McKenna Cup under lights at Kingspan/Breffni Park, Cavan on Tuesday 13th February before a crowd of 3,000 plus. Both sides experimented on the night giving many of their squad players a run out in competitive action. At the end of the game, Tyrone's Mickey Harte was clearly the happier manager as his side which included just four regulars outclassed Monaghan and ran out convincing winners on a scoreline of 2-16 to 0-8. This win means that Tyrone will defend their McKenna Cup title on Saturday evening next, 17th of February at Healy Park, Omagh. The opening half was quite interesting with both sides have a real go in cold, damp conditions, and despite trailing by 2-6 to 0-5 at the break, the Monaghan cause wasn't lost, as they missed two clear-cut goal chances in the opening quarter. Monaghan came out for the second-half in determined mood but suffered an early setback when half-forward Eoin Duffy was dismissed for a foul on Martin Penrose by referee, Martin Higgins from Fermanagh. Tyrone immediately up the pace of their game and with the extra-man which they used to perfection there was no way back for the Farneymen. In the closing quarter the Tyrone turned 'on the style', and their forward approach play and score-taking was a joy to behold. They had even time to introduce team-captain Brian Dooher and Philip Jordan back to competitive action, and the biggest cheer of the night was when the popular Dooher scored two late points and signalled his return to the inter-county arena after his injury problems. The match itself really showed the 'strength in depth' of this current Tyrone side, and on this performance the biggest problem Mickey Harte and his management team will have will be selecting his championship squad in the weeks ahead. There is an abundance of talent in the squad at present, and competition for places in the squad will be intense in the coming weeks. As for Monaghan, this was definitely a 'bad day at the office'. They were always on the back-foot right from the start of the game, and maybe it would have been a better policy all round if they had started with their strongest side. It was a chastening experience for many of their players, but hopefully, it won't effect their confidence, and they can bounce back and continue their good run in the national league. The one thing they can take from this Tyrone game is that they have still a lot to learn to compete with the likes of Tyrone - a side who have regained and hunger after their trials and tribulations of last season. Tyrone - J. Curran; P. McGurk, C. McGinley, C. McCrory; P. Quinnn, P. Marlow, Martin Penrose; Gerard Cavlan 0-1, K. Hughes; A. McCarron 0-1, Tommy McGuigan 0-2, D. Treanor 1-0; Paddy Rouse 0-3, Stephen O'Neill 1-5, N. Gormley. Subs - C. Colhoun 0-1 for D. Treanor; Damien McDermott 0-1 for N. Gormley; Brian Dooher 0-2 for Stephen O'Neill; Philip Jordan for C. McCrory and M. Murphy for K. Hughes. Monaghan - P. McBennett; D. Morgan, J. Coyle, C. Flanagan; J. P. Mone, Jason Hughes, S. Fitzpatrick; Paul Finlay 0-3, V. Corey; P. Meegan 0-1, Mark Daly, Eoin Duffy 0-1; Rory Woods, B. McKenna 0-1, N. Corrigan. Subs - S. Gallogly 0-1 for Mark Daly; D. Mone for P. Meegan; Dermot McArdle for B. McKenna and C. McManus for J. Coyle. Referee - Martin Higgins from Fermanagh. Tweet

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