Very Camoige League Division 4 final
Tyrone 3-16 Wicklow 0-10
TYRONE convincingly retained their Very Ireland League Division 4 league title by leading from pillar to post against Wicklow in the final in Darver.
Half-forward Lára Devlin was the key player for Tyrone with a goal and eight points.
While she gave them a good lead with 1-5 in the opening quarter, it was the two points inside 25 seconds in the 37th minute that got them going again after Wicklow had struck the first three points of the second half to narrow the gap to 1-9 to 0-6.
It lifted the Tyrone challenge that had dipped a little. Lauren Fitzgerald finished a sweeping move in the 40th minute with their second goal and Kaitlin Gallagher clipped over a point to put the game beyond their opponents.
The Red Hand chose to play with the wind behind them in the first half and Lára Devlin hit four points in the opening ten minutes with late addition to the starting line-up Rachel O’Neill tagging on two more.
Devlin then cut in from the left and fired a shot across the Wicklow goalie and Tyrone had 1-7 on the board before Nicole Curran opened Wicklow’s account in the 15th minute.
That point seemed to lift her side and they very much held their own during the second quarter with points from Sophie Bermingham and a Laura Smyth free cancelling out two Cara Little frees, although Tyrone accumulated six wides during that spell.
That interval lead of 1-9 to 0-3 was cut by points on the re-start from Bermingham (free), Smyth and Curran before Devlin put her foot on the gas again. The goal from Fitzgerald followed by a point from Gallagher made it 2-12 to 0-6.
Wicklow kept battling but Tyrone’s defence and overall work-rate made sure the strong lead remained. Oilibhia Farley ran 50 metres and lobbed a third goal in the 57th minute quickly followed by Devlin’s eighth point and then an injury time point from Áine Cunningham for a comfortable victory.
TYRONE: E Colton; B Moohan, R O’Neill (0-2), G Daly; A McDonald, G McDonald, Ú McCann; O Farley (1-0), Á Cunningham (0-1); L Devlin (1-8), L Fitzgerald (1-0), R McErlean; C Little (0-3, 0-2), S Donnelly, K Gallagher (0-2)
Subs: B Barker for McErlean, B Santos for Fitzgerald, M Donnelly for Little, M O’Hanlon for Moohan, G Devlin for Donnelly (all 60)
WICKLOW: C Hughes; A Campbell, C Kelly, A Mulhall; C Wafer, A Connolly, S O’Shea; S Lambe, S Goetelen; H Doyle, N Curran (0-3), S Bermingham (0-4, 0-3 frees); D Summer Cullen Dunne, L Smyth (0-3, 0-1 free), E Tyrrell.
Subs: P R Cullen Dunne for Tyrrell (ht), F Corrigan for D S Cullen Dunne (45), T Cullen for Campbell (48), O Waters for O’Shea (57), H Byrne for Hughes (58), K Campbell for Mulhall (60)