“IT’S not too often both teams leave a pitch fairly happy, but I think that’s the way it is today”. With his closing remarks, Oisin McConville pretty much hit the nail on the head.
Tyrone were happy to survive a brief scare in the closing stages to progress, while Derry had performed at a level few expected after a spring spent swatting aside most of what Division Four had to offer.
Prior to throw-in, the BBC team all offered some brief thoughts after the warmest of welcomes to the Championship, to Healy Park and to Tyrone versus Derry from the host with the most, Mark Sidebottom.
Oisin McConville and Marty Clarke both wished for some of the lesser lights in Ulster to follow Fermanagh’s lead by putting it up to the big boys. Among those name-checked were Down, Armagh and Derry - a sobering reminder for all.
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And Martin McHugh nearly brought the house down when he said he hoped to see more expansive football this year “in Ulster in particular”.
That dream died just 46 seconds in when Thomas Niblock told McHugh, his co-commentator, exactly what they were looking at.
“Tyrone have everybody bar one player back in their own half,” he said. “Martin McHugh - this is what we’ve come to expect from Ulster football.”
Familiar terms from the Ulster Gaelic football phrasebook were pulled out as a fairly dour half wore on. Pedestrian. Cagey. Very pedestrian. You get the drift.
Tyrone swept into the lead only to be pegged back towards the end of the half, but it was deep into the second half when the game finally caught fire.
And so too did the men in Healy Park’s chicken coop commentary box when McHugh and Niblock pulled off a spectacular shake n’bake as the Oak Leafers drove themselves back into it.
McHugh was the architect but, much like Shane McGuigan seconds later, Niblock finished superbly.
“Is there a goal in Derry?” wondered the former Donegal star, “that’s the big question.”
“You do get the feeling, if Derry are going to win this game, that they are going to have to find the back of the net…” added Niblock, before a sudden burst of pace set pulses racing.
“Enda Lynn skips by the Tyrone defence,” continued the big Derry man, his voice quickening.
“Lovely play from Lynn, passes the ball inside, this could be the Derry goal… PUSH IN THE BACK, BACK OF THE NET FOR DERRY. What a goal! This Championship match has come alive, it’s Shane McGuigan.”
And then came the kicker.
“Right on cue Martin McHugh.”
Beautiful. Just beautiful. The best bit of play all day, and you’d hope there were silent high fives dished out all round at a job well done.
Unfortunately for the Oak Leafers, that brief revival hit the skids almost as soon as it had started and Tyrone brought the big guns off the bench to finish the job.
Never one to get excited, McConville wasn’t about to start getting carried away with a more competitive affair than many had foreseen.
“I think acceptable would probably be the best way to describe it,” said the Crossmaglen man, and it’s hard to argue.
Job done, but hopefully there’s better to come.
