A first ever Championship meeting between Tyrone and Clare takes place this afternoon with both teams in dire need of a result after round one defeats.
Last weekend, the Red Hands travelled to Ballybofey in confident mood despite facing the newly-crowned Ulster champions Donegal.
Tyrone had taken Jim McGuinness’s side to extra-time in the Ulster SFC semi-final in Celtic Park before losing by just two points and they were only one point in arrears at half-time last Saturday night.
However, the manner of their second half collapse will have alarmed the Tyrone management and players and has raised questions about their progress since winning the All-Ireland back in 2021.
With home advantage this afternoon, they’ll be keen to deliver a statement of intent.
For Clare, they know they must take something from today’s game if they’ve any chance of staying in the Championship as they will face Donegal in round three.
The Banner lost their home game to Cork by two points a fortnight ago, but they reached their second successive Munster SFC final earlier this season.
Mark Fitzgerald’s men will take encouragement from how Cavan brought Tyrone to extra-time in the Ulster preliminary round while Westmeath were inches away from knocking Tyrone out in the group stages last year with John Heslin narrowly missing a free at the end of the game.
We’ll have all the latest team news and build-up ahead of throw-in at 1.30pm.
15:13Paddy Tierney
Tyrone face Cork in round three in a fortnight with Clare taking on Donegal. All round three games will be played at neutral venues with the dates, times and venues set to be confirmed by CCCC in the coming days. All four teams can still progress from Group Three following today’s result while Cork are assured of being in the knockout stages
15:09Key Event
They made hard work of it for long periods, but Tyrone kicked clear of Clare in the last quarter to run out comfortable 14-point winners in O’Neills Healy Park.
15:07Paddy Tierney
Mattie Donnelly fisted another score – that’s 0-4 from play for the Trillick ace
15:05Paddy Tierney
Darragh Canavan converts a free for Tyrone – he has scored 1-4 in the last 20 minutes
15:05Paddy Tierney
Mark McInerney converts a 45 for Clare
15:03Paddy Tierney
Ruairi Canavan scores his second point from play in injury-time
15:01Key Event
Make that a 12-point lead as Darragh Canavan scores a stunning goal in injury-time!
15:01Paddy Tierney
Conn Kilpatrick lands a point from play as Tyrone move into a nine-point lead. However, there will seven minutes of injury-time
14:59Paddy Tierney
Mattie Donnelly scores his third point from play – that’s another classy effort from the Tyrone number 6
14:57Key Event
Clare midfielder Darragh Bohannon is shown a straight red for a dangerous tackle on Michael O’Neill
14:56Paddy Tierney
Emmet McMahon scores his fifth point before being called ashore
14:55Paddy Tierney
Mattie Donnelly lands his second point from play. The result appears secured, but the margin could be crucial after the final round of games
14:52Paddy Tierney
Ruairi Canavan lands his first point of the game as Tyrone move into a seven-point lead
14:51Paddy Tierney
Darragh Canavan fires over his first point from play, his third in total. Tyrone are starting to put distance between the teams
14:48Paddy Tierney
Tyrone U20 star Shea O’Hare is in for his senior debut as he replaces Kieran McGeary
14:47Paddy Tierney
Darragh Canavan converts his second free as Tyrone push the lead out to five points
14:41Paddy Tierney
Emmet McMahon converts another free. Clare are refusing to fold and the game is still in the melting pot midway through the second half
14:39Paddy Tierney
Brian Kennedy is fouled and Darragh Canavan converts the free. That’s the first score for any of the Tyrone full-forwards after 50 minutes. Ruairi Canavan and Darren McCurry haven’t scored yet
14:38Paddy Tierney
Clare full-forward does well to fire over his first point of the game as the Banner cut the gap back to four
14:31Paddy Tierney
Dermot Coughlan is fouled and Emmet McMahon converts for Clare’s first point of the second half, his third of the game
14:30Paddy Tierney
Tyrone midfielder Brian Kennedy kicks the hosts into a six-point lead in the opening minutes of the second half
14:28Paddy Tierney
Mattie Donnelly opens the scoring in the second half with a stunning point from play off his left boot
14:25Key Event
The second half gets under way at O’Neills Healy Park. There are no changes on either team for the second half
14:12Key Event
Tyrone: Niall Devlin 2-2, Ciaran Daly 0-1
Clare: Cillian Rouine 0-2, Emmet McMahon 0-2 (0-1f), Ronan Lanigan 0-1
14:07Key Event
Tyrone take a four-point lead into the half-time break thanks largely to Niall Devlin’s 2-2 haul from play
14:04Paddy Tierney
Niall Devlin is having a remarkable game for Tyrone and he scores another point from play. That’s 2-2 from play for the Coalisland defender
14:00Key Event
Niall Devlin finds the net for the second time in the first half following great build-up from Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan!
13:59Paddy Tierney
Clare centre-back Cillian Rouine lands his second point from play as the Banner draw level with 27 minutes played
13:57Paddy Tierney
Clare back hit with a ponit from play from corner-back Ronan Lanigan with 10 minutes remaining in the first half
13:51Key Event
Tyrone retake the lead against Clare as they find the net for the first time in three games with Niall Devlin finishes following good work from Seanie O’Donnell and Ruairi Canavan
13:47Paddy Tierney
Clare take the lead as Emmet McMahon converts a free with 15 minutes played
13:45Paddy Tierney
Clare wing-back Ikem Ugweru returns to the pitch with the sides level at 0-2 each
13:39Paddy Tierney
Clare level things up after six minutes as Emmet McMahon lands his first point of the game
13:36Paddy Tierney
Tyrone take the lead for the first time with a point from play from corner-back Niall Devlin
13:35Key Event
Clare have suffered an early blow as Ikem Ugweru is shown a black card for a trip on Mattie Donnelly
13:34Paddy Tierney
Tyrone reply with a fine point from Ciaran Daly
13:33Paddy Tierney
Clare make the perfect start with centre-back Cillian Rouine scoring the first point of the game inside the opening 60 seconds
13:31Key Event
Referee Jerome Henry (Mayo) gets the game under way in O’Neills Healy Park
13:24Key Event
Joe Oguz and Aidan Clarke start for Tyrone in place of Conn Kilpatrick and Ben Cullen. Clare will line out as selected
13:17Paddy Tierney
Tyrone 1/12
Draw 16/1
Clare 8/1
13:08Paddy Tierney
The GAA have hiked the price of All-Ireland final stand tickets to €100. That’s an increase of €10 from last year’s €90 headline price, while terrace tickets are up from €50 to €55.
Tickets prices for All-Ireland quarter-final and semi-finals in both codes have been raided by €5 across the board. The GAA last increased ticket prices back in 2019, having previously hiked prices in 2010.
GAA chiefs have vowed to use the additional revenue to increase the spend on club facilities from €3 million in 2023 to €4.5 million in 2024. This figure is set to rise to €5 million in 2025.
The All-Ireland final ticket price rises alone are likely to bring in over €1 million in additional revenue across football and hurling.
12:45Key Event
The ramifications of Cork’s shock win over Donegal in Páirc Uí Rinn yesterday are huge.
Late points from Steven Sherlock and Colm O’Callaghan gave the Rebels a 3-9 to 0-16 win over the Ulster champions as Jim McGuinness’s side suffered their first defeat since losing out to Derry in the Dr McKenna Cup final in January.
Matty Taylor, Sean Powter and Rory Maguire plundered Cork’s goals and the Munster side are in pole position to top Group Three.
However, their win also means that Tyrone have a chance of finishing top if they beat both Clare and Cork. It also means that, should the Red Hands lose today, they’ll be out of the Championship as Donegal face Clare in a fortnight time and Tyrone would finish fourth regardless on the head-to-head ruling.
A defeat for Clare today wouldn’t end their Championship as they could defeat Donegal in their final game and, provided Tyrone picked up at least a point against Cork, the Banner would remain in the All-Ireland series at the expense of the Ulster champions.
12:35Paddy Tierney
While Tyrone and Clare have never met at Championship level, they did clash twice in the 1990s in the National Football League.
Tyrone won the 1995 meeting 0-13 to 0-8 in Dungannon with both teams subsequently promoted to Division One for the 1996 season .
The Red Hands, who were beaten in the 95 All-Ireland final by Dublin, travelled to Ennis to face the Banner.
Current Tyrone managers Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan lined out that day along with the likes of Peter Canavan, Footballer of the Year from the 95 season, current Trillick boss Jody Gormley and U20 manager Paul Devlin.
Tyrone, who were then managed by Eugene McKenna and the late Art McRory, won the game 1-9 to 0-7 with Adrian Cush scoring the game’s only goal.
