Gaelic Games

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Conan Canavan scored 1-4 as Tyrone powered past Derry with a 2-16 to 1-12 win in Letterkenny to retain the Ulster Minor title.

After Conor O'Kane's early goal for Derry, Canavan - nephew of Red Hand legend Peter - raised a green flag as the Oak Leafers led 1-7 to 1-5 at the break.

However, Tyrone pulled clear in the second half before Logan O'Connor's goal helped seal a seven-point win.

Having produced a stirring comeback to beat Cavan in the semi-finals, Gerard Donnelly's side now remain on course to defend their All-Ireland Minor title.

"We were very calm at half-time," Donnelly told Peter Canavan in a post-match interview posted on Tyrone GAA's social media channels.

"We were two points down but I think we had eight wides at half-time but we knew the chances were there."

Donnelly's side will face Galway in next week's All-Ireland quarter-finals, while Derry also advance to the last eight.

Tyrone will be hoping for more underage success when their Under-20s attempt to win a third successive All-Ireland title in Saturday's final against Kerry at Croke Park (17:00 BST).

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Mickey Harte paid tribute to "one of a kind" Frank McGuigan, as Ardboe came to a standstill on Thursday to say its goodbyes to the 71-year-old, who passed away on Sunday.

Harte and McGuigan played on the same Tyrone team that won the 1972 Ulster minor title before McGuigan graduated to the senior squad which lifted the Anglo-Celt Cup 12 months later.

While Harte says McGuigan is "without a doubt" one of the best footballers never to win an All-Ireland title, his exploits in the 1984 Ulster final when scoring 11 points from play ensures he will remain in GAA folklore.

"I don't think I've ever seen a footballer with as much natural talent as Frank McGuigan and I've seen a lot of players playing football - he was the best I've ever seen," Harte, who managed Tyrone to three All-Ireland titles in the 2000s, told BBC Sport NI.

"He could do everything: field ball with anybody, pass the ball, vision, power and was deceptively fast.

"He had this ability not many have where he floated in for a ball. You see people putting in a real effort to get a high ball, this man was effortless. He has the timing, positioning and used his back end quite a bit to keep the people getting close to the ball - a nice little skill."

Harte reflected on a man who "enjoyed life to the full" and while his footballing aptitude was beyond question, it was matched only by his unassuming nature.

"I always said you could play him from corner-back to corner-forward or even stuck him in goals nowadays and he would have excelled," Harte continued.

"There's very few you could say that about, but the biggest thing of all was his modesty. He was such a humble man, you wouldn't even know he played football but was the best who ever walked these fields I believe."

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Fermanagh have been tasked with an additional game in the Tailteann Cup as they were drawn out to host New York in the preliminary quarter-final.

New York enter the competition at this stage to face one of the Round 2A winners and it was Declan Bonner's side who were drawn out of the hat, with Antrim, Laois and Offaly avoiding this scenario and moving directly into the last eight.

Fermanagh were 2-20 to 2-13 winners over Wexford in Sunday which was their second victory in this year's competition after an opening round win over Longford, and while they have been handed one last hurdle to clear before the quarter-finals proper, they will have home advantage for the tie.

Down's defeat by Offaly on Saturday saw them drop into Round Three of the competition and Conor Laverty's side are tasked with a trip to face Longford for a place in the quarter-finals.

Longford bounced back from their opening round defeat by Fermanagh to eliminate Clare from the competition at the weekend.

In the other Round Three ties, Leitrim will have home advantage against Wexford, Oisin McConville's Wicklow host Tipperary and London will welcome Sligo to Ruislip.

The preliminary quarter-final and Round Three games are scheduled for the weekend of 6/7 June.

Tailteann Cup draw

Preliminary quarter-final

Fermanagh v New York

Round Three

Leitrim v Wexford

Wicklow v Tipperary

Longford v Down

London v Sligo

John McGovern
BBC Sport NI Contributor in Owenbeg

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Armagh manager Greg McGonigle hailed the character and depth of his squad after they secured a third consecutive Ulster title with a hard-fought victory over Tyrone in Owenbeg.

In a tight, physical contest, McGonigle admitted he was expecting a stern test from a Tyrone side that had impressed in recent outings, including a strong victory over his Armagh side at Healy Park a fortnight ago.

Both teams went into the final with heavily altered line-ups, with Armagh making over 10 personnel changes from that previous defeat before lining out in today's decider.

"It was a tough encounter, and we didn't expect anything less from Tyrone," McGonigle told BBC Sport NI.

"We'd seen them against Donegal in Lifford, and they performed very well."

"In our last meeting, both teams fielded weakened sides, but we knew they had a seriously hard-working forward line coming in today."

The Armagh manager highlighted the impact of the bench as a key turning point in the contest, particularly in the second half when momentum swung firmly in the Orchard County's way as they opened up a five-point lead midway through the half.

"When we made a couple of substitutions around 40 minutes into the game, that was probably the period where things worked well for us," he explained.

"The experience coming on with Kelly Mallon and Blaithin Mackin made a real difference, that's the quality we have."

"Even with the less experienced players, such as Cassie Henderson, who got two or three crucial balls that set up scores, four or five minors have stepped into the panel this year wanting to prove themselves."

Reflecting on Armagh's approach, McGonigle said the side adapted after a slow start, with tactical tweaks and improved game management proving vital after the interval.

"I thought we were too open in the first half and Tyrone had the breeze with them," he said.

"So we dropped the line a bit and tried to play more on the counter. Which is where I think Caoimhe McNally's goal came from. We only had three turnovers in the first half, so we needed to improve that, and once we did, it gave us a platform."

He also praised the way his side adjusted defensively to key Tyrone threats as the game tightened, with match-ups becoming increasingly important in the closing stages.

"We had to make some defensive changes to pick up the likes of Sorcha Gormley and Chloe McCaffrey, and we got our matchups right in the end."

Armagh ultimately survived a late Tyrone surge to secure a single-point lead and another provincial crown, with McGonigle expecting more from the Red Hands in the future.

"It's difficult when you don't play a side often competitively, but Tyrone are an awesome side, and I believe they will go far in the All-Ireland as well."

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Down suffered defeat in Round 2A of the Tailteann Cup as they were beaten 3-22 to 1-20 by Offaly in Tullamore.

Goals from Dylan Hyland and Shane Tierney helped Offaly into a 2-13 to 1-11 at half-time with a late strike from Diarmuid Egan making sure of the comfortable win in the second half.

The Mourne men, who had overcome Leitrim in the preliminary round, produced a spirited attempt at a fightback in the second period, but ultimately fell short.

Conor Laverty's side will now drop into Round 2B while Offaly are through to the quarter-finals.

The two sides traded early scores before Offaly edged ahead through a two-pointer from Hyland.

Down responded through a goal from Pearse McPolin on eight minutes, but another two-pointer, this time from Jordan Hayes restored Offaly's advantage.

They stretched their lead out to five on 16 minutes as they were then awarded a penalty which Hyland duly dispatched.

A second goal arrived just five minutes later as Tierney netted to move Offaly out to 2-12.

On the back foot, Down set out to close the gap and rattled off a few points to reduce the gap to five at the break.

The Mourne men started brightly in the second half and drew level at 1-18 to 2-16 through a John McGeough point on 48 minutes.

Offaly found another gear and started to pull away again with a big two-pointer and a goal from Egan in a five-minute spell just after the hour ultimately moving the game beyond Down.

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI journalist at Fitzgerald Stadium

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Donegal manager Jim McGuinness admitted that Micheal Burns' red card had a "big impact" as his side hammered Kerry to reach Round 2A of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

The dismissal of Kerry's Burns before the start of the second half proved a major turning point, following a heated altercation between the sides after the half-time hooter that left Donegal's Ryan McHugh bleeding from the eye.

"Listen, it was a tough, tough game. Obviously, the sending off had a big impact on the game and probably had a big impact on the scoreboard as well," McGuinness told BBC Sport NI.

"It would have been a much different game in the second half other than that, but listen, from our own point of view, we were happy with the way we played, happy with the first half.

"It would have been a tougher battle in the second half, no doubt about that, but we're just happy to get the result."

There is clearly no love lost between the two counties following a fierce recent rivalry for the biggest prizes. Kerry claimed last year's All-Ireland title before Donegal gained a measure of revenge by winning the Division One final in March.

Kerry felt Donegal forward Michael Murphy was lucky to escape a red card in that league decider for a high-fisted challenge on Kingdom defender Dylan Casey and the bad blood from that game seemingly spilled into Saturday with the home side welcoming the All-Star forward to Killarney with a few scuffles before the ball was even thrown in.

"No, that was the big one. We knew coming into the game it was going to be that way," added McGuinness.

"It was going to be a very, very physical battle and the key thing for us was just to stand your ground and thankfully the boys did that and got the victory as well."

The Tir Chonaill side are now potentially just one win away from a return to Croke Park for the last eight of the All-Ireland series after bouncing back from their shock Ulster quarter-final defeat by Down in impressive fashion.

"I suppose, getting the win and putting us in a position now where one more victory could take us to the quarter-final is what we were looking for," said McGuinness, who hopes to lead Donegal to a second All-Ireland title as manager after masterminding the 2012 win in his first spell.

"That was the big part coming in here today. It was a game that we wanted to win from that point of view, listen, we just tried to embrace it.

"It gives us the opportunity now to win one more game and hopefully we can do that now.

"At the end of the day, it's very, very disappointing when you get beaten at Ulster. It was important we got back on the horse today and thankfully the boys did that."