Tyrone 2-11 v 0-12 Kildare.
Tyrone made the perfect start to their 2012 NFL Division 2 campaign on Saturday night, beating fellow promotion favourites Kildare by five points in a game that exploded into life in the second half at Croke Park. Tyrone manager Mickey Harte may have given auditions to some new faces following a succession of retirements in the off-season, but it was two old hands, Stephen O’Neill and Owen Mulligan, who led the way for the Red Hands. They struggled badly in the first half and trailed by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break, but a far better second half performance helped the Ulster side to an unexpected but thoroughly deserved win. It was Peter Harte and Martin Penrose who scored the goals while O’Neill ended the game with 5 points.
Tyrone Manager Mickey Harte was pleased to get off to a winning start.
Derry1-11 v 1-15 Galway.
On Sunday Derry were undone by a young Galwayside who showed greater composure in the closing minutes to claim a four-point victory at Celtic Park. Having clawed their way back into the match the Oak Leafers trailed by only point with an hour gone and looked set to go on and claim a result. However, with Derry taking some wrong options the visitors kept their cool with late scores to secure the points.
Speaking with derrygaa.ie vice-captain Joe Diver was disappointed with the result.
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