Published: Wednesday, 27th January, 2010 5:00pm

Cavan well beaten in Omagh

Mark Johnston and Niall Madden tussle with Tyrone's Mattie Donnelly

Tyrone 2-17

Cavan 1-4

At one stage it appeared as if this match - or mismatch - wouldn't go ahead due to fog and Cavan players, management and the handful of travelling supporters in attendance must have wished that the mist enveloping Healy Park had stayed put.

As it was, the 30-minute postponement only delayed the inevitable as the Red Hands, sprinkled with All Ireland winners, swatted a patchy Cavan side featuring a host of newcomers and just a couple of established names.

Ironically, Cavan started reasonably well, competing at midfield - which they failed miserably to do once Eoin McGuigan was bizarrely withdrawn late in the first half - and holding Tyrone for the first 15 minutes, after which the scores were tied at 0-2 apiece.

Tyrone had opened the scoring on 25 seconds with a classy point on the run from Mickey Murphy but Cavan were back on level terms in the sixth minute with a sweet point from the wing by Gareth Smith.

A well-struck free from Sean Brady nudged Cavan in front in the 13th minute but once Eoin McCusker curled over Tyrone's equaliser seconds later, the hosts took control.

They lost two players, PJ Quinn and Sean O'Neill, to injury in the 18th minute but made light of the setback and showing awesome movement and remarkable ball-handling, Tyrone went about the task in hand, opening up a shaky and loose Cavan defence at every opportunity.

A point from McCusker and another from Stephen O'Neill, who had a good match despite the best efforts of the promising Tomas Corr, opened a three-point gap as Tyrone began to overrun Cavan at midfield.

An excellent 45 from McCusker made it 6-2 but Cavan hit back with a great score from the in-form Martin Cahill after McGuigan made a fine fetch at midfield.

A poor wide from the enigmatic Conor Smith, who again showed glimpses of real potential while still struggling with the pace of the game at times, allowed Tyrone off the hook and, true to form, they punished Cavan at the next opportunity. Fintan Reilly failed to claim a high ball, allowing Mark Donnelly in for a simple tap-in to an empty net.

The visitors had a chance to edge closer a minute later but Sean Brady's 30 metre free fell short and into the arms of Tyrone goalkeeper Johnny Curran. A minute later, Mark Donnelly skipped away from Eoin Smith and fired a shot off the crossbar and over and suddenly, having been in the game up until the end of the first quarter, Cavan found themselves going in at the break eight points in arrears, 1-8 to 0-3.

The second half began well for Cavan with a super 45 metre free from Gareth Smith but two frees from Tyrone made it 1-10 to 0-4.

A good move involving Niall McKenna and Mark Donnelly saw Tyrone strike the crossbar once again but they made amends in the 50th minute when Donnelly cut through a gap in the Cavan defence and smashed past Reilly to open a 13-point gap, 2-11 to 0-4.

From the next kick-out, they added another, and then stretched their lead to 15 with ten minutes still to play.

Alan Clarke, who along with Dane O'Dowd (listed at corner-forward but playing in the backs) battled best of the newcomers, got in for a well-taken goal after good work by Gareth and Conor Smith in the 27th minute but it was too little, too late as Tyrone reeled off the final four points to win, pulling up, by 16.

While Tom Carr rightly pointed out afterwards that Cavan's side was an experimental one while Tyrone's featured a number of proven, experienced performers, what will be most worrying for the manager will be the lack of conditioning and absence of heart in some positions.

The return of the likes of college-tied Ronan Flanagan and Sean Johnston can't come soon enough for a Cavan side some of whose tame performances in defeat here didn't smack of players desperate to seal a place in the long-term panel.

Three played, three down. Next up is Roscommon, away, on February 7 and a chance to get the season proper off to a decent start.

Tyrone:J Curran, D Carlin, Justin McMahon, PJ Quinn, Joe McMahon, C McElholm, R McNabb, M Murphy (0-2), K Hughes, N McKenna (0-2), P Harte, Mattie Donnelly (0-3, 1f), E McCusker (0-4), S O'Neill (0-2f), Mark Donnelly (2-2)

Subs: Sean O'Neill for McElholm (17), M Swift for Quinn (17), C McGurk for Justin McMahon (55), K Coney for Stephen O'Neill (63), E McGinley for Hughes (65)

Cavan: Fintan Reilly, Eoin McPhilips, Tomas Corr, Eoin Smith, Martin Cahill (0-1), John McCutcheon, Mark McKeever, Nicholas Walsh, Eoin McGuigan, Niall Madden, Gareth Smith (0-2, 1f), Alan Clarke (1-0), Dane O'Dowd, Sean Brady, Conor Smith.

Subs: M Johnston for McGuigan (31), P Reilly for Johnston (41), J McCabe for Brady (47), J Jordan for Smith (53), J Cunningham for McCutcheon (64)