GAA: SO'N SHINES FOR TYRONE; But O'Neill says form must improve for Dubs Tyrone .................2-14 Monaghan........1-07.

Byline: Orla Bannon

STEPHEN O'Neill's superb summer continued with a brilliant 2-6 to defeat Monaghan - but he was the first to insist Tyrone will have to play much better if they're to upset the Dubs on Saturday.

O'Neill's second All-Star accolade looks nailed on as he followed up a prolific Ulster Championship with another great day in Croke Park.

But O'Neill's performance only papered over the cracks in what was a very shaky display by the Red Hands.

In the end Tyrone were flattered to win by double scores, as the game was in the balance right until the last quarter.

Monaghan put a huge effort into the first-half and led by 1-5 to 0-2 after 22 minutes, with Tommy Freeman and Rory Woods terrorising Tyrone's full-back line.

And if Pascal McConnell hadn't pulled off a great save from Woods soon after, Monaghan could have been out of sight by half-time.

Gradually Tyrone began to steady the ship and wiped out the six point deficit in eight minutes before half-time - but Dublin will hardly be quaking in their boots after watching this dour struggle.

Tyrone's Stephen O'Neill confessed: "We weren't good today.

"We missed a lot of chances (14 wides) and we have to work on that but that wasn't the only thing - the overall performance was poor.

"Everybody can improve and I'm sure at training this week Mickey will tell us where we went wrong, although we know ourselves."

O'Neill refused to blame a sluggish start on Ryan McMenamin's suspension or put it down to a hangover from their two bruising battles with Armagh.

"We had two weeks to recover so we can't be saying it was a hangover - maybe if we'd only had a week it would have been a different story.

"But we have no excuses, we played poor and that's it.

"If Ricey plays, all well and good, but we have our own job to do and we have to focus on it.

"Unfortunately I don't think that really happened against Monaghan.

"Playing Dublin in Croke Park is pretty daunting, especially after playing the way we did.

"We know we have a massive job on our hands."

Tyrone's Mickey Harte preferred to praise Monaghan and said Tyrone could only play as well as they were allowed in the first-half.

However Harte has a lot of thinking to do this week as he tries to sort out his full-back line and midfield problems.

In fact, it would be easier to pick the winning lotto numbers on Wednesday night than predict the Tyrone line-up for Saturday's quarter-final.

Chris Lawn and Shane Sweeney had both been taken off by half-time against Monaghan and with McMenamin still suspended, the Tyrone full-back line is in disarray.

Woods' movement had Lawn in trouble while Freeman destroyed Shane Sweeney in the first-half - turning him inside out before firing a low left-footed drive past McConnell to put Monaghan 1-4 to 0-2 ahead in the 14th minute.

However Conor Gormley reverted to full-back for the second half and did a good job on Freeman, while Mickey McGee and Joe McMahon did exceptionally well in a makeshift defence. Harte must know that the options are there, but the problem is finding the right combination.

Harte claimed Lawn and Sweeney were removed mainly because they were on yellow cards but also admitted: "There's many areas of concern.

"If you didn't have that you'd have a perfect team and we haven't a perfect team.

"We are always looking to improve.

"Conor hasn't played there (at fullback) in a long time and went back and felt at home again.

"Joe's introduction was successful, he gives us a new dimension in terms of physical presence and he's a good ball player. That's why he's on the Tyrone panel." As for only getting seven days preparation ahead of a quarter-final clash with Dublin, Harte added: "That's the way it is, we have no choice now.

"If we'd beaten Armagh the first day we wouldn't have this (short rest) but we didn't do that or on the second day either, so we have to live with that.

"It's good to be there. I'd rather have a week's rest and be playing next week than have six months rest and wait for the McKenna Cup next year."

Monaghan can be proud of their run this year which saw them play Championship football in August for the first time since the 1980s.

They may only have managed one point in the second-half - a free from Hugh McElroy - but there was no way they could sustain the ferocious pace they set in the first-half when they had Tyrone in serious trouble.

Harte conceded: "We were definitely on the back foot big time early in the game, as Monaghan came racing out of the blocks." O'Neill's first goal on the half-hour mark was as vital as it was spectacular.

Owen Mulligan, still struggling for form, delivered a perfectly-timed pass over the top to O'Neill, who showed great composure to wait until the 'keeper made his move and then slipped the ball beyond him into the net.

From there on Tyrone never looked back with Harte, Devlin, McMahon and Cavanagh driving the team on in the second-half.

Tyrone also upped their work-rate big-time after the break, with Peter Canavan coming on to score two points, as well as putting in a superb pass to Brian McGuigan in the build-up to O'Neill's second goal in the 67th minute.

By that stage Monaghan were down to 14 men, when skipper Damien Freeman was sent-off for two bookings for a foul on Enda McGinley after 61 minutes.

"I couldn't have any disagreements about it," said Freeman. "The man was through and there was a goal on. But every game's a learning experience and we're in Division One next year.

"I suppose that's where you have to be to beat the likes of Tyrone."

TYRONE: P McConnell, J McMahon, C Lawn, S Sweeney, D Harte (0-1), G Devlin, P Jordan, C Gormley (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-1), B Dooher, B McGuigan, S O'Neill (2-6, 0-5 frees), R Mellon (0-1), O Mulligan (0-1, free), E McGinley. Subs: M McGee for Lawn (26), P Canavan (0-2) for Sweeney (HT), M Penrose (0-1) for Mulligan (54), B Meenan for Mellon (70).

MONAGHAN: S Duffy, D McArdle, J Coyle, C Flanagan, D Freeman, V Corey, G McQuaid, D Clerkin, E Lennon, J McElroy, P Finlay (0-2, both frees), R Woods (0-1), T Freeman (1-1), H McElroy (0-3, all frees), S Gollogly. Subs: F Duffy for Gollogly (47), N Corrigan for McElroy (54), D McKernan for Woods (60), J Conlon for Clerkin (68).

CAPTION(S):

CATCH HIM: Tyrone's Stephen O''Neill tussles with Monaghan's Colm Flanagan; HANDS RUN OFF : Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh gets away from Monaghan's grounded James Conlon in the fourth round qualifier at Croke Park; WE HAVE LIFT OFF: Monaghan's Colm Flanagan and Tyrone's Peter Canavan battle for possession