Paul Devlin’s side had 11 scorers in total at the end of a game where Roscommon asked them plenty of tough questions, but on each occasion, the Ulster champions came up with resounding answers.
Shane McGinley didn’t waste any time in leaving his mark on the game, kicking things off with a stunning early goal and following up with a point to put Roscommon three up, but Tyrone didn’t blink.
With Eoin McElholm pulling the strings and Ruairí Campbell firing over some excellent points, they were level at 0-4 to 1-1 after six minutes, and only kicked on from there.
Tyrone pushed up high on the Roscommon kickout, bringing their midfielders and half-backs into the attack, and it proved very fruitful. Both midfielders and both wing backs got on the scoresheet, with the goals coming from Conor O’Neill and Shea O’Hare, as Tyrone moved 2-9 to 1-5 in front at half-time.
Roscommon had been a second half team all year and it looked like they were about to do the same here as Conor Ryan and Bobby Nugent found the net in the space of just two minutes shortly after half-time.
A couple of key wides prevented them from drawing level however, and once Tyrone settled back into the game on the back of two long range dead ball strikes from goalkeeper Conor McAneney, they never looked back.
Eoin McElholm finished off a slick breakaway with a sumptuous low finish midway through the half, and Roscommon had nothing left in the tank, with six of the last eight points going the way of the northerners.
Scorers for Tyrone: E McElholm 1-2, C O’Neill 1-1, S O’Hare 1-1, R McCullagh 0-3, R Cassidy 0-3 (0-1f), C McAneney 0-2 (0-1f, 0-1 45), C Devlin 0-2, Ó Brolly 0-1, R Fox 0-1, N Grimes 0-1, C Owens 0-1f.
Scorers for Roscommon: S McGinley 1-5 (0-3f), B Nugent 1-1, C Ryan 1-0, D Hagney 0-1, R Heneghan 0-1.
Tyrone: C McAneney; C Devlin, B Hughes, J Clarke; S O’Hare, M Rafferty, Ó Brolly; R Fox, C O’Neill; C Devlin, C Daly, G Potter; R Cassidy, R McCullagh, E McElholm.
Subs: F Nelis for Brolly (half-time), R McHugh for Devlin (41), P McCann for Fox (52), N Grimes for Cassidy (56), C Owens for McCullagh (58).
Roscommon: S Allen; E Carthy, J Connolly, D Casey; S Lambe, E Kerins, J McGreal; C Harley, C Ryan; R Heneghan, R Hester, D Hagney; S McGinley, N O’Donnell, B Nugent.
Subs: R Dowling for Heneghan (30), C Campbell for Carthy (half-time), E O’Reilly for Hester (half-time), R Conlon for Hagney (45), O O’Flaherty for McGreal (54).
Referee: Jonathan Hayes (Limerick).
