Derry boss Mickey Moran shows his dejection after the game

"Games between Tyrone and Derry have a habit of being close and until they lost the man, it was shaping up for that," said Harte.

"It gave us the chance to express ourselves a bit more and it was the launching pad for victory.

"We played an expansive game, used our flanks well and took good options."

Red Hands captain Brian Dooher said that good preparation was the key to the Clones victory.

"Mickey Harte has the team better prepared this year and individually we are better prepared," said Dooher.

"A lot of people said it would be a tight match against Derry but we upped our performance from the league game against Galway and that helped us.

"The goal set us up for the second half. We worked hard and stopped them from playing."

Despite Derry's defeat, manager Mickey Moran spoke of "plus signs" after the game.

I feel Tyrone got their frees handy up front and we didn't Mickey Moran

"We were well in the game in the first half. We kicked nine wides - four of them were absolutely crucial," said Moran.

The Derry boss agreed with Harte that O'Kane's dismissal had had a crucial effect on the game.

"The way Tyrone play, you need your 15 players and we just couldn't combat them in the second half."

Moran also felt that referee Brian White had awarded Tyrone a number of "soft frees".

"I feel Tyrone got their frees handy up front and we didn't. That had a big bearing early on in the game.

"Overall, Brian White did a good job but I feel that Tyrone got some very easy frees."

Moran praised the efforts of his younger players.