Sean Cavanagh scored a first half goal for Tyrone against Down

The Red Hands, surprisingly well beaten by Donegal in the Ulster semi-finals, had eight points to spare at the end.

The match was level early in the second half but Tyrone were well on top from then on and won with unexpected ease.

Sean Cavanagh was the only man to find the net, shooting past Mickey McVeigh after a mistake in the Down defence.

The goal came after just 11 minutes and was a disaster for Down's John Clarke whose bad pass gifted possession to Tyrone.

At that stage it looked like Mickey Harte's men were going to run away with it but Down got their act together and unanswered points from Clarke, Aiden O'Prey and Liam Doyle brought them back into contention.

Commanding lead

Down were just one point behind (0-07 to 1-05) at the break and Benny Coulter levelled matters early in the second half.

But Tyrone had by far the better of the second half and established a commanding lead by landing nine points without reply.

The manager's son Mark Harte ended up the top scorer with seven pionts.

Tyrone suffered an injury blow when Stephen O'Neill was felled by a strong challenge from Down defender Adrian Scullion in the first half.

Scullion was shown a yellow card and, although O'Neill was able to finish the half after treatment, he did not come out for the second period.

Down's Sean Farrell was sent-off when a challenge on brian Dooher brought him his second yellow card.

"We were very satisfied, especially with our second half performance," said Tyrone assistant manager Fr Gerard McAleer.

"Our attack really started to do the work. They upped the work-rate and that was what won the match."

Down: M McVeigh, M Higgins, A Molloy, A Scullion, J Clarke, M Cole, S Farrell, D Gordon, G McCartan, L Doyle, S Ward, R Murtagh, D Hughes, A O'Prey, B Coulter.