The panel had also set a second bar for the politician to get over this weekend – an unrehearsed cha-cha challenge – in which they pointedly placed Balls and dance partner Katya last, as they had a few minutes earlier when he showed off his tango.
However, Murphy continued to hit the target from placed balls, and the Shamrocks were restricted to a couple of points on the breakaway from McCloskey and Watson.
Tyrone led twice early on thanks to points from Martin Penrose and Cavanagh only for Keenan to level on both occasions from placed balls.
Almost as impressive was his younger brother Karl who did an commendable marking job on Liam Watson whose contribution was largely restricted to pointing placed balls.
Tyrone again looked to be taking control when Justin McMahon and Sean Cavanagh popped over scores but crucially the Red Hands also missed chances with Morgan kicking three long-range placed balls wide.
With Oisin McConville's reliable free-taking also no longer there, Cross struggled badly for scores in the first half with Tony Kernan missing a couple of straightforward chances from placed balls.
