‘YOU’RE no Canavan’ came the jibe from a Clonoe supporter late in this game, after a missed free left the outcome in the balance.
There may still only be one Canavan for those of a certain age – Peter the Great - but the problem for the O’Rahillys wasn’t only that the comment was untrue but that Errigal Ciaran had not one but two Canavans scoring.
Largely curtailed in the drawn game, Peter’s sons Darragh and Ruairi proved much more effective second time around, scoring 11 points between them, seven of those from play.
It was a rare miss from Ruairi which drew that cutting remark, but otherwise he and his older brother gave their side the cutting edge that mattered.
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Indeed, although former Tyrone forward Connor McAliskey scored a superb point to leave just the minimum margin between the teams in the second of six minutes of added time, making it 0-12 to 0-11, the Canavan brothers had the final say.
First Darragh spun away from his marker yet again to fire his fifth point from play, then Ruairi took his tally to six with a right-footed score from the right wing.
The pair provide all that their famous father did in his heyday: wriggling runs away from tight markers to find space and score from play, plus the ability to convert frees with a high degree of accuracy. Both take the hits and come back for more, always seeking to score.
Without their significant contribution, the Ballygawley men might well have succumbed to a Clonoe team that gave it everything but fell just short as Errigal’s superior scoring power saw them through to a semi-final against Killyclogher.
Errigal selector Stevie Quinn pointed to a greater collective effort to create scoring opportunities for their two star forwards rather than any tactical tweak from manager Enda McGinley:
“I’m not sure we did a whole pile differently, they were unlucky [in the drawn game]. Last week the lads were maybe guilty of standing watching Ruairi and Darragh – today it was about getting runs and support to them, trying to open the game up to them.
“They have great quality and we really want them featuring heavily in the game for us. It’s up to us to make sure we can get them into the positions where they can get the shots away.”
The speed of hand-passing from Errigal men did that to some extent, but some of the scores were still down to sheer individual brilliance.
At first, though, it looked like Clonoe’s Canavan containment policy would work again, with the experienced duo of Dwayne Quinn and PJ Lavery helping out markers Ronan Corey and Shane Hughes.
An upset seemed entirely possible when the men in black got off to a flying start, skipper Danny McNulty scoring inside 20 seconds, then Connor McAliskey quickly adding a mark before impressive wing-back Ryan Morrow made it 3-0 inside five minutes.
However, Errigal’s composure was evident throughout, and with Ciaran McGinley beginning to provide an effective defensive screen the Canavans wiped out that lead by the 12th minute. Clonoe’s early energy understandably lessened, although Corey and Morrow both got forward for scores from play, and also a mark for the latter.
Padraig McGirr provided similar drive from deep positions for Errigal, though, and also a score on the overlap to put them in front for the first time in the 22nd minute, and they were never behind again.
They never got far in front, though, even though Petey Harte put them three up late in the first half, and then two early second half frees from Ruairi Canavan made it 10-6.
Clonoe never dropped their heads, and although McNulty dropped back around midfield, Pascal McClure provided a physical presence up front, and two scores in quick succession.
The pace of young Shea Coney posed problems, while his attacking colleague McAliskey seemed to be everywhere – collecting the ball after an effort from his opposite number Ruairi Canavan came back off the upright, then setting up a score for Darragh McGrath, before converting a free to leave the situation so tight that a goal would win it for Clonoe.
‘Skeet’ then shouldered former county colleague Aidan McCrory aside en route to that late point, but the east Tyrone men could not engineer the chance to level, never mind go ahead.
Instead, the Canavans silenced that foolish critic to send their club one game away from a third consecutive final appearance.
Errigal Ciaran: D McAnenly; P McGirr (0-1), A McCrory, Ciaran Quinn; P Og McCartan, N Kelly, T Colhoun; B McDonnell, J Oguz; P Traynor, P Harte (0-1), C McGinley; D Canavan (capt.) (0-5), O Robinson (0-1 mark), R Canavan (0-6, 0-2 frees).
Substitutes: M Kavanagh for Traynor (h-t); Cormac Quinn for Colhoun (54); T Canavan for Robinson (59).
Clonoe: M O’Neill; PJ Lavery, Shane Hughes, D Quinn; R Corey (0-1), C O’Neill, R Morrow (0-2, 0-1 mark); D McClure, D McGrath (0-1); R Donnelly, D Magee, S Coney; P McClure (0-2), D McNulty (capt.) (0-1), C McAliskey (0-4, 0-1 mark, 0-2 frees).
Substitutes: R Quinn for Donnelly (h-t); F McClure for Magee (45, inj.).
Blood sub: F McClure for R Quinn (38-44).
Referee: Paul Gallagher (Castlederg).
