Canavan’s dream could have been a nightmare

ONE minute he was relaxing in his bedroom awaiting the call to get on the bus taking the new All-Ireland SFC champions on a memorable trip home, the next, he was being mobbed in the foyer of the Burlington Hotel as he alighted from the lift with his wife Finola.

Such is Peter Canavan's new life.

It is an experience that he deserves perhaps more than any other member of his generation. For so long he seemed destined to join the tortured list of great footballers never to collect a Celtic Cross, a gaping hole in an otherwise faultless career.

The relief was still obvious, 24 hours after the end of his momentous journey. "I spent the last 25 years looking at All-Ireland finals when I was growing up, at the Kerrys and the Dublins and then to see Down, Donegal and Derry and then Armagh last year," he commented.

"From winning two (All-Ireland) U21 titles in 1991 and '92 it was an achievable aim for us to be doing it. It's a long time since then, without a shadow of a doubt. I know it's a cliche, but it's a dream come through."

It was a dream which could see easily have become a nightmare. The weeks since the victory over Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final have been spent on a treatment table, in a bid to coax and cajole strained ligaments back to full health. There was plenty of pain. And plenty of time for thinking.

"You were spending a lot of your time trying to get the injury sorted out, with physios here and there, going to the pool and doing whatever you could. Plus the fact that you could not train with the boys. Sitting and watching them was certainly very frustrating and left it very awkward for me."

Ten days before the final, Canavan felt a twinge of pain through his ankle. And soon, he began to think the unthinkable.

"When I spoke with Mickey on Friday, we weighed up the pros and cons of starting or not starting and coming on later and what not.

"We decided that no matter about the ankle, it would be better to start and maybe at least play 20 minutes of the first half and the last 10 or 15 of the second half. That was more or less how it worked out."

The policy worked perfectly. He ended up scoring five points, which Harte agreed were absolutely crucial. "The psychological value Peter gives the team is not quantifiable. We gambled on getting early frees and who better to take them.

"I'm not saying this was a fantastic insight of ours, but sometimes you go for a gamble. If it works you're brilliant, if it doesn't you are something else.

"We made choices, we made decisions and they worked brilliantly for us. The right man was in the right place, to do the right job and we were able to save him for the latter end of the game which was very important."

Canavan concurs: "They all went over and that was important, surely. I suppose they all counted at the finish." Likewise, he acknowledged that two other pointed frees from Owen Mulligan (a former pupil) early in the second half, were also vital.

"At half-time, Owen was a bit disappointed that he was playing poorly. He felt himself he had a poor first half. So, I reminded him of the fact that Oisin McConville had a poor first half last year, that he didn't accept it and came out in the second half and turned things around.

"I thought Owen showed real character because of the two free kicks he scored, one of them was 40 yards out on the wrong side. Stephie (Stephen O'Neill) could have taken it and Owen took the responsibility. It was a crucial free and it took great guts to do that. He has to be admired for that."

Canavan agrees that had Steven McDonnell goaled near the end it would in all probability have been over for Tyrone.

"I could see it going into the net. He seemed to be clean through on goals. I don't know where Conor Gormley came out of, but it was the tackle of the match tackle of the year maybe.

"When you look back on it and see it again, it was a perfect example of how to block a ball. It won us the All-Ireland on the day."

Canavan said he was deeply appreciative of the goodwill shown him over the years and particularly over the last few weeks.

"I have got great support over the years and I suppose it was remiss of me for not mentioning it somewhere along the line, too. But it does give you great self-esteem and all the comments and best wishes were well thought of."

He also paid tribute to his wife Finola, agreeing that it has been "very trying" for her over the past 10 years, since the county set-up had become so professional.

"If you are married, you do need an understanding wife because they have a lot to put up with and they don't see a pile of you. Thankfully in my case, my wife is a Gael and very much into football. That has been a very important part in me continuing to play at this level."