Canavan comeback has the Red Hands applauding

Tyrone 1-13 Down 1-06

The action was as bleak as the weather in Omagh yesterday, only the occasional flash of brilliance from Benny Coulter illuminating a dour encounter.

Coulter could only shine if he got the ball, however, and for most of the second half he didn’t. The teams struggled with the conditions and themselves, a foot-hold impossible to find on the slippery surface. This was such a struggle that sometimes you winced as you watched.

Then, a familiar figure left the bench, and began to jog up and down the touch-line. The Tyrone contingent among the 18,200 in Healy Park roused the biggest cheer of the day. Their hero had returned.

The 20 minutes Peter Canavan played yesterday was his first taste of competitive inter-county action since he helped his county win their first All-Ireland in September 2003. And yet it seemed like he was never away.

Within two minutes of Canavan entering the fray, Tyrone scored a goal. Canavan was involved, his tenacity scooping up a loose pass from the Down defence, feeding Stephen O’Neill, who had the vision to set Martin Penrose on a free road to goal.

His finish was worthy of Canavan himself, even if Down’s debutant keeper Brendan McVeigh managed to get a hand to it.

There had only been two scores in the second half before Canavan made his appearance and both of those were confined to the first minute. His mere presence on the field galvanised a team that sorely lacked leadership for 50 minutes.

But, it wasn’t simply about his presence. Canavan was involved in every Tyrone score from the moment he left the bench, nailing two points himself, one a perfectly-judged side-line kick, the other from an earlier vintage as he dummied past two defenders before splitting the posts from the left wing.

Canavan’s influence yesterday was astonishing. He hadn’t played inter-county football in over eighteen months; he was carrying a hamstring injury; he is now 34 years of age and was coming onto a Tyrone side that looked a shell of their All-Ireland winning shelf.

And still, he ensured everyone left Healy Park talking about him.

Down, mesmerised a little by Canavan, managed just one score in the final 20 minutes, Ambrose Rogers kicking a fine score to settle nerves after Penrose’s goal, but they could do little to interrupt a master at work.

Early on, Benny Coulter briefly threatened to be the defining force. After losing the first four battles in his personal duel with Chris Lawn, he finally got some mileage from one of Dan Gordon’s long-range rockets.

Coulter was always most likely one-on-one with Lawn and the Tyrone full-back was left flailing in fresh air as Coulter tore past him and slid the ball past Pascal McConnell.

Coulter’s goal came in the 16th minute and spurred Down into action. They had let Tyrone slip effortlessly into an early lead, Mickey Harte’s team scoring five points in the opening 15 minutes.

While it’s probably true that Tyrone won’t win an All-Ireland unless Brian McGuigan returns from Australia, his replacement at centre-forward had a fruitful day, his finish for the goal typifying his assured display. Had Canavan not decided to display his genius, Penrose would have been a shoo-in for man of the match.

Coulter ploughed a lone furrow in the Down attack. Gordon won a fair whack of possession around the middle, but with Rogers retreating from centre-forward to help him out, Coulter seemed the only Down forward eager to benefit from the possession.

But his influence was curbed in the second half, as Ryan McMenamin did his usual claustrophobic man-marking job on the Mourne talisman. Dependency on Coulter is going to be a problem for Paddy O’Rourke as he eyes the hazardous route through the qualifiers. Still, he’s not a bad player to be dependant on. Down held the lead briefly after the interval, the teams were level 1-4 to 0-7 at the break, after Coulter had risen above four players to catch Gordon’s long ball, before palming the ball off to the well-positioned Liam Doyle.

Owen Mulligan thought he had scored a goal in the 28th minute, rounding off a splendid team movement that involved Penrose and O’Neill, but he was adjudged to be in the square when he dived at O’Neill’s pass. After a lengthy consultation with each other, the umpires decided to disallow the goal.

But then, Tyrone always had the great one to call upon.

Scorers: Tyrone: M Penrose (1-1), S Cavanagh, P Canavan (0-2 each), O Mulligan (0-2, frees), P Donnelly, S O’Neill, E McGinley, P Donnelly, P Jordan, R Mellon (0-1 each). Down: B Coulter (1-1), A Rogers (0-3), L Doyle (0-2, 1 free).

TYRONE: P McConnell; R McMenamin, C Lawn, S Sweeney, C Gormley, G Devlin, P Jordan; C Holmes, S Cavanagh; P Donnelly, M Penrose, R Mellon, O Mulligan, S O’Neill, E McGinley. Subs: P Canavan for Mellon (47 mins), J McMahon for Donnelly (49 mins), L Meenan for Penrose (69 mins).

DOWN: B McVeigh; A Scullion, M Cole, G Barry, B Grant, A O’Prey, D Rafferty; A Molloy, D Gordon; L Doyle, A Rogers, J Clarke, C Laverty, B Coulter, R Murtagh. Subs: R Sexton for Clarke (44 mins), C McCrickard for Laverty (51 mins), A Rice for Barry (60 mins), J Doran for Molloy (69 mins)

Ref: M Deegan (Laois).