O'Neill walks tall in wake of Canavan

BEFORE the commencement of their 2001 championship, Peter Canavan observed about the Tyrone side he had piggybacked for more than half a decade that "the influx of the under-21s will only make us stronger, with players like Stephen O'Neill and Cormac McAnallen coming through."

Six months later, long after Tyrone’s summer crumbled on a tetchy afternoon in Belfast, O’Neill and McAnallen won nationwide recognition. The latter received the young footballer of the year award, while O’Neill showed enough attacking potential to garner an Allstar.

One summer later and when Tyrone heads gather to discuss Gaelic, Peter Canavan no longer hangs over every conversation. Age has slightly dimmed his greatness, instead they are focusing on his readymade replacement. Taller, bigger, stronger than the diminutive genius, but with the same knack for scoring important points in important games.