Canavan’s class lights up the way for Tyrone

Tyrone 4-11 Fermanagh 1-11

The Tyrone legend was at the heart of the rare moments of beauty in this Allianz League semi-final, his audacious chip over Ronan Gallagher the most memorable.

The ten bookings, culminating in the dismissal of Tyrone wing-back Conor Gormley late on for a second yellow also carried echoes of the Ulster championship.

Perhaps, Fermanagh put too much value in attempting to out-muscle Tyrone, especially playing with the breeze in the first half. If they used the chilling bluster to their advantage, by playing long balls, rather than jarring Tyrone with shoulders, their interval lead would have been more than the slenderest of margins, 0-6 to 0-5.

“The breeze was very significant and I felt, playing with it in the first half, we needed to be four or five points ahead at half-time,” said Dom Corrigan.

As expected from the first Fermanagh team to play at headquarters in 32 years, the nerves took time to settle. Tyrone were three points up before Fermanagh mounted an attack. Brian Dooher, Stephen O’Neill and Canavan moving easily into scoring positions.

Tom Brewster’s curling 7th minute free sparked an Ernesider spree, with his brother, Paul, and Ciaran Donnelly nailing points in quick succession. Tyrone, despite the breeze biting into their faces and McGrath ruling midfield, enjoyed as much possession as their neighbours.

“It’s not about pretty football anymore, it’s about pretty results. And Tyrone are just going to have learn that,” said Mickey Harte.

“We have been pegged as a great team for over a decade now. We can’t say that all the things that have been holding Tyrone back have been mended but this is a good result and we are in good stead for the league final.”Within 30 seconds of the restart, Tyrone had made their intent clear. Dooher, who ran himself into the ground, slipped a neat pass to Canavan. The talismanic skipper was on the 40, but that didn’t seem to matter. A swift feint and side-step and Micheal Lilley was left to trail in his slipstream as Canavan bore down on goal, smashing the ball to the net off the under-side of the bar.

If that goal was down to individual excellence, Tyrone’s second, four minutes later, illustrated that over-dependence on their genius full-forward is no longer a problem. Instead, Sean Cavanagh, a midfield work-horse of real promise, drove through the Fermanagh defence, slotting a pass into Enda McGinley who clipped the ball over two Fermanagh players. All the waiting Eoin Mulligan needed to do was guide the ball into the net.

“Those two goals knocked the stuffing out of us,” Corrigan sighed. That they arrived via Canavan and Mulligan was fitting. After years of foraging on his own, Canavan seems to have the perfect foil for his genius.

“Eoin Mulligan has been a good player for a few years, since he was on the Tyrone minor side at 16,” said Harte. “Peter taught him in school, and obviously it wasn’t all academic. He thought him a few tricks on the field too. They do play together, they are both quality players and, hopefully, the presence of Eoin will keep Peter going for another few years.”

When he produces a piece of skill like his second, and Tyrone’s third, goal you would be inclined to agree with Harte. Seizing on a loose ball, Canavan effortlessly lifted the ball over the massive frame of Ronan Gallagher. As the ball nestled in the corner, Fermanagh’s brief hopes died.

Fermanagh got their goal in the 44th minute, the first conceded by Tyrone in this season’s league, with Ryan Keenan latching onto Donnelly’s long ball. Fermanagh toiled hard after that, but while each score for them was a struggle, Tyrone were able to pluck points after stringing two or three passes together.

The game ended on a bit of a sour note with Stephen O’Neill, their mercurial wing-forward, having to be carried from the fray. As O’Neill lay motionless on the ground, Croke Park’s medical staff dillied-dallied, forcing Harte and the Tyrone mentors to lift O’Neill off the pitch.

“I don’t know why it took so long to get the stretcher on,” said Harte. “We are not allowed onto the pitch, we incur the wrath of Croke Park if we go onto the pitch. Eventually, we had to go, I got permission from the referee to go on. I thought they were very slow to move in when the man was down injured. That’s something that could be learnt for another day.”

Scorers for Tyrone: P Canavan (2-4), E Mulligan (2-1), S O’Neill (0-3, 2 frees), B Dooher, S Cavanagh, G Cavlan (0-1 each)

Fermanagh: T Brewster(0-6, 4 frees, 1 45), R Keenan(1-0), C Bradley(0-2), S Maguire, C Donnelly, P Brewster(0-1 each)

TYRONE: P McConnell; R McMenamon, C Holmes, M McGee, C Gormley, G Devlin, P Jordan; K Hughes, S Cavanagh; E McGinley, G Cavlan, S O’Neill, B Dooher, P Canavan, E Mulligan.

Subs: D Carlin for McGee (44 mins), F McGuigan for Cavlan, M Harte for McGinley (65 mins), S Mulgrew for O’Neill (67 mins)

FERMANAGH: Ronan Gallagher, R McCloskey, B Owens, M Lilley, N Cox, J Gilheaney, S McDermott; P Brewster, M McGrath; T Brewster, Raymond Gallagher, C Donnelly, R McCabe, S Maguire, R Keenan.

Subs: R Johnston for Gilheany (38 mins), C Bradley for McCabe (60 mins), K Gallagher for Donnelly (65 mins)

Ref: J Bannon (Longford)