Canavan sparkles as Tyrone outclass Cavan but forward set for Australia trip

Canavan, who hit 0-9 in the 12 points drubbing of Cavan at O’Neills Healy Park, will play against Louth next weekend, but that’s the last Red Hands will see of him until championship time.

Sun, 15 Feb, 2026 - 16:31

Francis Mooney

Division 2: Tyrone 2-23 Cavan 1-14

Darragh Canavan sparkled in Tyrone’s first win of the Division Two campaign, but he’s heading to Australia for a month and will miss the last three rounds of the league and the final, should his side finish in the top two.

Canavan, who hit 0-9 in the 12 points drubbing of Cavan at O’Neill's Healy Park, will play against Louth next weekend, but that’s the last Red Hands will see of him until championship time.

Manager Malachy O’Rourke, who confirmed his ace attacker’s travel plans following the Ulster derby, admitted to a measure of relief at getting the better of the Breffni men, who are pointless after three games.

“We got two points, and we move on. It’s a tough division and we have to dust ourselves down and get ready for the next game,” he said.

“We knew the boys were training well; there’s a good spirit among them. I knew there was a determination among them to get the two points here today, but that guarantees you nothing.

“We know there’s plenty of tests ahead, but we’re just delighted to get this one here today. It makes for a wee bit prettier reading when you look at the table.”

Tyrone were stunned by a Cavan onslaught as they hit 1-2 inside the opening four minutes, Oisin Brady converting a two-point free, before Tiarnan Madden intercepted a Niall Morgan kick-out to send Tiarnan Madden in to finish to the net from close range.

It was a spark that got the Red Hands going, a couple of Darragh Canavan specials and a Frank Burns point getting their challenge off the mark.

But Cavan were bossing the battle for ball off both kick-outs through Ciaran Brady, Conor Brady and Ryan Donohue, and pressed again for Corrigan and Gerard Smith to keep them in front.

The Red Hands struck for their first goal on 17 minutes, skipper Brian Kennedy rifling his shot to the bottom corner of the net off Seanie O’Donnell’s assist.

And they struck for a second goal three minutes before the break, a sweeping move ending with Kennedy turning provider as he crossed for Mattie Donnelly to punch home.

Canavan’s third point sent the home side in with a 2-7 to 1-6 interval lead and he added a two-pointer soon after the restart.

Paddy Lynch, off the bench at the interval to add a spark to the Breffni attack, flashed over a couple of scores from play and added a free to lead their fightback.

Now Canavan was making the Tyrone forward line tick, and Cavan needed two blinding saves from Liam Brady to deny McElholm and Seanie O’Donnell.

In Lynch, Cavan had a man with an eye for the posts, his fifth point keeping his side in the game, but they could do little to prevent Tyrone’s attacking flow as the Red Hands moved the ball quickly and accurately to reel off score after score.

Canavan, Conn Kilpatrick, Joe Oguz, Donnelly, Rory Brennan and Michael McKernan were all on target as 12 players in total got their names on the score-sheet.

Scorers for Tyrone: M Donnelly 1-1, B Kennedy 1-0, D Canavan 0-9 (1tp, 1f), E McElholm 0-4, F Burns 0-2, S O’Donnell, C Kilpatrick, B Cullen, M McKernan, R Cassidy, J Oguz, R Brennan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Cavan: T Madden 1-0, P Lynch 0-5 (2f), G McKiernan, O Brady (1tpf) 0-3 each, D McVeety, P Corrigan, G Smith 0-1 each.

Tyrone: N Morgan; C Quinn, M Rafferty, J Clarke; R Cassidy, M McKernan, B Cullen; B Kennedy, C Daly; E McElholm, C Kilpatrick, F Burns; D Canavan, M Donnelly, S O’Donnell.

Subs: J Oguz for Cassidy (50), R Brennan for Burns (53), C O’Neill for Rafferty (63), P Teague for Daly (63), E Jordan for McElholm (67) Cavan: L Brady; J McLoughlin, J Meade, Cormac Brady; O Brady, N Carolan, G Smith; Ciaran Brady, Conor Brady; Ciaran Brady (Arva), T Madden, Peter Corrigan; R Donohoe, G McKiernan, D McVeety.

Subs: P Lynch for Donohue (h-t), B O’Connell for Cormac Brady (h-t), F Shehu for Madden (56), R Brady for Corrigan (56), C McGovern for Lynch (70).

Referee: B Tiernan (Dublin).