Connolly’s of Moy Tyrone SFC semi-final: Errigal Ciaran 2-19 Ardboe 0-7
Underdogs often say ‘We’re not here to make up the numbers’ – reporters might have been accused of doing exactly that, such was Errigal’s extraordinary dominance of this semi-final.
One-sided score-lines are rare enough in the Tyrone SFC, but to have such a mis-match in the last four was astonishing.
Ardboe were poor, of course, but the Ballygawley club’s glittering array of attacking riches shone brightly, and dazzled their opponents, leaving them stunned like the proverbial rabbits in the headlights.
To no great surprise the Canavan brothers, Darragh and Ruairi, were at the heart of Errigal’s excellent attacking display, which brought 2-14 from play, albeit after a slow start from the eventual victors.
Darragh was named ‘Man of the Match’ after top-scoring with 0-5, but his younger brother was equally impressive.
Rather remarkably, Ruairi didn’t get on the score-sheet at all, but he was involved in a series of scores with brilliant play-making. The number 15 roved deep then, when he got the ball, turned in an instant to kick superb long passes to team-mates in space.
Errigal joint-boss Adrian O’Donnell strove manfully to downplay the ease with which his club had returned to the Tyrone final, defending the crown they won back after a decade’s gap last year.
He began by talking about the opening 10 minutes, during which Ardboe went two ahead through frees, but that was the most made-up big fat lie of a false dawn ever.
“We came here to try to survive what was going to be a tough test…” he said, and talked about being “fortunate” in winning the toss and playing with the breeze in the opening period.
Yet there was absolutely no luck involved in this emphatic victory. The breeze did help them gobble up Ardboe kick-out after Ardboe kick-out, but this win was built on skill, work-rate, and superiority all over the pitch.
Errigal’s first score didn’t come until the 10th minute, and then from a mark. Their second followed by the same method. Their third from a free.
Then the floodgates opened and Ardboe were utterly washed away by a stream of scores.
Errigal had appeared calm and composed even after falling behind to those two early frees, and such an impression of self-belief and self-confidence was entirely justified.
Ardboe coach Chrissy McKaigue was roaring ‘Dig in! Dig in! Dig in! Plug! Plug! Dog it out!’ midway through the first half, but to absolutely no avail.
The loughshore men would have required the construction of a wall across the pitch to stop Errigal’s pace and movement, their precise shooting from distance.
Tommy Canavan got the scoring going from play, then Darragh, followed by a fisted Mark Kavanagh score from acres of space, to make it six consecutive scores.
A free and a mark followed, the latter made and finished by the Canavan brothers, but after that Errigal were irrepressible.
Peter Harte, galloping around like a spring lamb, began to enjoy himself, making and taking scores. Darragh took the run of points in a row into double figures, and number 13 was fired just over the bar, before Harte brought it to 14
Even when Ardboe thought they’d ended the misery, not only scoring again themselves but doing so from play as Cormac Devlin raced clear in added time, their opponents hit back even harder.
Ben McDonnell won the ball at midfield, Harte ran with it, then hand-passed across for Joe Oguz to palm to the net. 1-14 to 0-3.
This was excruciating, embarrassing for Ardboe.
Boss Gavin Devlin made three changes at half-time; he could have taken almost any, almost all of the starting 15 off.
One of those substitutes, Shea Quinn made a quick impact, cancelling out a first point from Darragh Canavan – but when a shot from the latter came back off the far upright, there was an Errigal team-mate to catch the ball and nonchalantly dispatch it to the net.
The scorer? Veteran full-back Aidan McCrory. It was that sort of day, for both teams.
The game was obviously long up, but Errigal casually stretched their lead at their leisure. One corner-back, Dermot Morrow, finishing off yet another flowing chain of passes – then set up the other, Cormac Quinn, to score after a sweet side-step.
Amazingly, Ardboe had the final say in the scoring stakes, through wing-back Shea O’Hare, but they had been utterly destroyed.
Errigal head into a repeat of the 2019 decider against Trillick, who won on that occasion.
However, after this display at the home of their greatest rivals, Carrickmore, Errigal will be firm favourites.
The Ballygawley men now attempt to emulate the St Colmcille’s feat of being the last Tyrone club to retain the O’Neill Cup, back in 2005; few would bet against them doing so on this devastating form.
Errigal Ciaran: D McAnenly; Cormac Quinn (0-1), A McCrory (1-0), D Morrow (0-1); B McDonnell (0-1), Ciaran Quinn, P Og McCartan (0-1 mark); P Harte (0-4), J Oguz (1-1); P O’Hanlon, T Canavan (0-4, 0-2 frees), M Kavanagh; P Traynor, D Canavan (0-5, 0-1 mark), R Canavan.
Substitutes: E Kelly for McDonnell (51); O Robinson for Traynor (51); B Horisk for D Canavan (51); M McCarney for Morrow (55); M McCann for R Canavan (56).
Ardboe: C Quinn; J Bell, O Devlin, A Duffy; S O’Hare (0-1), M Cassidy, Conan Devlin; M O’Neill, Conall Devlin; Cormac Devlin (0-2), E Og Teague (0-1), S McGuigan (0-1 free); O Mulgrew, D Mulgrew, K Coney (0-1 free).
Substitutes: J Martin for Conall Devlin (h-t); S Quinn (0-1) for Duffy (h-t); M Bell for Coney (h-t); A Devlin for O Mulgrew (50); C Mallaghan for D Mulgrew (51).
Referee: Kieran Eannetta (Omagh).
