Ulster Club SFC quarter-final: Glen (Derry) 3-10 Errigal Ciaran (Tyrone) 1-12
THIS would have been a tough enough match for Glen boss Malachy O'Rourke even had the Derry champions coasted through – but Errigal Ciaran made them battle all the way.
In the end, few could quite believe that the Maghera men had a four-point winning margin, or that they had won the second half by 1-9 to 0-4, even though their performance after the teams turned around was magnificent.
Errigal will feel hard done by due to a late 'goal' disallowed for a 'square ball', and also with Glen's opening major score standing despite Conor Convery barging goalkeeper Darragh McAnenly into the net, although the Derry side should have had a penalty minutes later.
There was definitely more relief than joy afterwards for Fermanagh native O'Rourke, who played for Errigal and still lives in Ballygawley:
"It was always going to be a difficult game with Errigal, and for myself as well, because Errigal is a great club, they've been great to me.
"It was a difficult situation for me to be in but the boys in Glen have worked really hard and put an awful lot of effort and commitment into it and I felt the only way you could do that justice was to try your best for them on the day. At the same time, it was hard doing it against Errigal."
It was harder still on the pitch, with three Canavans inspiring Errigal's comeback after that early setback - captain Tommy scoring a superb goal and his young cousins Darragh and Ruairi producing some sensational forward play, including a wonderful solo dummy from the latter.
Yet even four points down at half-time, 2-1 to 1-8, Glen didn't panic, and Ethan Doherty worked a terrific goal, albeit one that went in via two defenders.
Still Errigal kept coming, as O'Rourke knew they would: "We had to try to change the momentum of the game a wee bit, and especially when we had the wind in the second half, it was a case of attacking strongly and trying to put over the scores that would deflate Errigal a wee bit and give our boys a bit of a lift also. I suppose that's the way it turned out.
"But Errigal didn't die by any stretch of the imagination, they kept going right to the end. There were a few different skirmishes at the back but the boys were able to hold out and it was good to get through it today."
The disappointment that etched every Errigal face was clear with skipper Tommy Canavan too, but he was gracious in defeat, despite his dejection:
"Absolutely gutted, to be honest. We put in a great shift, I felt, across the board, but just probably in patches we let them get away on the counter-attack a couple of times in the second half. The quality that they have, they're always going to punish you if they get the space up front.
"You mentioned the call at the start… I thought that was a harsh one to be fair, but we had our chances too and maybe we didn't make enough when we had our purple patch in the game, so fair dues to Glen."
The Errigal skipper felt his side had made it a one-point game in the first minute of added time, but that 'goal' was ruled out, to his dismay:
"I thought it was crazy, to be honest. I thought we did well to gain possession at that stage and work it out wide, outside of the square actually; it was squared and we did our best to scramble it in and I was very surprised to hear the call as it turned out - but that's the way things go, that's the nature of sport. We didn't get the rub of the green maybe at the end there but good luck to Glen."
The Derry men now face Antrim's Cargin in the semi-finals; few would bet against them reaching their first Ulster Club SFC Final.
