Tyrone SFC: Ruairi and Darragh Canavan star as Errigal Ciaran edge out Clonoe in quarter-final replay
Connollys of Moy Tyrone SFC: Errigal Ciaran 0-14 Clonoe 0-11
Errigal Ciaran’s star quality shone under the lights of O’Neill Park in Dungannon as the Canavan siblings gave them the edge over a gallant Clonoe side in Saturday night’s quarter-final replay.
The Tyrone attackers kicked 0-11 of Errigal’s 14-point haul with Darragh hitting five points from play with Ruairi scoring 0-6, including two from play.
Just as they did last week, Clonoe led by three early on with points from Danny McNulty, Connor McAliskey (mark) and Ryan Morrow.
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Ruairi Canavan converted a free to get Errigal off the mark after six minutes and the 2022 county champions were level with back-to-back points from Darragh Canavan.
Ronan Corey and Ruairi Canavan traded points before Padraig McGirr nudged Errigal into the lead for the first time with a fine point on 22 minutes.
Enda McGinley’s side were 0-8 to 0-6 ahead at the break with Ruairi Canavan, Odhran Robinson (free) and Peter Harte on target, but McAliskey hit a crucial free in stoppage time for the O’Rahilly’s.
The second half was Clonoe versus the Canavans and the Dunmoyle men got the better of things, but it was far from plain sailing.
The dogged determination of Kevin Madden’s outfit meant they simply refused to wilt under pressure despite some classy scores from the Canavans.
When the game did appear to be slipping away from them, Pascal McClure, who plundered a goal in the drawn game, lifted Clonoe’s spirits with three cracking points from play.
A Connor McAliskey point from play, his fourth of the game, set up a grandstand finish with six minutes of injury-time to be played.
However, Errigal weren’t to be denied with Darragh Canavan landing the insurance point before Ruairi made sure he had the final say on proceedings with a stunning effort from the far sideline.
McGinley’s side will face Killyclogher in the last four next Sunday in what is a repeat of last year’s Championship opener which Errigal won convincingly.
Trillick will take on Dungannon in the first semi-final at O’Neills Healy Park on Friday night.
Errigal Ciaran scorers: Ruairi Canavan 0-6 (0-4fs), Darragh Canavan 0-5, Peter Harte 0-1, Padraig McGirr 0-1, Odhran Robinson 0-1 (0-1f).
Clonoe scorers: Connor McAliskey 0-4 (0-2fs, 0-1m), Pascal McClure 0-3, Ryan Morrow 0-2 (0-1m) Danny McNulty 0-1, Ronan Corey 0-1.
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