Errigal captain Canavan relieved to survive tough Clonoe test

SO now we know the final four!

Errigal Ciaran and Killyclogher will meet in the semi-finals of the Tyrone Senior Championship this Sunday, after each edged home in their respective quarter-final replays over the past few days.

There they are joined by reigning champions Trillick and Dungannon who will lock horns this Friday night at O’Neill’s Healy Park.

Killyclogher emerged triumphant in a turgid tussle with Carrickmore in Omagh on Thursday evening 0-8 to 0-6, but the exchanges were a lot more engaging in the replay between Errigal and Clonoe on Saturday at Dungannon, with the Dunmoyle boys taking the verdict 0-14 to 0-11.

Captain Darragh Canavan led by example for the victors on the night, slotting over five sublime scores from open play as he turned in a man of the match display.

For the second weekend running the underdogs Clonoe pushed Errigal all the way, with just a point separating the sides heading into injury time, but Canavan dismissed the notion that the favourites were always going to prevail with some room to spare in the replay.

“ There was a lot of ones saying that but we knew how tough the battle was the first day and knew it would be the same today as well. They are a big physical side and they were two tough games. We were just happy to get over the line.

“ They stuck about to be fair to them. We knew how tough they were and dogged. I’m sure they will give that (league relegation) playoff a good rattle too.”

No doubt two back to back fiercely competitive Championship outings should stand to Errigal as they prepare to meet a streetwise Killyclogher side in the semi-finals. Canavan felt that only time will tell whether that is the case or not.

“ We will see about that next weekend. But you can’t beat good tough Championship battle. This is the time of year you want to be playing. It was thoroughly enjoyable and a great game. It was a change from last week when we couldn’t stick the ball over the bar.”

Errigal have had to dig deep to secure their passage into the last four but Darragh points out that there is rarely a routine route to follow in Tyrone to get deep into the Championship.

“ Every game is a tough battle no matter who you play. We will rest up now tonight and tomorrow and get stuck into our preparations for Killyclogher after that.”