By 
WITH twelve different scorers across the seventy minutes, Tyrone resembled a well-oiled machine in Sunday’s Division Two victory over Cavan, rolling through the gears en route to a very comfortable win at O’Neill’s Healy Park.
A tally of 2-23 was indicative of a relentlessly accomplished attacking display, and with that context it’s no surprise that Darragh Canavan was at the heart of all that was good about Tyrone’s performance.
Darragh, who will take a month out to go travelling in Australia following next weekend’s Louth game, finished his day’s work with nine points, eight from play, in an exhibition of score-taking.
It wasn’t just that – a delectable cross-field pass deep in the second half leading directly to a Tyrone score was arguably the most impressive piece of individual play in the entire game.
It was, needless to say, vintage Canavan. Speaking after the game, Darragh spoke with his customary modesty about his own individual performance.
“I was happy enough, but it could have been anybody else. There was a good spread of scorers. Hopefully it continues. I’m not too bothered about individual performances, it was about getting two points, so we’re very happy.”
Tyrone endured an inauspicious start to the league, being held to a draw by Kildare on their first day out before travelling to Celtic Park and losing out to Derry.
Anything other than a win over Cavan could well have signified the end of their promotion hopes, and now they’ll look forward to next Sunday’s trip to Darver to take on Louth with a renewed sense of faith in their ability to climb up the table.
Canavan said: “It was massive, we put ourselves under pressure in the first two weeks so it’s nice to get the two points. Every week is vitally important at this stage, especially after the start [against Kildare and Derry]. We can build on today hopefully, and hopefully we can put in more good performances.”
Tyrone were home and hosed by the final 10 minutes of yesterday’s contest against a county that have failed to notch a single league win over the Red Hands since 1997.
Early doors it was competitive enough, though two first-half goals from Brian Kennedy and Mattie Donnelly steadied the ship, and Tyrone never really looked back in a lop-sided second period.
The final scoreline of 2-23 to 1-14 was by no means flattering to Malachy O’Rourke’s side, who made mincemeat of the Cavan defence and could easily have fired in a few more goals after the break.
“To be fair the lads stuck at it. It wasn’t a good start, but we kept going and kept fighting. We eventually started to play a wee bit. We’re happy to get the two points, that was the main thing.”
Tyrone will now hope to embark on a winning run, starting with Louth away from home.
With three points on the board from as many matches, they’re by no means out of the running for promotion to the top-flight, and the manner of yesterday’s performance suggests that they may have turned a corner after that disappointing defeat to Derry.
“There’s plenty of competition and that keeps the whole thing honest. It makes training good, and hopefully it continues and there’s more strong performances in our next matches.”
