Some friendly brotherly competition.
Errigal Ciaran defeated Carrickmore last night in a thrilling county final to win the Tyrone senior championship, and the two Canavan brothers battled it out for the top scorer award.
It looked like Errigal Ciaran were going to cruise through the game as they took a strong lead, going in at half time 1-08 to just 0-04 points.
However, the evergreen Martin Penrose, who at 39 years old is still tearing it up in Tyrone, grabbed a goal for Carrickmore just after the break.
Then the game developed into the kind of championship final we have come to expect from Tyrone, as it was end to end stuff with brilliant drama and talent on display.
Ruairi Canavan, the youngest son of Peter Canavan, was looking dangerous and although he was tightly marked, the forward still found gaps where he could exploit the opposition.
The 19-year-old picked up the ball on the right flank, was quickly met by three defenders trying to suffocate the ball from him, but a little jink and jive created enough space for him to find Joe Oguz with a wonderful kick pass that opened Carrickmore up and led to a brilliant score.
Darragh Canavan, who was the top scorer of the championship going into this game kicked a couple of fine points, but it was his link up play and vision that was most important to the team.
The 2021 All-Ireland winner had the quickest brain and the quickest hands, setting up both of his side’s goals with two inventive hand passes that any basketball player would have been proud of.
It was Darragh who finished top scorer in Tyrone with 20 points, hitting three over in Sunday’s final, while his younger brother came second in the list with 1-11 to his name overall.
Their father was of course a regular winner of this award, and still holds the record for most scores in a single season; a feat he accomplished in 1995 when he scored an incredible 3-27.
The Tyrone champions will be looking to perform a lot better in Ulster than the previous county winners, but they have a difficult task coming up against Derry winners Glen in November.
Related links:
- Peter Canavan’s son Ruairi scores outrageous sideline in Ulster u20 final
- Errigal Ciaran’s journey to Tyrone championship final is a story of fathers and sons
- Peter Canavan picks his All-Star team and there’s some big names missing
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