The Canavan brothers, Darragh and Ruairi, were the standout performers for Errigal Ciaran in their All-Ireland Club SFC final victory against Cuala. Their quick thinking, teamwork, and clinical finishing were instrumental in securing the win for their team.
All-Ireland Club SFC final: Errigal Ciaran ( Tyrone ) vs Cuala ( Dublin ) (Sunday, 3.40pm, Croke Park) It happened in the blink of an eye, so rapidly that the TG4 cameras didn’t catch the initial, impish piece of brilliance. They caught the end of it though, as a driven arrowed ball fell into Darragh Canavan ’s run, he steadied and smashed to the roof of the Dr Crokes net. The camera panned back to capture his younger brother Ruairi, the man who delivered the ball.
It was a moment that took the breath away on an afternoon in Newbridge where Darragh hit 1-6 from play and Ruairi shot 0-7, with four from play, while he won the frees for the other three. The numbers alone are staggering. 1-13 between them out of 2-18, and it was the closing stages of normal time before any other Errigal player would score. At one point in extra-time the Errigal crowd were cheering a Ruairi shot before the ball had even come off his boot, such was his frightening accuracy up to that point. As it happened, that one tailed wide, while another edged off the post in extra-time, probably due to fatigue as much as anything else. “They would have talked about that (goal move),” says Paul Devlin, who managed both Canavans at under-20 level, and had Ruairi in Tyrone All-Ireland winning under-20 squad in 2022. “It’s the wee things that make the difference with them. There was a wee bit of a scrimmage going on at the sideline over a foul or a sideline ball. “They weren’t worried about what was happening there. They were on the same wavelength. They were thinking, ‘Right, we are going to try this. The game is dead but the referee is not stopping. Keep her moving.’ “They are like gunslingers. They go at the goal all the time. Ruairi banged it and Darragh made the move. “I remember Darragh doing the same thing as Ruairi, finding the man inside against Derry in an under-20 Ulster final in 2019 - the awareness. “It comes down to fine margins and whoever was going to get a goal at the right time was probably going to win the game. Crokes were nipping away and the goal kept Errigal in the game. It boiled down to the class of the two lads. “Enda McGinley (Errigal Ciaran manager) is a cute fella and has been around the block. “If Crokes or whatever team is trying to get into us here, we’ll have the awareness to hit on the break quick. Lucky enough the two lads are of that mindset and they take it on board and put it in place. “It’s okay telling lads that, but getting them to do it is another thing, and having the skill to execute the pass and take the goal. “You see when Darragh is in there, he is a ruthless boy in front of the goals.” In that moment we saw the quick thinking and ability to execute that sets the brothers apart. Then came the almost perma-smiles that fit neatly alongside the joy the dynamic duo seem to play the game with, and which unavoidably draw people to them. The grins were a little broader than usual. No indentured slaves here. That smile, Devlin says, is a McGarrity thing. Their mother, Finola, is a McGarrity from Carrickmore, a sister of Ronan, who played alongside Devlin and their father, Peter Canavan in the 1995 All-Ireland final. Other inside forwards might be giving out about the ball not being kicked in, or the quality of the ball. The ‘blame game’ doesn’t seem to be a thing with the Canavan brothers. Instead of slabbering or pointing fingers, they’re generally off, on the move again. “I’d say smiling all the time is probably the McGarrity in them,” laughs Devlin. “The McGarrity fellas always come with a smile on their face. That’s just the way they go about their business. “Running up to Garvaghey, lads like that, the stars that they are at the minute, it just tells you enough about them that they would never go by you. “They’d always stop for a chat. That’s the lads they are. They will definitely not get carried away with where they are at. You can take them from me. “They are grounded lads. It comes from both sides of the family. They carry themselves the right way and once they get on that field you have two very dedicated, ruthless fellas there that will go to town on you if you let them away with it. “There is no such thing as who they came from, their background. Nobody handed them a silver spoon. “What they have done through the years, they have worked hard for it. They want to learn all the time. “Darragh and Ruairi want to make their name. And that would be put to them from no better place than home itself. “The mother’s side are all hard working people, the McGarrity family from Carrickmore. They carry themselves well too
GAA All-Ireland Club SFC Errigal Ciaran Canavan Brothers Darragh Canavan Ruairi Canavan Cuala Dublin Tyrone Peter Canavan Ronan Mcgarrity Enda Mcginley Goal Accuracy Teamwork Skill Winning Mentality
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