Tyrone SFC: Canavan siblings impress as Errigal Ciaran rout Ardboe

The Canavan brothers, Darragh and Ruairi, hit 1-10 between them as the holders scored a facile 23-point win over Ardboe in Thursday night’s Tyrone SFC opener

Connollys of Moy Tyrone SFC first round: Errigal Ciaran 4-21 Ardboe 1-7

A hat-trick of goals in the first half set the tone for a dominant performance from champions Errigal Ciaran as they coasted to a 23-point win over Ardboe at O’Neill Park, Dungannon.

The win bettered Errigal’s facile 2-19 to 0-7 win over Ardboe in the 2023 semi-final and this was a real statement of intent from the Dunmoyle men.

No team as retained the Tyrone SFC title since Carrickmore in 2005 and this game was viewed a something of a banana skin for Enda McGinley’s men.

The defending champions were without the services of Tyrone veteran Peter Harte, who was sent off in the closing moments of the All-Ireland Club SFC loss to Cuala in Croke Park in January.

However, while Ardboe registered the opening two scores of the game via Davin McKeown and Shay McGuigan (free), that was as good as it got for Barry Dillion’s side.

Points from Ben McDonnell and Ruairi Canavan (free) got Errigal off the mark before Joe Oguz plundered their first goal with a composed finish.

They scored their second when Odhran Robinson capitalised on an error from Gary Mallaghan, who spilled possession after Tommy Canavan’s shot dropped short.

To their credit, the Loughshore men rallied with a hat-trick of points from the impressive Darragh Devlin.

However, Errigal plundered their third goal when Darragh Canavan slotted into the bottom corner of the net to leave his side 3-6 to 0-6 ahead at the break.

O’Donovan Rossa needed a fast start to the second half and they got one when Cormac Devlin found the net.

It proved to be something of a false dawn for Ardboe as Errigal hit 0-5 without replay including two points from play from Darragh Canavan and a two-pointer from Ruairi.

Jamie Concannon’s point on 37 minutes would be Ardboe’s final score of the game as Errigal ran riot for the remainder of the contest.

Peter Óg McCartan marked his introduction with a stunning two-pointer while fellow substitute Shea McDermott scored his side’s fourth goal soon after been sprung from the bench by McGinley.

The Canavan siblings would finish with 1-10 between them and with fellow Tyrone star Harte to return for the quarter-finals in a fortnight’s time, no team will want to draw the holders in Sunday night.

Errigal Ciaran scorers: Darragh Canavan 1-3, Ruairi Canavan 0-7 (0-2fs, 2tpfs), Odhran Robinson 1-2, Joe Oguz 1-1, Shea McDermott 1-0, Peter Óg McCartan 0-2 (1tp), Ben McDonnell 0-2, Cormac Quinn 0-1, Padraig McGirr 0-1, Cathair Quinn 0-1.

Ardboe scorers: Cormac Devlin 1-1, Darragh Devlin 0-3, Davin McKeown 0-1, Shay McGuigan 0-1 (0-1f), Jamie Concannon 0-1.