Tyrone claimed the Ulster U20 football championship on Friday night, and some individual brilliance from Ruairi Canavan was central to the Red Hand's victory.
With the final against Cavan balanced on a knife edge, the opening moments of the second half were crucial. Tyrone went in at the break down by 0-6 to 0-5, before claiming the first five scores of the second half to propel themselves to a tense 0-11 to 0-10 victory.
Four of those points, and seven of Tyrone's 0-11, came from Ruairi Canavan, another from one of the country's most famous footballing families.
The highlight of Canavan's man of the match performance was a breathtaking sideline which he nailed over the bar.
Ulster U20 final: Ruairi Canavan brilliance shines through in Tyrone win
With just under ten minutes to go in the U20 Ulster final, Tyrone lead Cavan by just one point. Ruairi Canavan stood over a sideline deep in Cavan territory, in what didn't at first glance look like a scoring opportunity.
Canavan, however, had other ideas, and put some brilliant swerve on the ball and used the wind to pop over another point and stretch Tyrone's lead to two.
Briseann an dúchas!
Check out this sideline from Ruairí Canavan from @TyroneGAALive #GAA #GAABeo
pic.twitter.com/mxe8FEyMe0— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) April 23, 2022
An angle from behind Canavan in the crowd does even better justice to the incredible swerve he managed to put on the ball from the sideline.
Brilliant sideline point from @ErrigalCiaran1 Ruairi Canavan as @TyroneGAALive beat @CavanCoBoardGaa in @UlsterGAA U20 Final.
Updates in association with @AlskeaLtd pic.twitter.com/kbD2Ha3ZGw— Teamtalkmag.com (@teamtalkmagLIVE) April 22, 2022
Canavan was ultimately awarded man of the match for his efforts, as he played a pivotal role in dragging Tyrone to the provincial crown.
They now progress to play the winners of the Munster championship in the All-Ireland series, with Cork and Kerry facing off in Tralee on Monday night.
Lán Ama
“It was a dogfight, we were lucky enough to come out there” 👊
Is é Ruairí Canavan Laoch na hImeartha inniu!
Comhghairdeas leat Ruairí! 👏@GAA_BEO @officialgaa
#GAABeo | #GAA
BEO/LIVE AR @TG4TV pic.twitter.com/CKoLQlghOH— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) April 22, 2022
Canavan spoke to TG4 after the game, and said that the Tyrone squad would savour the Ulster crown, a trophy that was the first intercounty silverware for many of the squad.
We fought hard. It was a dog fight and we were lucky enough to come out there.
We were flattened first half, but a few words at half-time got us going.
We got to grips with it more in the middle, Michael and Graham got into the game a bit more, and we had more runners coming through who drew a few fouls.
Down and Donegal are great teams too, but we knew Cavan would overturn Monaghan and Derry, so it was going to take even more.
We'll definitely enjoy this. First bit of silverware most of us boys have won - there's a few under-17s from last year. For most of us, it's the first thing we've won with Tyrone.
SEE ALSO: Kerry Agree To Play Munster Semi-Final At Pairc Uí Rinn
