Errigal Ciaran beat Killyclogher on Sunday thanks to Peter Harte’s last-minute kick to reach the Tyrone Senior Football Championship Final, securing a place against Trillick in what will be a repeat of last year’s decider.
Young Michael Rafferty, who earlier this year captained the Tyrone U20 team to All-Ireland glory, was set for maybe his most daunting task yet as he was assigned the unfavourable mission of marking Darragh Canavan, one of the most dangerous forwards on the island.
However, a heavy collision with Killyclogher’s Emmett McFadden early in the game injured Canavan’s shoulder and it visibly aggravated the sharpshooter throughout the first half, thus impacting his influence on the game.
Thankfully for Enda McGinley, Darragh’s brother Ruairi was at hand to take on the burden of scoring, kicking their opening point before adding on two more in the first half.
Mark Bradley has arguably been the player of the Championship so far and when he kicked a fine point from play to put Killyclogher in an early lead, it looked like nothing was going to change on that front but Cormac Quinn managed to keep him quiet for the remainder of the half.
The county star won two key turnovers from the Killyclogher captain, an already grand feat made more impressive when you consider he has played little to no football this season through injury.
The first half was all about Harte though, as the inter-county captain seemed free to do whatever he wanted and was constantly in possession; winning turnovers, picking up spilled balls, linking up play and getting on the end of a brilliantly worked goal to put his team in the driving seat.
Harte then kicked a magnificent score from distance shortly afterwards, and Killyclogher found themselves five points down as the half-time whistle was blown.
Darragh Canavan did come back out for the second half but was clearly struggling with his shoulder. The 24-year-old looked reluctant to even bend his arm but was perhaps trying to work as a decoy, keeping the defenders’ attention in order to create space for team-mates.
It was his brother Ruairi who kicked things off by floating over an inch-perfect ‘45’, before Killyclogher were given a lifeline when awarded a penalty.
Bradley was limping as he stepped up to take it and made a poor connection with the ball as goalkeeper Darragh McAnenly got down low to make a save.
Errigal Ciaran veteran Tommy Canavan came off the bench to add some valuable experience to the team, and they were firmly in control of the game as it entered the final 10 minutes.
Bradley did convert a free to bring the deficit back to four and after late goals against both St Enda’s Omagh and Carrickmore, a comeback could never be fully ruled out until the end.
Darragh Canavan was finally taken off when his side went five clear on the scoreboard and McGinley will be ringing every doctor to make sure that his star man is fully fit and ready to face Trillick in the county final in two weeks’ time.
Exiled to the sidelines, the older Canavan brother had to watch helplessly as Killyclogher were awarded another penalty in dubious circumstances and this time Bradley made no mistake, drilling the ball into the corner.
Ruairi Canavan and Bradley then got a point each, so there was a kick of the ball in it as the game entered injury time.
Unbelievably, Oisin McCann managed to get his paw on the ball as a hopeful pass was launched into the box and it looked certain that a miracle draw was secured.
But, in a spectacular show, man of the match Harte showed all of his years of experience and class by kicking over a last-second winner, booking his team a spot in the Final once again.
Scorers: Errigal Ciaran: R Canavan 0-5 (2f 145), P Harte 1-2, P McGirr 0-1, A McCrory 0-1,T Canavan 0-1 (1f), J Oguz 0-1, O Robinson 0-1,
Killyclogher: M Bradley 1-3,(1f, 1 penalty) Conall McCann 0-2 (2f), T McCann 0-1, N Donnelly 0-2, O McCann 1-0.