Canavan and Errigal leave comeback until too late

Ulster SFC semi-final/ Ballinderry 1-15 Errigal Ciarán 3-7: Even the extravagant talents of Peter The Great could not save his beloved Errigal Ciarán, who had staged a sensational comeback but fell just two points short of survival at Casement Park, Belfast, yesterday.

A heart-stopping grandstand finish marked an Ulster club senior football semi-final replay of pulsating quality.

Canavan's classy Tyrone champions - by then down to 14 men - all but pulled the carpet from underneath the feet of the Derry champions in a hectic conclusion.

The Derry men had been sitting on a six-point lead from late in the final quarter.

Canavan's brother Pascal had been sent to the line for an off-the-ball offence in the 43rd minute before Peter himself sparked the remarkable comeback with three astute points.

Remarkable too was the fact the Errigal captain seemed set for a mixed bag of a day - he had missed a few chances earlier.

The depleted Tyrone men responded to Canavan's belated accuracy with verve and imagination.

The Derry champions were suddenly undermined. They had led by 1-13 to 2-4 by the end of a third quarter, in which they had overwhelmed the Tyrone men.

Alarm bells rang out when, in the second minute of injury-time, Mark Harte - son of Tyrone manager Mickey - buried the ball in the Ballinderry net from the penalty spot.

Harte had only moments earlier entered the fray from the bench, replacing Ronan McCrory. Extra-time beckoned with only one point between the sides.

There were only seconds remaining, but, in character with much of what had gone before, the Derrymen won midfield on the kick-out and Darren Conway knocked over the crucial point ahead of Monaghan referee Pat McEneaney's final whistle.

Peter Canavan has seldom looked so dismayed after a football match.

"We're bitterly disappointed," he gasped. And he told the Derry players afterwards: "We have great respect for your style of play. Ye play hard, but always fair. On that performance ye deserved medals that were not going today, but we wish ye the best in the final."

Ballinderry meet Crossmaglen, the Armagh champions, in the decider at Casement next weekend.

For whatever reason, Ballinderry did not wish to accommodate the media with any comment.

Errigal Ciarán manager Martin Finliss was of the opinion that his side made the mistake of focusing too much on defence instead of attacking when they lost Pascal Canavan.

"The penalty turned the game around, but unfortunately it came too late, almost when time was up," said Finliss.

McEneaney issued a plethora of yellow cards, besides the red one. But generally it was a keenly contested match with much of the fervour one associates with Ulster football.

The teams were level at half-time, 0-9 to 2-3.

Damien McDermott promised to be the match hero with two great goals for Errigal, one in the opening minutes, to ease the Tyrone men into a 1-1 to no score lead.

Enda Muldoon did some clever work for Ballinderry, especially when he moved out to midfield from full forward to consolidate the work of James Conway.

But easily the outstanding player in an attacking stance for Ballinderry was the newlywed Conleth Gilligan who scored eight brilliant points, one from a free.

Before the end Michael Conlon in the Ballinderry goal brought off a wonder save from the attack-minded wing back Davey Harte.

BALLINDERRY: M Conlan; Kevin McGuckian, B Scott, D Crozier; P Wilson, R McGuckian, M McIvor; J Conway (0-3), Kevin "Moss" McGuckian; D Conway (1-4), C Gilligan (0-8, one free), M Harney; S Donnelly, E Muldoon, R Wilkinson. Subs: D Bateson for Donnelly.

ERRIGAL CIARÁN: J Devine; Emmet McGinley, C McGinley, D Neill; D Harte, P Quinn, B Mullin; Enda McGinley, P Loughran (0-2); R McCrory (0-2), Pascal Canavan, D McDermott (2-0); C Tierney, E Gormley, Peter Canavan (0-3, one free). Subs: M Harte (1-0, pen)for McCrory, J Kelly for Emmet McGinley.

Referee: P McEneaney(Monaghan).