Canavan primed for Harte test

SECTION A of the Dr McKenna Cup in the middle of January wouldn’t normally attract any headlines but there is a special backdrop to this evening’s meeting of Tyrone and Fermanagh. For the first time, Tyrone manager Mickey Harte faces off against his former All-Ireland winning captain and Errigal Ciarán club-mate Peter Canavan, now Fermanagh manager – and although Harte describes him in football terms as a “genius”, Canavan would be the first to admit he still has it all to prove as a manager.

But so far good: Canavan has overseen a convincing first-round victory over Antrim, and followed that on Sunday with the 2-13 to 0-10 win over Queen’s. Fermanagh had come into the competition with limited ambitions given their poor form in 2011, when many leading players opted out, and they exited the championship at the hands of London.

Canavan has brought some fresh impetus to Fermanagh in the form of forward Séamus Quigley, who scored 1-8 against both Antrim and Queen’s – but admitted after Sunday’s win that Tyrone will present a more realistic test of where his team are at – even as joint leaders of Section A.

“Everybody is well aware of the quality that exists in the Tyrone set-up, so it’ll be a good test for our boys, and something we’re looking forward to. We’ll have to do our mathematics but our boys are playing for a position on the league and championship panel, so it’s more about performance than result.”

Alongside Canavan in the Fermanagh backroom is former Tyrone player Enda Kilpatrick, not that they’ll need any reminder of what Harte still brings to Tyrone.

Tyrone will have home advantage in Healy Park this evening, although there are other reasons why they are more likely to come out on top. Harte has reiterated his belief that the Dr McKenna Cup is an important competition to win, especially with the Allianz League looming large.

They beat Queen’s first then Antrim last Sunday, 1-12 to 0-10, a game marked by the return of Stephen O’Neill, who after his latest lay-off came off the bench to score 1-3. Harte was inevitably questioned about the meeting with Canavan, and he showed no hesitation in heaping praise on his two-time All-Ireland winner.

“There is no doubt we tend to use the word genius rather liberally in a sporting context but in Peter Canavan’s case it is entirely applicable. He was a truly great player, someone who was imbued with exceptional skills, scoring expertise and an element of true grit that made him the complete package. But we have won two matches we could easily have lost. We will need to be on top of our game if we are to have any chance of getting a semi-final place.”

Neither Harte nor Canavan will read too deeply into the result, but rather look far beyond it – and whatever short-term gain they get of making Sunday’s semi-finals, as only the winners of each section are assured of progressing. Although they could end up meeting again in the semi-finals: the winners of Section A are already drawn against the best runner-up from Section A, B or C (with the Section B winners playing the Section C winners in the other semi-final.)

Meanwhile, TG4 have announced their first live GAA match of 2012 will see All-Ireland champions Dublin take on neighbours Kildare in the O’Byrne Cup semi-final in Newbridge on Sunday (throw-in 2pm).