ERRIGAL Ciaran boss Enda McGinley wasn’t about to reach for a tin of varnish, never mind invest in silver polish after this squeaky, streaky victory – and his Clann Eireann counterpart Ruairi Lavery wasn’t glossing over matters either.
The victor acknowledged that his side had fortune on their side, as well as the brilliance of Ruairi Canavan, who top-scored with nine points, five from play, including the superb winner in the third minute of added time:
“Now, we sailed close to the wind, there was a couple, at least one cleared off the line, absolutely. Again, there’s no point in us varnishing this win, there’s nothing really there to varnish, but the only thing was, we’re in the final, so we can go and try and sort it out for then.
“It was a day for Clann Eireann that nothing went for them really and we have to be realistic about that.”
Cookstown joint-manager Jason Quinn doesn’t underestimate the challenge of Four Masters in the Ulster semi-final
“It was tough on my mum and dad. I knew I was self-destructing. And I also knew the next phase of that, if I had carried on, it was not being here. I was in a very dark place...” - the life and times of Caolan Mooney
Lavery might have taken some consolation from that acknowledgement, but although he spoke calmly he argued that the sending off of midfielder Tiernan Kelly for a second yellow card 10 minutes into the second half, was a consequence of actions from the opposition:
“He was targeted - let’s call it what it was. There’s no point in mixing the words up. He was absolutely targeted. That’s part of the game.
“He is such a vital part of our team that it is very hard for him to play on that tightrope when you are on a yellow card. That’s why you need TK on the field if you are going to win an Ulster semi-final.
“I’m not going to criticise anybody. It’s a physical game, TK plays with a lot of physicality… But the two yellow cards he got, there should have been a lot less than 29 men on the field at the end, if you want the truth.”
Clann Eireann’s lack of luck began on Saturday night, with wing-back Ryan Owen injured in a car crash, which prevented him playing, and then centre back Sean McCarthy hobbled off with just over 20 minutes played.
Even so, they gave it everything, leading more often than not, although Conor Turbitt’s converted penalty before half-time was cancelled out by Ruairi Canavan frees to make it 1-5 to 0-8 at half-time.
The Lurgan men pulled three clear early in the second half, but Errigal took advantage of the extra man to go ahead, before an intense final 10 minutes was settled by Ruairi Canavan’s brilliant winner.
Despite the delight of victory, McGinley insisted that management didn’t feel any easier even after bridging a 22-year gap to reach an Ulster final:
“No, not at all. If winning ugly is a good habit, I think we’re addicted to it at this stage, so it would be lovely to put in a really good performance and I think it’s in the boys at some stage, but we’ve another two weeks to work on it.”
Having said that, there was beauty in this game, especially in the performance of Ruairi Canavan, and also his brother and captain Darragh, who won and set up plenty of scores.
“Ruairi was superb today,” said McGinley, “and all credit to him because there have been times this season where it has been tough and he has shown huge character.
“We’ve had a team where on various days, we’ve had various people standing up and taking critical scores when maybe Ruairi and Darragh weren’t as prominent, but I thought the two of them were absolutely superb today.
“Quite a few frees, I’d say, from Ruairi would have been fouls on Darragh. He took a hell of a lot of punishment today, but huge leadership is what he gives us. But we’ve got a whole team there and the next day out it will probably need to be somebody else.”
McGinley laughed off the suggestion that it was better to win as his side did, compared to final opponents Kilcoo putting five goals past Scotstown on Saturday night:
“I would love to be looking really impressive and I would love the confidence of scoring five goals because then you know the boys are really clicking.
“We can build up how good it is to win ugly, we can build up the strength of character the boys showed and the fact that they’ve come through adversity and there are benefits in that.
“But there are much more benefits in playing good football, so we have that bridge to cross, but again you can’t do that if you’re out. We’ve got to cross the line and we’ve got two weeks to work on it.”
