Peter Canavan’s Best Club Points

[EC Unique]

Been trying to catalogue those 20 scores in the video as to whom the opponents were and the venue - I think I've got them all, not sure of the years yet...

1. I think it was against Donaghmore at Dungannon. Superb score.
2. Was against Moortown, venue I think is Pomeroy
3 & 4. Ulster Championship game, versus Downpatrick at the Athletic Grounds? Might be 1993.
5 - 8. This collection was against Beragh at Carrickmore
9. Again against Donaghmore a few years later, at Pomeroy
10. Against Killyclogher at Healy Park - I think this might have been the 2003 Tyrone SFC final which Errigal Ciaran lost.
11 & 12. Both away to Crossmaglen in the Ulster Championship
13 - 15. Again in Crossmaglen, this time in Clones
16 - 17. Two scores against Balliderry at Clones, was an Ulster Championship semi final but I can't remember the year off hand
18 - 20. Two goals and a point against Trillick in Fintona - First Round of the Tyrone SFC in 2006, his first club championship game after his retirement from Intercounty football. I think I might have a photo of his en route to his second goal. Found my old eyewitness report of that game from the old board.

Edit: Knew that I had a photo of Canavan en route to scoring one of those goals against Trillick, I think this is the first one.

the ballinderry game was 2002/03 aswell i think,after errigal knocked Cross out.
i remember a group of ballinderry players standing infront of us at teh errigal cross game that year and one of them saying
' fck we have to beat one of these two teams!'
those 3 errigal v cross games where as good as it gets in club football

Yep. It all happened in the 2002 Ulster Club Championship which we won by beating Eniskillen in the Final. Harte was managing us and then left after to take the Tyrone job.

[nrico2006]

I was at all the games in 95 including that Derry one but remember very little from them as I was only in Primary school.  Actually my everlasting memory of back then is in the 95 or 96 game against Fermanagh and all Ciaran McBride did ther whole match was slide on his back for the ball.  I still have the prgrams and those stupid hats that everyone used to wear back then.

You tend to forget how good Canavan was as its so long since he was at his peak and you never really get to see much old footage.  I have tended to dort of group Cooper as on a near par with him over the last few years but from watching the old clips there is one thing that Canavan did that I haven't seen anyone since regularly do and is go on those messi style runs around 5 or 6 players.  Now you see the odd fella burying the head and running by a boy or two in a straight line sprint, but Canavan was so agile that he just weaved in and around them all, plus he had unreal acceleration.  The other thing I remember about them days is that Anthony Tohill was untouchable in the middle of the field.  It just used to be Tohill against Canavan in the scoring stakes.  He rarely seemed to miss 45's off the ground, he was just the complete player and those runs of his were colossal.

[Fuzzman]

Yeah that game in '95 certainly provided me and my mate from Newtonstewart with a very memorable day.

I had went to school in Derry and so knew loads of Derry lads and then in the early 90's I was at UUJ so was pally with about 10 Derry lads.
So for that game, I drove myself & the Newton lad with 2 Derry 'mates' to the game in Clones.
It was a scorcher day as ye may recall so the expectation was unreal.
As Logie said in that sketch Derry had beaten us in the previous 6 meetings so I suppose our mates were expecting more of the same.

You can imagine the tension during the game and then afterwards hearing all the chants
"We bate Derry with 13 men doo daa"

The Derry lads in fairness took it well though of course we had to listen to
"Ye've won nothing yet" line and "How many All Irelands do ye have"
Of course we had to stop off in Kellys on the way home for a steak we they enjoyed.
I'd love it if we get the chance to do that again some day.
Amazing the amount of times we met Derry in the 90's that we never met in an Ulster final.

To me that was Canavan at is peak and you expected him to take on several players each game and score from amazing angles.
Indeed his acceleration was amazing and that wee clip where he catches a high ball, falls to the ground and then gets up and knocks it over was typical of his tenacity.  There wasn't much talk back then of diving with Canavan as often 3 men would be hanging out of him.

I remember Dinky getting a start in Clones and Jimmy Magee saying
"He's a thorn in this Derry side. No actually he's a total blackhorn bush"

[sheamy]

This is getting too much lads...it needs some balance...

do you mind the time Canavan lost the head and punched Johnny McBride and Derry beat Tyrone out the back door? 

[screenexile]

This is getting too much lads...it needs some balance...

do you mind the time Canavan lost the head and punched Johnny McBride and Derry beat Tyrone out the back door? 

Excellent Sheamy!! Such a great memory and a fitting way to temper the love in for Canavan on this thread... He was indeed human after all and far from a God!!!

[sammymaguire]

Some of those scores he was actually takling the piss, beating two/three men a couple of times to make them look stupid the cheeky c$n£

[EagleLord]

This 'flick-up' yous are talkin about, i knew i had seen that online somewhere! So I trawled! and think I found it! Or was there more than one? its at 2.56 in the video. Looks like its vs Cavan..

http://youtu.be/iIlsRsMMJUc

Seen a few class things over the years in club football, just a pity that many of the games went uncaptured really. Only really say last 5 years would clubs videoing games have become the norm.

[EagleLord]

Also 3.15 in that video. Whoever that man is deserves a lot of credit! Brilliant bit of improv!

[imtommygunn]

How do you mark that. Feel sorry for some of them club defenders.

[nrico2006]

What a catch at 3:04 by the Roscommon fella.

[joemamas]

Thank God he got to lift Sam.

Incredible stuff, I can only begin to imagine how long he spent practicing.

[cville]

I was at a Tyrone championship semi-final in 2006 with some relatives from the USA who had flew over specificaly to see Peter in action for the Ballygawley men and, by God, he didn't let them down. After a quiet first half, the man himself collected the ball on the 45; beat three men, passed it to a team-mate and then left the field to solve the Arab-Israeli crisis. He then got a flight back to Ireland and fed 5,000 people at Toome with 3 loaves and a tin of salmon. He then found a cure for baldness, fixed a puncture on a bus bound for Knock, persuaded Martin McGuinness to meet the queen, trained the Fermanagh seniors, ate 3 weetabix, beat up Pat Spillane, raised a man from the dead in Dungannon, sprinted to Omagh, had a pish behind the goal, caught the ball on the edge of the square and scored the winning point! Great stuff from a man whi had been crucified that Friday at lunchtime! Personally, I thought that he was just average in that game.   

[Hardy]

Yaboya cville. Finally a touch of realism on this thread.

[cadhlancian]

Was at the Beragh game, unreal performance! My oul fella was the ref!

[JUst retired]

 His best points were picked up in Tesco`s