At the height of Covid lockdown in the summer of 2020, with no sporting fixtures to distract and the world taking pause to lean back into nostalgia, the BBC had an interview with Peter Canavan to mark a quarter of a century since the defining game of the Tyrone-Derry rivalry.
Looking back at it now, spectator culture has mellowed from the atmospheres in the ‘90s clashes between the two. By 1995, the will to win hung like desperation in the air.
With their 1993 All-Ireland triumph, the chant would regularly strike up among the Derry support that, ‘There’ll never be a Sam in Tyrone.”
The inevitable retort would soon bounce back at them, “There’ll never be a London in Tyrone.” Touché.
Even recalling it 25 years later, Canavan’s smile displays his relish.
“It was a blistering hot day, one of the hottest days of the summer. There was a lot of animosity among supporters I believe as well,” he said. “And in fact, a number of Tyrone supporters couldn’t take any more at half-time. Thirteen players, two or three points down, they went home. They couldn’t take it that Tyrone were going to lose to Derry again.
“They were All-Ireland champions in 1993, they were hot favourites on the day. But Tyrone . . . we were really aggressive, really hungry.
“Maybe showed a bit too much hunger and that got the better of a few men in the first half with Pascal (his brother) and Seamus McCallan getting sent to the line.”
At half-time, referee Tommy McDermott left the field with stewards, linesmen and umpires forming a donut around him. When he got to the tunnel Tyrone fans and players were foaming at the mouth.
I loved playing against them. That's the games you remember, our biggest rivals"
McDermott scampered down the narrow hallway to the safety of his dressing room. As the door closed, he pressed his back to the cool wall, enjoyed a long exhale and looked up to see Tyrone manager Art McRory glowering over him.
“We had a brave idea that the referee might give us the benefit of the doubt,” said Canavan of the second half. McDermott sent off Fergal McCusker and Tyrone turned it around.
Miracle
Canavan ranked it as one of the greatest days Tyrone ever had. His own father Sean and mother Sarah didn’t make it to the match – a rarity in itself. Instead, they were at the ordination of Fr Peter McAnenly, a family friend and cherished neighbour.
“Many would have it said that Peter performed his first miracle that day,” said Canavan.
In 2006, Derry produced their own miracle. They fetched up in Healy Park and their players were shocked to see a frail-looking Eamonn Coleman stroll into the dressing room to deliver the pre-match rev-up as a guest of manager Paddy Crozier.
By half time, All-Ireland champions Tyrone hadn’t a single score on the board. Derry won on Tyrone turf, 1-8 to 0-5.
"People always ask me what Eamonn Coleman said," explains Liam Óg Hinphey, whose job was to man-mark Sean Cavanagh that day. He held him scoreless. "But before those games I was bad with nerves and had a habit of throwing up before matches. I would just go into the bathroom and boke for 10 or 15 minutes.
"I was only 21 so the scale of it was lost on me. I never got stuck into the build-up. But after the game I realised how big it was; the likes of Fergal Doherty and Paddy Bradley, what it meant to them and the reaction of the crowd."
It never mattered to Derry what their form lines were, even when Tyrone eventually caught up and then surpassed their All-Ireland tally, they could do a number on them.
And if either could rub it in, they would take the chance. In 2008 they met in a National League game in Celtic Park. Derry were well ahead when the ball broke loose to Paddy Bradley, who started juggling the ball soccer-style with a posse of angry Tyrone defenders in his wake.
Rivals
“I loved playing against them,” recalls Hinphey. “That’s the games you remember, our biggest rivals. Watching it on TV I could feel it as a child, the fact I got to play in three or four games against them was brilliant.”
Since then, the rivalry has been something and nothing. Mainly nothing.
The lowest point for Derry was 2016.
Prior to big Championship games, the Tyrone fundraising wing, Club Tyrone would host ‘Patron nights’ at their base in Garvaghey. Those with deep pockets to match their adoration of their county, could strike the very Klondike of pre-game GAA gossip; the starting team.
After tea and nibbles, Mickey Harte would come into the room, approach the lectern and name the team that was taking the field in less than 48 hours.
In 2016, the mood was relaxed as a debate between pundits and journalists began. Tyrone had duffed Derry 2-15 to 0-12 in the league but one journalist noted how they had been at a Derry press event only the previous week, and Derry only had 14 bodies training. He cautioned that there could be a dozen points in Tyrone’s favour come the weekend.
“Houl on a minute,” came a retort from the seats. “This is still Derry, and you can’t let your guard down against them for a second.”
Muscle memory was guarding against complacency. Tyrone won by 11, Ronan O’Neill grabbing two goals.
Derry are closer now than they have been in a decade. The rivalry can once again become one in the truest sense on Sunday.
