Lucky life and unlucky times of Brian Canavan and Armagh

Luck has been on Brian Canavan’s mind in recent times. As he revealed on BBC’s The GAA Social podcast last week, only his wife Geraldine’s insistence that he take a blood test led to the early diagnosis of prostate cancer.

He completed the course of treatment nine days ago and appeared on the podcast, happy to discuss his health issues with Thomas Niblock and Oisín McConville.

“I said surely. I want people to know that if you get it in time, it’s treatable and if you let it go, it becomes a huge problem. It’s only a simple blood test. The wife saved me — she made me get it even though I had no symptoms. If it comes up, there are other tests, like biopsies and if it’s there they find it. If it’s not there, hallelujah!”

He is optimistic about the prognosis, as he awaits the outcome of the treatment. At 64, he is in good shape and continues to work in the family pub and to referee locally.

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Otherwise, he reflects on the last time Armagh met Derry in an Ulster final, 23 years ago. A former county wing back, he and goalkeeper Brian McAlinden — who retired on the same day after the 1990 Ulster final — became joint managers of Armagh for six years.

They laid the ground for what was to come in 2002 by winning back-to-back Ulster titles for the first time in the county’s history in 1999-2000 but when the team was beaten in the first year of the All-Ireland qualifiers by Galway after a gripping contest at Croke Park, the management decided to call it a day. It felt like a natural break.

Twelve months later with Joe Kernan in charge, Armagh had their first Sam Maguire.

It must be a bittersweet reflection for Canavan.

“I always said before 2002 we were just short a full forward. Then Ronan Clarke comes along and makes a huge difference. We actually brought him in, in 2001 as a minor hoping to play him the following year. He was the linchpin that made the difference.”

His and McAlinden’s team pushed hard for an All-Ireland in their final three years and each time were stopped only by the eventual winners. Meath beat them by four, having had a man advantage for most of the last quarter after Ger Reid’s turning point sending-off.

A year later, Kerry were taken to a replay — requiring a majestic long-range free from Maurice Fitzgerald to survive — and extra time whereas the high-stakes qualifier against Galway literally hinged on last-minute action.

Luck wasn’t always on Canavan’s side.

“People forget it but in 2002 Armagh were very lucky to beat Sligo. I was working on the radio [as an analyst with BBC] and there was a definite penalty for Sligo with a few minutes left and if that had been scored they would have gone in front.

“Then in the semi-final against Dublin, Ray Cosgrove’s free came back off the post. With us it was the opposite. Things that could go wrong, did go wrong. Maurice Fitzgerald got a free after a late challenge in the last minute and kicked it over from nearly 50m.

“You need luck in those tight matches. Against Galway, we were coming up the field to get the winning score. One of our backs, who shall remain nameless, made an absolutely stupid pass which ended up with Michael Donnellan — you couldn’t pick out a worse player to give it to!

“Donnellan raced down the pitch, gave it to Paul Clancy and he kicks it over the bar. The final whistle goes almost immediately.”

He is as lost for reasons as anyone else why Armagh should have gone 15 years since last reaching an Ulster final. This weekend they face holders and favourites, Derry. For Canavan, a little less caution might pay dividends.

“I think it will be a very level match. We have the players — there’s no getting away from it — especially going forward if we let them off the leash a wee bit. That’s the feeling in the county. We have forwards who would get on any team. They seem to do well in a match for a wee while and then go into their shell and let the other team back into it. They’ve been doing that all year.”