It was far nervier than expected, but Tyrone are still in the All-Ireland football championship by the skin of their teeth after surviving a late Westmeath onslaught on Sunday afternoon.
Tyrone went into the final round of games with one win and one defeat from their first two round-robin games. With Westmeath on zero points, Tyrone knew that a draw would be enough to ensure they would at least progress to the preliminary quarter-final.
But, with Armagh tying with them on points going into the final weekend, and Westmeath behind knowing that a win over Tyrone would tie the counties on points, it was by no means a sure thing that the 2021 All-Ireland champions were safe.
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Ultimately, Armagh's victory over Galway in Carrick-on-Shannon saw them top the group, but the other Ulster side in the group had a far more nerve-wracking run of things.
Deep in second-half injury-time, Westmeath had an opportunity to take the lead from a free, knowing that a victory would see them progress to the preliminary quarter-final at Tyrone's expense. Heartbreakingly for Westmeath, John Heslin narrowly missed to ensure that Tyrone live to fight another day.
This is how close Westmeath came to pulling off a famous victory over Tyrone and going through at their expense.
John Heslin's last gasp free went just wide 😬pic.twitter.com/kV4TsqaX2u— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) June 18, 2023
Tyrone held on for a 0-18 to 0-18 draw, and will be on the road for next week's preliminary quarter-finals, with the draw to follow on Monday morning.
There were two men predominantly to thank for Tyrone's lucky escape - Darragh and Ruairí Canavan. The Canavan brothers combined for 0-13 of Tyrone's 0-18, with Darragh scoring 0-10 on a prolific day for the pair.
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Tyrone have Canavan brothers to thank for surviving Westmeath scare
Darragh Canavan has contributed 1-20 to Tyrone's scoring this season, putting him six points clear of the next highest scorer for Tyrone in the championship.
Speaking on The Sunday Game at full-time, Colm Cooper expressed his fear for Tyrone should the Canavan brothers put in a poor performance at any stage, as we move deeper into the championship:
I'd have a question mark. God forbid the day the two Canavans don't turn up for them. Their scoring is a bit of a concern for me. McCurry isn't as hot as he was, I don't see the spread in the team. They still have major work to do.
The only thing for them - they've proven that when it goes down the stretch, they don't mind who they're playing, where they're playing, and they'll be ready for whatever task is ahead of them.
With the championship so wide open, and Tyrone's performances so up and down, it's hard to predict how they will fare in the All-Ireland football championship as it progresses into the knockout stages.
One thing is for sure, however, and that is that the Canavan brothers are becoming increasingly crucial to their game plan and success.
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