By John Haughey BBC Sport

Canavan's All-Ireland medal was a fitting reward for a GAA great

Tyrone footballers dominated the 2003 GAA year with the retention of the NFL followed by the county's historic first All-Ireland win.

Granted, Kilkenny hurlers retained the Liam McCarthy Cup but the GAA image of the year was Peter Canavan holding the Sam Maguire Cup aloft.

It was fitting reward for the gaelic footballer of his generation. Sadly, his father Sean wasn't there to see Peter achieve the GAA's holy grail after passing away in the summer.

Little more than a week after his father's death, Canavan dug his colleagues out of a big hole which they had plunged into during the Ulster Final against a rejuvenated Down.

Paddy O'Rourke's Mournemen led by nine points against a seemingly shell-shocked Red Hand outfit but a coolly-taken Canavan penalty sparked a comeback which saw Tyrone earn a replay.

As many pundits predicted, Tyrone, guided by their hugely impressive manager Mickey Harte, made no mistake in the replay a week later.

Harte's side had played their get-out-of-jail card and in truth, were never to look back.

After the Ulster Final scare, Tyrone next hammered Fermanagh with even more ease than they had managed in the National League semi-finals.

Kevin Hughes was unlucky to miss out on an All Star

Despite his side's collapse against the Red Hand men, Fermanagh boss Dominic Corrigan predicted, along with many eminent voices, that Kerry would end Tyrone's march in the All-Ireland semi-final.

But Tyrone's running game blitzed the out-of-sorts and naive Kingdom in the opening 25 minutes of semi-final much to the annoyance of Pat Spillane and many other southern voices.

Tyrone's rugged second half performance generated a degree of uproar down south but the truth was that the better had won and that the game was well and truly up for Paidi O Se who departed the Kerry job later in the year.

The Red Hand victory meant that an historic all-Ulster decider was guaranteed with back-door boys Armagh and Donegal battling it out in the second semi-final a week later.

Both had produced dismal displays in losing their opening Ulster Championship games.

Joe Kernan's defending All-Ireland champions had been outfought by unrated Monaghan in the preliminary round game back in May.

The Orchard men continued to struggle during unimpressive qualifier wins over Waterford and Antrim but the fire returned to their bellies during an epic contest against Dublin at Croke Park.

Such was their display that day, it was obvious that they would be back at Croke Park on the final Sunday in September.

Donegal had been simply awful in their defeat by Fermanagh in the Ulster first round.

Adrian Sweeney again showed that he had overcame the stage fright

But qualifiers against Longford, a freefalling Sligo and Tipperary enabled Donegal to gain a bit of confidence and they then beat a Down side which had been savaged by Tyrone in the Ulster Final replay.

Most expected Galway to end Donegal's run in the last eight but Brian McEniff's side deservedly came through at the second time of asking against the Tribesmen to claim an unlikely semi-final place.

Against Armagh, Adrian Sweeney again showed that he had overcame the stage fright which had affected the early part of his career.

The Dungloe man knocked over some glorious points but Armagh despite kicking some appalling wides, hit two late goals which ensured the victory which their dominance of possession warranted.

The final itself won't be remembered as a great game of football.

Canavan himself, played for little more than half the match because of the ankle injury which he had picked up against Kerry.

However, even on one leg he was able to kick five crucial frees which helped Tyrone claim a tense 0-12 to 0-9 victory.

The key moment of the final was Conor Gormley's amazing late block which prevented player of the year Steven McDonnell from grabbing a goal which would have turned the game in Armagh's favour.

Moments later, Tyrone folk all over the world were rejoicing and the scenes on the Monday evening in Aughnacloy and Omagh will never be forgotten by those fortunate enough to have been present.

Seven of the Tyrone heroes were later picked on the All Star team although this correspondent thought Kevin Hughes extremely unfortunate to lose out to Galway's Kevin Walsh for the second midfield slot.

Mickey Harte's managerial skills are hugely impressive

Hughes, at least, had the consolation of being included in the Irish International Rules squad which had travelled to Australia in October.

The Irish lost out on aggregate scores in the series to the Aussies despite a three-point victory in the second Test in Melbourne.

In hurling, Antrim continued to stretch well ahead of Derry and Down as Dinny Cahill attempted to get his side up to pace with the top southern counties.

The signs were encouraging with the Saffrons leading for most of the way in the All-Ireland Quarter-Final against Wexford only to lose out in the closing stages.

A couple of weeks later, Wexford took Cork to a replay in the semi-final against the O hAilpin inspired Rebels eventually prevailed.

Cork squandered a glorious chance to shock Kilkenny in the decider.

The sense of frustration at an opportunity missed by Donal O'Grady's side will only have been increased by Setanta O hAilpin's decision to head back to the land of his birth to accept an professional Aussie Rules contract.

Cork Gaels will be able to look back on Nemo Rangers' All-Ireland Club Football success on St Patrick's Day when Crossmolina were accounted for 0-14 to 1-9.