A FEROCIOUS level of competition for selection is the driving force that has propelled Errigal Ciaran back to the summit in Tyrone.
A club blessed with unmatched depth, one of only two in the county currently fielding three adult teams, has struck a winning balance between strength-in-depth and raw talent.
They’ll face St Eunan’s Letterkenny tomorrow with 11 players with senior inter-county experience, including a couple of All-Stars, bristling with ambition and hungry for more success.
“It’s great, it brings us on. Every night when you go to training, you’re marking a top-class, quality player,” said wing-back Peter Óg McCartan.
“So it can only bring us on, that there’s so many good players in Errigal.
“It’s not about the first 15 that’s starting, there’s so many players, 32 or 33, and they’re all trying to push the thing on, and that’s only going to make us better.
“If you’re not starting, you’re thinking about what you can do to improve the team, you’re thinking about coming off the bench and making an impact.
“A lot of those boys would feel that they should be starting, but everyone puts that aside. We’re all a team, team players.”
They have all risen through the under-age ranks, nurtured and moulded to become the accomplished footballers they are today, every one of them enhanced as solid citizens in the process.
The system at Dunmoyle is meticulous, inclusive and dedicated to providing a healthy sporting outlet for the youth of the parish, while arming the club with the best possible chance to prosper through the future.
Current senior boss, treble All-Ireland winner Enda McGinley, is one of a small army of coaches who have devoted their time and expertise to player development through the under-age grades.
“There’s great under-age coaching in the club. We’re blessed that we have had great managers and coaches over the years.
Mark (Harte) and Adrian (O’Donnell) were there last year, Pascal Canavan was there for a couple of years as well.
“At under-age, Enda and Stevie (Quinn) had them at minor level as well, so the coaching has been great within the club.
“And that’s massive for us that we can keep producing players.”
Tomorrow’s Ulster Club SFC preliminary-round tie at O’Neills Healy Park will not be afforded the level of preparation that the Tyrone champions would wish.
Postponement of the county final due to Storm Ashley leaves them with just a week to move from an emotional victory over reigning champions Trillick to the provincial opener against a team with a three-week run-in since their record 16th Donegal triumph.
“We trained on Tuesday night for the first time since the final, and it was just about getting re-focused and ready to go again.
“We celebrated for a couple of days, but once we got that out of our system, we were back focused, and everybody was glad to be back on the pitch again.
“It’s a great position to be in. We were in it two years ago and it’s a great experience to be involved in, so we’re buzzing to be back here again.”
McCartan, who chipped in with a vital point to cap a superb Tyrone final display, accepts that Errigal must quickly get back to the levels that secured a hard-earned one point victory in an absorbing decider last weekend.
“St Eunan’s are a great team so it will be no easy task.
“They won the Donegal title couple of years ago as well, so they’ll be coming in hoping to go on a run. They’ll be well set up.
“I’m sure they got a good look at us at the weekend, and we hadn’t thought about them at all, we had just thought about Trillick and that was it.”
