Errigal coach Horisk has his focus solely on the here and now

FANS of the Ulster Club have become well used to the close contests. Games like Errigal’s Ulster semi-final where the issue was decided by a point or two right at the finish of added time.

On Sunday, the Dunmoyle-based side return to the provincial final for the first time since 2002. It will mark the culmination of a 2024 Championship journey that began in September. This decider may also mark the start of an All-Ireland odysessy for them, if they win.

One man who knows all about tight matches in the wet, wind and cold of November and December is Errigal’s assistant manager, Paul Horisk. An All-Ireland winner with Tyrone in 2003, he was a key member of the Errigal panel when last they reigned supreme in Ulster.

It’s a campaign which he remembers reasonably well. The conditions at Clones, his point in the final against Enniskillen Gaels, and the performances of stars including Peter Canavan.

But his focus is on now, not the past. Nobody – barring perhaps veteran Peter Harte – will even remember the tension and joy which engulfed those games more than two decades ago. It’s much the same in 2024, and Horisk is well aware of what will make the difference if Errigal are to overcome Kilcoo from Co Down.

“These guys are ploughing their own furrow. 2002 isn’t actually mentioned either because that’s a different generation. The players will get their experience from what they’ve been coming through and they’ve come through a few tough games,” he told the assembled media at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh last week.

“Anything we’ve been through is irrelevant really. It is the here and now for those boys and dealing with what is in front of them.”

This 2024 season has seen Errigal regularly do what they’ve had to do. Like in the Tyrone SFC opening round against Pomeroy when they withstood a late comeback from the Plunketts, or the quarter-final against Clonoe when they were pushed right to the finish. The County Final, too, against Trillick, was a closely fought affair, and they had to pull out all the stops to defeat St Eunan’s in the Ulster first round.

“They’ve all stuck together and they’ve all worked hard. It hasn’t always gone for them – they’ve had a good run this year,” added Horisk.

“We are winning the games at the minute. We are playing as well as we want to? Maybe not, but we are getting there.

“Maybe we’ll never play to what we think our potential is – that’s just the nature of the beast.

“The flip side of that is we are playing tight games against good opposition. Tyrone is a very tough county to get out of. There’s great competition within our own county.  You can see that with any team you play – on any given day there’s only a few points in it generally.”

So, it’s clear that Errigal enter this final with their competitive edge razor sharp. But the big question is whether that will be enough to deal with a Kilcoo side which has made its mark on the Ulster and All-Ireland stage regularly in the past decade.

The Down champions from the foothills of the Mournes won the All-Ireland title in 2021. They have dominated their domestic championship and issued a timely warning with their Ulster semi-final dismissal of Scotstown.

Errigal will show them the utmost respect, but there will be no fear and the expectation is of another close contest.

“The guile of Ulster Club is like everything else. You win a tight game in Tyrone and that adds a bit of experience and a bit of knowledge to the guys,” remarks Horisk, assitant to joint managers Enda McGinley and Stephen Quinn.

“The Ulster Club is just a bit further down the line. You are meeting teams, no doubt, that you know less about.

”Sometimes that can be a good thing. Gaelic Football, at the minute, is in a really good place.

“You can see from the competition in the Ulster Club games this last while, it has gone down to the wire in a lot of those games.

“ Kilcoo, with their history, thirteen County titles in sixteen years and throw in a couple of Ulster Clubs and an All-Ireland. We know they have got a serious wealth of experience there.

“We are looking forward to it as well – you have to be in a place where you are looking forward to an Ulster Club final against whatever opposition it is. It just so happens to be Kilcoo.”

Now the stage is set for a showdown which has captured the imagination of Errigal’s community of supporters. They carry, too, the best wishes of many from throughout Tyrone anxious to see them captured that elusive third provincial title.