Peter Og and Errigal on the cusp of Ulster glory

92 DAYS since the very outset of their Championship campaign in Tyrone, Errigal Ciaran will go head-to-head with Kilcoo this Sunday for the most prestigious prize in Ulster Club Football, the Seamus McFerran Cup.

They started all the way back in early September with a nervy enough three-point victory over Pomeroy at Loughmacrory, and seven games later they’re still standing – still winning – and they’ll fully fancy their chances of getting their hands on provincial honours for the first time since 2002 and the third time in their history.

Back in 2021 Errigal Ciaran were rocked by the concession of three late goals in a Tyrone Senior Championship semi-final against Coalisland. By that stage, it had been nearly a decade since they’d got their hands on the O’Neill Cup – a long enough stint by their own high standards – and arguably they stood at something of a crossroads.

Since then, they have lost only a single game in Tyrone – an extra-time defeat to Trillick in last year’s county showdown.

And yes they have star quality in abundance up front, but we note that since bettering Pomeroy on their first day out, they’ve only coughed up two goals from open play. That makes for an intriguing match-up against a Kilcoo side that plundered five goals against a shell-shocked Scotstown a fortnight ago.

Speaking ahead of Sunday, Peter Óg McCartan, who has been a mainstay of their starting line-up at every hurdle, acknowledged that these days don’t come around too often.

“It means everything to the players to get to this point. It’s great for the club as a whole to be in an Ulster final, it’s been 22 years for ourselves and it’s been a long enough time for any Tyrone team to get here.”

The Tyrone Senior Championship is littered with potential pitfalls at every turn, so McCartan said that they never even really considered the possibility of a run through Ulster until they got their hands on the O’Neill Cup for the second time in three seasons, avenging last year’s defeat to a formidable Trillick team.

“We never really thought about Ulster until we were actually in it. Tyrone’s so tough to win so when you get through it, it’s a great feeling. Trillick gave us a great game in that final so we were delighted to come through on the right side of that one, and thankfully we’ve been able to push on.”

Errigal Ciaran have been in fine form in Ulster with successive victories over St Eunan’s, Cargin and Clann Éireann, but now they’re set to meet the might of 2019 and 2021 Ulster Champions Kilcoo. It’s an almighty challenge but there’s nowhere else Errigal Ciaran would rather be than the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds on Sunday afternoon.

McCartan said: “It’s great to be in the final, to be playing with the club you grew up with and playing these big games week-in week-out. Kilcoo have great pedigree in Ulster, it’ll be tough but we’re really looking forward to it.”