A HURLING island in an ocean of Tyrone football, Carrickmore manage to keep their heads above water defiantly and this year they completed a five in-a-row in the Red Hand county by beating Dungannon in an engrossing championship final.
They still have some way to go to surpass their best-ever winning streak – eight in-a-row between 1982 and 1989 - but for now their sights are set on capturing a first-ever Ulster Intermediate crown and they host Antrim champions Carey Faughs at the quarter-final stage on Sunday (2pm).
They’ve come mighty close to provincial honours in the past but lost finals in 2010 (by three points), 2015 (eight points) and last year (two points). They go again this year in what skipper Brian McGurk sees as a strong, but evenly-matched, field.
“The intermediate competition is very tight, I don’t think there’s any favourite in it,” he says.
“The teams are all very similar so you have to be on the ball every day you go out.
“This last few years there’s been nothing in the games. Every county has put in a real good team so it’s a level playing field and you have to be on your game.
With Sean Og McGrogan among the goals, Carrickmore beat Lisbellew and Kickham’s Creggan to reach last year’s decider but fell just short against Donegal’s Setanta in the decider.
“We’ve come out of Tyrone a few times and we’ve suffered a few bad defeats in Ulster,” McGurk explained.
“We got to the final last year and we got a disappointing defeat again which was tough to take. Two points in it…
“It’s a tough competition to win but we definitely have in us - I think it’s there for the taking. It takes a bit of luck on the day but, like any sport, you’ve got to be on your game on the big day and I don’t think we were really on our game last year in the final. We need to put that right.”
In a football-dominated county like Tyrone, hurling devotees have to be prepared to fight their corner when it comes to pitch space and playing resources.
Carrickmore is a dual club with a well-established football pedigree. County champions
Errigal Ciaran are not far away, neither is Pomeroy or Galbally, Loughmacrory is in the same parish, Omagh and Killyclogher are only down the road...
“It’s a massive football area and we’re a hurling island, but it’s all good,” says McGurk.
“Down through the years you would have had people who thought the hurling was only a nuisance but we’ve got over that hurdle and we’re working with each other now.
“There’s a serious passion for hurling in Carrickmore and I suppose down through the years you had your main hurling families.
“My father and a couple of uncles would have played so the likes of them would have kept the game strong through the bad days and the good ones. Now the club is thriving. We have camogie on board now and they’re going well – they’re going into the Ulster junior championship this year.
“So the club is going good, we’ve plenty of youth and loads of people are buying into it and getting involved which is good to see.”
