As a former Errigal Ciaran player and manager, Malachy O’Rourke will be rooting for the Tyrone and Ulster champions in Saturday’s re-scheduled All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final against Dr Crokes of Kerry.
But he’ll do so with mixed emotions, acutely aware of the fact that victory for the club will weaken his Tyrone squad for the early stages of the Allianz League.
Involvement in an All-Ireland final would delay the return of the sizeable Errigal contingent to the county set-up, with the Division One opener against Derry just over two weeks away.
“It would be great just to see them get over the line, and you know, when a team’s successful like that, that’s the price you have to pay sometimes,” he said.
“The main thing is that they can be as successful as possible and then we’ll take things as they come after that.”
O’Rourke has been impressed by the character and belief shown by Errigal Ciaran in coming through a series of tight games in both the Tyrone and Ulster championships.
“They’ve had a brilliant year, you know, and they’ve come through an awful lot of tough games, right through the Tyrone Championship, Ulster Championship and they’ve showed brilliant character as much as anything else, especially the last two days, they did brilliant to eke out the victories in both days.
“There’s a really good set-up, there’s a real strong club and everybody in it is really working hard to try and, you know, obviously to get to an All-Ireland.
“They’ve got this far and they’ve worked so hard and the club has worked so hard to get here.”
And he believes a first ever All-Ireland Club final appearance for a Tyrone club would raise spirits throughout the entire county.
“Hopefully this weekend is the first step, hopefully they can do the business and it’ll be great to see them in an All-Ireland final.
“And if they could manage to win the trophy, it would be a great boost to everyone in the county, and when the lads come back to the county panel, it infuses the whole panel with energy and with positivity.”