Errigal Ciaran coach Paul Horisk has walked the walk, and now it’s time for some straight talking from the voice of experience.
He’s the proud owner of something that none of his players possess – an Ulster Club Championship medal – a prized symbol of the distinguished history of Tyrone’s most successful club.
Horisk was a stylish but tough centre back on the Errigal team that won the provincial title in 2002, defeating Enniskillen Gaels in the final to bring the Seamus McFerran Cup back to Dunmoyle for a second time.
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He’s hoping the legacy he helped to build can inspire the class of 2024 to reclaim the club’s place as kings of Ulster in Sunday’s provincial final against Kilcoo.
“They are great games and you come out of them with a one-point win and that would be the height of it, especially in those days. That’s a long time ago,” he recalled.
“I just remember the bad weather. We had a good run in 2002. We played Enniskillen Gaels in the final. We played a couple of dirty games weather wise, tough, dogged games.
“I remember the bog that was Clones in the semi-final and final.”
Errigal Ciaran manager Enda McGinley was also a member of the team that defeated the Fermanagh champions by 0-8 to 1-4 in a low-scoring decider at St Tiernach’s Park 22 years ago, with the great Peter Canavan contributing four points.
Strangely, McGinley and Horisk prefer not to draw parallels between their own successful era and the current age, with no direct references to the previous Ulster triumphs of 1993 and 2002.
“It is not really mentioned either because that is a different generation.
“These guys are ploughing their own furrow. They’ll get their experience from what they’ve been coming through and they’ve come through a few tough games.
“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.”
Now its sons of Peter the Great – Darragh and Ruairi Canavan – who lead the front line, and it was Ruairi’s nine-point haul that dragged Errigal over the line in a narrow semi-final win over Clann Eireann of Armagh.
“Yeah, we’ve the two lads there, but we’d like a few other boys to chip in with a few more scores,” said Horisk.
“They are a couple of good lads, they train hard, work hard. It doesn’t always come off for them and you just have to keep working hard and, hopefully, things will fall to you.
“The more spread of scorers you have putting the ball over the bar, it puts you in a good position and that’s where you want to be at. The more names we can add to that, the better.”
A vastly experienced Kilcoo side, former All-Ireland champions and two-time Ulster winners, will this weekend appear in their sixth provincial decider since 2012, hurtling into the challenge on the back of a five-goal rout over Scotstown in the semi-final.
“Kilcoo, with their history, 13 titles in 16 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.”
Horisk admitted he was surprised at the manner in which the Kilcoo-Scotstown tie flipped in just a few minutes, from 0-5 each after 25 minutes to a huge lead, after the Down champions hit the net four times in an eight-minute blitz either side of half-time.
“I don’t think anybody saw that coming. Those games, generally, are a couple of points here and there.
“It shows what Kilcoo have in their locker, if you allow them the space and the opportunities it will come back to haunt you.
“We know the size of the challenge that is there for us with how they dismantled Scotstown. When you look at that game, Scotstown had to go chasing it and things opened up a bit more. For a period in that game, Kilcoo absolutely put them to the sword.
“It could have gone either way - it was very tight up until the end of the first half and the goals opened up the whole game.”
