Broken hearts at the devastation of All-Ireland final defeat, and now the imminent break-up of the team that took Errigal Ciaran to new heights and previously unexplored territory.
Retirements will follow the loss to Cuala in Errigal’s first club decider appearance, according to midfielder Ben McDonnell.
Six of the starting team are in their 30s, a couple of them closer to 40 than 30, and transition is inevitable.
“It’s going to be a new team. I suppose that’s the last day of that team as we know it,” McDonnell admitted.
“It’ll be a new team next year, but I suppose our courage will be there. It gives us good belief going forward.
“We’ll take a few weeks off, a few boys will probably be thinking of their futures.”
But he’s confident that a new wave of talent is ready to step up and grasp the challenge at Dunmoyle.
“We have a lot of young lads coming through now in the next few years.
“We have a good mix of age group there. We have a lot of older boys on the team and a lot of young lads on the team. We have good youth coming through as well who will hopefully be pushing in the next year or two.
“You want to see them pushing you and pushing you out of positions, hopefully. That’s what it’s all about. It’s a strange way to look at it, but every team goes through that.
“We have a good base and a good core there no matter what happens in the next year or two.”
McDonnell himself, at 28, falls between the two age brackets, and has no intention of quitting any time soon.
“It seems like yesterday I was a young cub, but now I’m stuck up with some of the older boys. I’m not thinking of retiring any time soon.”
As the first Tyrone club to reach an All-Ireland final, the Errigal Ciaran community will treasure the memories of a very special occasion, in spite of the outcome.
“It’s still a proud day for the club. We’re proud of where we got to.
“Obviously, it’s bitterly disappointing, but it gives us courage that we can compete and rub shoulders with the big teams and the big boys and the big days.
“We started a bit flat and just didn’t get going. There was a lot of runners and stuff coming at us. I sort of thought we were probably a bit lost in the first half.
“It took us a while to settle down. Unfortunately, we just left too much work at half-time for us to do. A few things changed at half-time, a few things sorted. But thankfully we went out fighting.”
The travel bug interrupted McDonnell’s Tyrone career a couple of years ago, when he spent time in Australia before moving on to the USA.
But he’s hoping his inter-county career can be revived under new manager Malachy O’Rourke.
“It’s something I’m open to, but obviously that question has to come first. It’s something I’ll consider. I’ll take a few weeks off.
“It’s not something I’m going to consider in the next week or two. I’ll see what happens over the next week or two.
“I probably didn’t really miss the commitment that much, but I suppose there’s the prospect of a new team there. There’s a lot of youth coming through with U20 All-Irelands and stuff. It’ll be something to look forward to.
“I think the future is great for Tyrone, especially with Malachy there.”
