IT was the team that came through, said manager Enda McGinley after Errigal Ciaran won a classic arm-wrestle of a semi-final against Dr Crokes on Saturday.
Ahead at half-time, Errigal trailed deep in injury-time and the deadlock remained unbroken at half-time in extra-time before they kicked on for victory. Even then, Errigal had to survive a last-ditch assault from the Kerry men.
They did so and now look forward to their first – and Tyrone football’s first – All-Ireland senior club final against Dublin and Leinster champions Cuala next Sunday.
“It is a team and you don’t reach this stage, don’t win anything, with just a few star players,” said McGinley.
But, as he acknowledged, the Canavan brothers Darragh (1-6) and Ruairi (0-7) were outstanding. They took turns, and regularly combined, to put on an exhibition in Newbridge.
“My gosh, I thought the two boys were magnificent, particularly in the first half,” said McGinley.
“They stuck at it and they were getting well marked by good players too. We’ve a really good team and it was the team who came through today. We’ll enjoy this evening and then we’ll get ready for the challenge in Croker next week.
“How they played was something else. They were looking really sharp in training and you were hoping that they were going to cut loose because they are especially talented lads. They are just driven and they are hungry for the team and they just want to work hard for the team.
“There have been other days when they’ve been quiet - maybe not so much quiet, but they’ve been more curtailed - and other boys have stood up. The opposition have put in a greater effort into curtailing them.
“We’ll face a different challenge the next day because they took out today so it is going to be harder for them to do that the next day. That wheel will turn and we’ll see who can stand up the next day.”
The next day comes quickly – too quickly – against a Cuala side that kicked on in the final quarter to see off Sligo’s Coolera/Strandhill by five points in their semi-final.
“It (the turnaround) is not ideal,” said McGinley.
“It’s another challenge for sure, but we’ll try and get extra recovery in the legs and try and be ready.
“Croke Park is a fast pitch and it takes it out of the legs. Our boys have obviously never played there so it is going to be a big experience for them.
“A lot of my thoughts this week will be just trying to get our heads right so when we get to Croke Park, we make the most of it.”
Errigal have made a habit of coming out in front in tight finishes throughout this campaign. Without suggesting they have been lucky, the winning margins in their last seven games have been: 0-1 (Tyrone semi-final), 0-1 (Tyrone final), 0-2 (St Eunan’s), 0-8 (Cargin), 0-1 (Clann Eireann), 0-1 (Kilcoo, Ulster final) and, on Saturday, 0-3 (Dr Crokes).
“This thing about not making it easy for ourselves, that’s the opposition,” said McGinley.
“Are we seriously expecting Errigal Ciaran to cakewalk every game? That’s not going to happen.
“We know we are in matches against good opponents who are putting it all in. We’ll try and make the most of it. We’ll make mistakes, oppositions get purple patches and get shades of luck, we’ll get shades of luck. But this is the 10th game of knockout Championship we’ve played and we are still standing. I wouldn’t worry too much - games will flow a certain direction and it is up to the team to manage every situation on the pitch as best they can.”
