Errigal Ciaran are on the way to making their club great again.
The lean years have been consigned to history, and the massive progress made in 2017 has Dunmoyle buzzing with optimism once again.
The glory days are a constant reminder of the high standards and even greater levels of expectation, with Ulster titles in 1993 and 2002 complementing the seven Tyrone championship successes.
Bur Errigal got back to a championship final this season for the first time since 2012, and just last weekend, won the Division One league title, bridging a seven-year gap.
Davy Harte, a goal-scorer in the 2-13 to 0-9 win over Coalisland, is excited by the potential of a new wave of talented young players who have broken into the senior team.
“It’s great to have youth coming through, they do give the older players the legs and help keep them going,” said the former Tyrone wing back, now operating at full-forward with the club.
“We have quite a few U21s playing in that team, and they’re good young lads, they have good attitudes. It does bode well
“That’s what you’re always hoping to do, to give yourself a platform to push on for next year. There’s never any guarantees, but what it does do, it gives you confidence.
“We are quite a young team in general, overall, so it lets those boys know the level they can perform to and hopefully build confidence for the future.”
Defeat to Omagh in the championship final was a devastating experience, but the players picked themselves up off the floor, and within two weeks, they had beaten Ardboe and Coalisland to claim the league title.
“I think it does take character when you can show that you can bounce back after a county final defeat, because it was hugely disappointing,” said Harte.
“We had planned very well, trained very well for it, but on the day we just didn’t perform, and full credit to Omagh on their victory.
“But we knew in the back of our minds we still had the league to play for. We performed quite well in the league, we achieved the consistency that we didn’t have last year.
“So to translate that into performances this year, to finish top of the league, was encouraging, and to follow that up with this victory was great, so we’re delighted.”
Having also won the Minor Championship this year, Errigal are perfectly placed to build on what they have achieved and mount another strong challenge in 2018.
“That’s what you’re always hoping to do, to give yourself a platform to push on for next year. There’s never any guarantees, but what it does do, it gives you confidence.
“We are quite a young team in general, overall, so it lets those boys know the level they can perform to and hopefully build confidence for the future.”
With 22 minutes played in last weekend’s league final at Carrickmore, the sides were deadlocked on 0-3 apiece, but Errigal threw off the shackles and started to run at the Fianna.
The scores flowed, with teenager Peter Og McCartan smashing home a brilliant goal, and when Harte added another in the second half, the title was in the bag.
“One thing we have in our teams is pace, and once we got the legs going, it did open them up.
“We got a few scores before half-time, which were crucial, and given the nature of the game, the conditions and that, we needed to be ahead given the wind, and thankfully we held out in the second half. I thought the boys showed good composure.”
