It's an amazing feat.
How did a team with not a single county player win the toughest Championship of them all?
It’s a question that may prompt a measure of re-evaluation of the influence of high profile players in club teams.
Dungannon Clarkes built a new force in Tyrone football with a mix of unity, courage and resilience to rock the establishment and win the O’Neill Cup for the first time in 64 years.
No other team without a county squad representative made it past the first round, but the Clarkes went all the way, battling through four extra-time thrillers to land the Senior Championship title.
Along the way they defeated star-studded teams like Ardboe, Errigal Ciaran and Trillick, all heavily fortified by household names.
Team captain Padraig McNulty feels his departure from the Tyrone set-up a couple of years ago has helped him bring his game to a new level and to maximise the value he can offer to the club.
“When you’re playing with the county, you’re in and out, you’re not here as much as you would normally be,” he said.
“Playing with Tyrone was great, a great achievement, and I loved every minute of it.”
But he admitted he struggled to combine involvement in club and county squads, leaving him in a void somewhere between the two and unable to fulfil his potential with either
“It’s very hard to do both things at the same time and put one hundred per cent into both.
“I struggled with that for a while, but now that I can put one hundred per cent into the club, I’m really enjoying my football and I can’t ask for my more.
“When I was playing for Tyrone I wasn’t getting the consistency of performance, I was in and out, but now that I can focus on playing every game, playing every minute, it’s great.
“I feel fitter, I feel stronger and I feel more confident in my own ability because I’m playing week in week out.”
The 28-year-old midfielder remains indebted to Mickey Harte for the opportunity to play at the highest level, an experience which brought his game to a new level.
“When you play with Tyrone, you play with better players, you learn things that you’ll never learn playing with the club.
“You learn how to kick the ball better, you learn tactics, you learn how to deal with stuff, you learn about the intensity of a real Championship game.”
For McNulty, Sunday’s dramatic penalty shoot-out win over reigning champions Trillick in the LCC Group Tyrone SFC final was a career highlight.
“Words can’t describe what I feel. It means everything to this club, the supporters, the team.
“Dungannon Clarkes should be winning O’Neill Cups, and thankfully we have.”
And he hailed the relentless determination of a team that needed a late equaliser in all four of its Championship ties to force extra-time.
“It just shows the determination, the fitness levels of this team.
“At the start of the year we decided we were never going to back down to anybody, we were always going to challenge.
“Four extra-times and penalties, I don’t know if anybody has done that before, it’s probably a record. Maybe we’d need to check the history books.”
Less than a decade ago, Dungannon Clarkes were playing Division Three football, but a major programme to restore the club to its former greatness was put in place.
“The club has really worked over the last ten years to get our coaching up to the right standard,” said McNulty.
“And thankfully the coaches did a great job and got us there, and we’re 2020 county champions.”
