COLM McCullagh has walked the walk, and now he’s talking the talk of experience to the young men who carry the hopes and dreams of Dromore in Sunday’s Tyrone SFC final.
With three Championship medals – and a couple of All-Irelands – to his credit, McCullagh has played a part in each of the club’s O’Neill Cup triumphs.
Now he’s chasing a fourth as manager of a team that has refused to lose throughout a heart-stopping run to a meeting with Coalisland in the decider.
“Any coach will try to use any experience that they might have had in their own playing days and try and pass that on to the younger boys, to coach them and educate them in what’s required,” he said.
“But you can only do so much at a time, it’s like a building process. We have had a lot of changes over the years since that last final in 2012, in terms of personnel.
“We’re lucky that there’s still some of them there, the likes of Ronan McNabb, Conor O’Hara and Niall Sludden, and then Eoin McCusker on the bench.”
The former Tyrone attacker has plenty to offer on the subject of dealing with high pressure situations.
Back in 2009 he netted a penalty three minutes into stoppage time to beat Ardboe in the final by a single point.
“It was maybe hit and hope that time, hitting the target, and it ended up in the back of the net.
“If it comes to that stage of the game and that kick has to be taken again, I have every confidence that we have someone who will step up and do the same. We have our penalty taker.
“No game is over until the final whistle, we know that, and we’ll have no excuses on that count.
“We know Coalisland are going to go to the very end, but we’d like to think ourselves that we’ll never throw the towel in, whatever position we find ourselves in. We’ll just go to the final whistle as well.”
He went on to win a third Championship in 2011, but the current manager hung up his boots following defeat to Errigal Ciaran in the 2012 final, and Dromore have not been back in a title decider since.
“It seems a while ago now. We were in five finals in six years during that time, and won three of them.
“It has been ten years since we won one, and nine years since we were in the final, so it’s a long spell.
“But we know the way it works. Other clubs have gone longer spells, but it’s whenever you find yourselves in that moment, that you want to make the most of them.”
McCullagh’s young players have grown in confidence with each game they have come through – two of them after extra-time – to reach a first decider in nine years.
But the steadying hand of older players such as Niall Sludden, Ronan McNabb and skipper Conor O’Hara continues to guide them though crucial phases.
“We have a lot of young boys that have come through together, and they all know each other’s game well.
“They have all played from U14s right through, and they have had a bit of success along the way at under-age levels where other Dromore teams mightn’t have had.
“They picked up a bit of confidence from winning the U21 title in 2019.
“It took them a wee while to adapt to senior football, but they’re starting to get to grips with it.
“We have that youth there, but we also have experience, with the likes of our captain, Conor O’Hara and Ronan McNabb and Niall Sludden. We like to think we have a good balance of youth and experience.”
