THE absence of expectant father Aidan McCrory presented Ciaran Quinn with an unexpected opportunity, and he stepped in with a towering defensive performance to help Errigal Ciaran to a first Tyrone SFC title in 10 years.
Quinn’s late call-up to the starting fifteen proved to be an inspired move after news came through that full back and former Tyrone defender McCrory would miss the county final after his wife went into labour on the morning of the match.
And ‘Rio’, a 32-year-old survivor from the club’s last success in 2012, drew on all his experience to lay on the performance of his life as the Dunmoyle men edged out old rivals Carrickmore by 2-11 to 1-12.
“Aidan McCrory was meant to be marking martin Penrose, and thankfully I got the nod, after his wife went into labour.
“These things happen for a reason, and best wishes to Aidy and his wife,” said Quinn.
Having lost two finals since that 2012 success, Quinn has had his share of disappointments, but never lost faith that this famous club would return to the pinnacle of Tyrone football.
“We got to a couple of finals in between, in 2017 and 2019, it’s still sitting at the bottom of the stomach. It’s far better going in like this than the way we did then.
“I’m glad we got over the line, the boys dug deep, for Carrickmore really put it up to us.”
A 1-3 blast in the closing five minutes of the first half gave Errigal a seven points interval lead, but Carmen’s famous battling spirit saw them fight back to close the gap to two.
“Thankfully we did enough damage in the first half to get ourselves over the line in the second.
“They were going to get their purple patch, we knew that Carrickmore probably didn’t do themselves justice in the first half.
“We knew they were going to come back at us, and it was about riding out the storm, picking ourselves up again, going again and making it count at the other end.”
Errigal Ciaran’s decade in the shadows featured some dark days, when defeat was unexpected and unpalatable, but a shift in emphasis brought a renewed spirit of resilience that has been a common thread throughout this year’s Championship.
“The managers instilled a bit of self-belief in us. Sometimes you just have to re-set yourselves, and just say to yourself, go again.
“So with that bit of self-belief put into us, a big of grit put into us, we got over the line.
“For too long we haven’t been up the steps at Healy Park.”
Carrickmore had closed the gap to two points and were building strongly when Errigal struck for a vital breakaway goal midway through the second half.
It was Darragh Canavan’s magical flick into the path of Joe Oguz that created the chance, and Oguz finished clinically.
“Those two lads are on the county panel and we know why. Big Joe has come on leaps and bounds this year, he’s playing the football of his life and fair play to the big lad,” said Quinn.
“And Darragh has really stepped up his game too, so fair play to those young lads, they’re really driving us old boys on.”
But it was the Errigal defence, with Quinn as its conductor, that closed the game out in a tense finish.
“It’s about putting your body on the line, just trying to get something on the ball to stop it going over the bar.
“Marty Penrose is as cute as a fox, he takes a bit of watching, Caolan Daly, Lorcan McGarrity are dangerous, and we all had jobs to do.”
And a new addition to the Errigal Ciaran community, a baby girl to bless the lives of former Tyrone defender Aidan McCrory and his wife Grace, has added an extra layer of joy to a weekend of celebrations.
