Football

Peter Harte: Errigal Ciaran on the rise after League final win

Carrickmore's Oran McKee trying to stop Errigal Ciaran's Peter Harte from scoring a point
Carrickmore's Oran McKee trying to stop Errigal Ciaran's Peter Harte from scoring a point Carrickmore's Oran McKee trying to stop Errigal Ciaran's Peter Harte from scoring a point

Peter Harte is hoping a second successive league title will help Errigal Ciaran on their way back to supremacy in Tyrone.

They were defeated in last year’s championship final by Omagh, and this season also lost out to the eventual champions, Coalisland.

But Harte believes the squad is growing stronger and more competitive, and that Sunday’s three points win over Omagh in the Division One final represents continued progress.

“We were able to put a good strong league campaign it together, but it doesn’t count for an awful lot come championship, bar a wee bit of form, but we’ll keep working on that for next year,” he said.

“Every club now takes their break, and we’ll reassess, come January or February, set out our goals, sit down, have a meeting and get back training.

“Tyrone is notorious for being the toughest, but we’ll try and do our best next year.”

With some exciting young players breaking through, including 18-year-old attacking sensation Darragh Canavan, who scored five points in the 0-14 to 0-11 title decider, Errigal are reaping the benefits of a vibrant youth scene at Dunmoyle.

“Darragh is brilliant, but we’re very lucky, big Joe Oguz came on, he’s still a Minor, and did very well, Cathal Corrigan in his first year in senior football.

“It’s what you need, it’s what every club needs, is to bring through three or four boys each year to break in, and if those boys can stay at it and we can keep them at it, it’s a good sign for the future.”

Tyrone star Harte stressed the importance of league football in a county that boasts arguably the most competitive club championship in the country, with as many as eight teams capable of winning the O’Neill Cup in any given season.

Errigal are the only Tyrone club to have won the Ulster Club Championship, having done it twice, but they haven’t competed at provincial level since 2012.

“You only have two competitions to win in Tyrone, the league and the championship, and for a club like us, we need to go out every year and try and win it.

“It’s good that we were able to put a good league campaign together and when you are top of the league, to go on ahead and win it.

“There was great character shown from everybody, because after championship, there’s a lull and a there’s a low, and to bounce back from that and to be able to push on to the end of the year shows good character in the boys, and hopefully we can build on that next year.”

This year, Errigal proved to be the most consistent team in the county, leading the way in the league table throughout a lengthy campaign, and emerging victorious in the play-offs.

“League seasons are funny. We were lucky this season in that we were able to keep most of our boys fit, and if you do that, you have a better chance.

“I know Omagh had a few boys away at the start of the year and they had a few injuries.

“Every league campaign is different for each club, and you just have to go with what you have.”

At half-time in Sunday’s decider at Killyclogher, they were on course for a comfortable victory with a five points lead, but Omagh fought back to draw level, before the holders staged a strong finish.

“They got it back to a point, or even level at a stage, but thankfully we were able to push on.

“But that’s what Omagh are, Omagh are a seriously good team, and we saw that in their championship runs in the last few years, and how they did in the Ulster Club.

“So we were under no illusions that this was a massive game, and they’re a very tough team to beat, but thankfully we got on the right side of the result.”