Carrickmore see Sunday’s Tyrone Division One League final as a stepping stone on the route back to championship success.
They’re the county’s most successful club, but it’s almost two decades since the Colmcilles savoured championship triumph.
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This weekend they face Trillick, who have demonstrated that a league title is often a springboard to greater achievement by following up last year’s win by claiming the O’Neill Cup this season.
“I would like to think that if we go out and win a league, it will be a stepping stone for these boys maybe for the next couple of years,” said Ciaran McAleer, a member of Carmen’s three-man management team.
“We look at Trillick, they won the league last year and went on and won the championship this year.
“Based on league form, there’s a correlation there, and a team that does well in the league usually does well in the championship.
“Carrickmore want to be winning championships, and 2005 was the last time they won it.
“We want to be back at the top table again, and I see this as a stepping stone for these boys to get the belief that they could go out and win a championship, never mind a league.”
Carrickmore have also experienced the bounce, winning a league title in 2021 and going on to reach the championship final a year later.
But they face a huge task against double-chasing Trillick.
“There’s only two titles you can win in Tyrone, and one of them is the league.
“I know everybody wants to win the championship, but that’s gone now, and we have to go for the league.
“When you look back after you have finished playing football, you see that no team has ever won a league without putting in a lot of effort. And it’s the same this year.”
An early exit from this year’s championship led to a change in management, with McAleer stepping in along with Mickey Gallagher and Paul Daly to take over from Archie Beattie.
“When we took over, we just wanted to boys to start enjoying football again.
“They didn’t seem to be enjoying it, they seemed to be playing with a bit of burden.
“Maybe that was to do with the fact that they were playing at a very high level the two or three years before that, winning a league title and getting to a championship final.
“Maybe they were just feeling a wee bit jaded, but thankfully we got a response out of them against Dromore.
“The boys have worked hard. Anything we have asked of them in training, the boys did it, they put their shoulder to the wheel, worked hard, and we couldn’t ask for more.”
Carrickmore have been idle since their semi-final win over Dromore, without a competitive game for six weeks, while Trillick have been in regular action in the Tyrone and Ulster Club championships.
“It’s very difficult, and it’s not ideal preparation, but you have to play the hand you’re dealt,” said McAleer.
“We have boys playing competitive hurling, which gives them that competitive edge, we have boys playing university football and we have a few boys up around the county set-up, so hopefully that will stand us in good stead when it comes to this weekend.
“But training has been good, there has been good intensity in the sessions.
“It was hard when we didn’t have a fixture date or we didn’t know who we were playing, but it has come quick now.”