Yahoo Sports All-Ireland destiny awaits Tyrone champions Errigal Ciaran
Errigal Ciaran will attempt to break new ground for Tyrone football this weekend by becoming the county's first club to reach an All-Ireland club SFC final.
While it could be argued they have already done a lot of the heavy lifting in winning a ninth Tyrone title and third Ulster title at the back end of 2024, there is still much work to be done in pursuit of a first All-Ireland title.
Two-time champions Dr Crokes of Kerry will be formidable opponents for Errigal in Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final in O'Moore Park (15:30 GMT).
But having navigated a successful route through the minefield of the Tyrone championship, plus some hard-fought and narrow wins in Ulster, Enda McGinley's side can travel to Portlaoise with more than a little optimism that 2025 could be their year.
So why hasn't it happened yet for Tyrone clubs?
Errigal Ciaran are the only Tyrone club to win an Ulster SFC title, with their stunning victory over a fancied Kilcoo side in last month's final adding to their previous wins in 1993 and 2002.
It is hard to fathom why no Tyrone club has followed in their footsteps at provincial level.
Ardboe and Coalisland reached Ulster senior finals before Errigal created history in 1993 as first-time Tyrone winners.
Outside of that, only Omagh St Enda's have reached the final. That was in 2014 when they lost to Slaughtneil after an injury-time point by Christopher 'Sammy' Bradley.
Not even taking Crossmaglen's incredible run of six All-Ireland titles in 15 years, Kilcoo and Glen have taken the Andy Merrigan Cup back to Ulster in two of the last three seasons.
Speaking to BBC Sport NI about Tyrone clubs' collective lack of success at Ulster and All-Ireland level, Peter Canavan once remarked that "it shows how competitive the club structure is in Ulster".
"And is it as hard to win Tyrone as it is to win Ulster.
"Some people throw up the excuse that players put so much effort in with the county that there's not a lot left, but Tyrone teams do prepare well.
"There are around eight clubs in Tyrone who expect to win the county title every year," said Canavan, "not expect to do well, expect to win it".
Famed for its ruthless straight knockout format, the Tyrone championship is respected throughout Ireland and revered by its participants.
And so hard is it to win an O'Neill Cup, that no club has managed to retain it since Carrickmore went back-to-back in 2005.
Errigal's semi-final heartaches
As they prepare to step into unchartered waters, these Errigal Ciaran players will not have far to look for advice, help and support given manager McGinley and his assistant Paul Horisk are survivors of the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Nemo Rangers.
McGinley labelled it the worst defeat of his career - as even though he was only 21 years old, he knew he might never get the chance to play in an All-Ireland semi-final again, and so it proved.
Both Errigal's All-Ireland semi-final defeats came at the hands of Cork kingpins Nemo Rangers, a 1-13 to 0-11 loss in Newbridge in 1994 and a 1-12 to 0-11 loss in Portlaoise in 2003.
This time it is an experienced Dr Crokes team, backboned by Kerry stars like Tony Brosnan, Gavin White, the wily Kieran O'Leary and Michael Burns – who was jettisoned by Kerry manager Jack O'Connor for the 2024 season.
Brosnan and Burns in particular are excelling up front for Crokes, each kicking 0-5 in their Munster final win over Loughmore-Castleiney.
With Christmas and New Year celebrations pretty much cancelled in Ballygawley and Killarney for those with a vested interest in Sunday's game, the training is now complete and the video analysis will have been done on both sides.
But there remains a sense of the unknown with Dr Crokes the only one of the four remaining sides to have experience at this exalted level, with Dublin's new Leinster champions Cuala and Sligo's Connacht champions Coolera Strandhill as inexperienced as Errigal.
The Tyrone champions will hope their knack of edging tight games continues, and Dr Crokes will be well aware that if they haven't kicked on and the game is still in the melting pot with 10 minutes to go, Errigal will smell blood.
A precious opportunity lies ahead for one of these four clubs, one that may not come around again for a generation, for whoever can take it.
