ERRIGAL Ciaran’s players are happy to pass on the excesses of the festive season in the best possible cause they could imagine.
With an All-Ireland semi-final coming up on January 5, the Tyrone and Ulster champions have been trading party nights for tough sessions on the training field at Dunmoyle.
“I think all teams at this stage would be happy enough, even though it curtails plans over Christmas, I think you want to maintain your momentum,” said manager Enda McGinley.
“A longer break is tougher to settle as then you are trying to give a period of down-time and then building back up.
“The way it is now, there’s no real period of down-time, so you don’t have time to worry about that. It’s crack on, push on, make the improvements and make sure you’re ready to go come the fifth.”
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Errigal Ciaran’s third All-Ireland semi-final appearance sees them face Munster opponents again in the form of Dr Crokes, having lost to Nemo Rangers in 2003 and 1994.
McGinley, a member of the last Errigal side to win a provincial title, senses a golden opportunity to take the club to a first-ever Croke Park final.
“We’ve lost two and as I said to the boys the other day, the loss in 2002 was easily the worst loss of my career.
“I was only 21 at the time and I knew sitting outside the ground, as sick as I was, I knew how unlikely it was that you would ever get all the way back again and so it passed, I never got close to it again.
“They are exceptionally precious things, particularly coming out of the Tyrone championship, to try and navigate that first.
“The following year we’re sitting in a different mindset and it’s a long way back, so we have to make the very most of it when we’re there.”
It’s the most open All-Ireland in years, with big forces falling, to be replaced by lesser-known contenders, but one traditional power remains in the mix, two-time champions Dr Crokes.
“It’s a huge task, they’re easily the most experienced, everyone’s talking about how open the All-Ireland is, and I suppose it is,” said McGinley.
“But there’s one team that’s certainly been there and done that and has loads of experience of getting to Croke Park within their squad, loads of experience of the biggest days in Croke Park.”
As they prepare to step into uncharted territory, Errigal’s coaching team has been busy collating as much information as possible on the Munster champions.
“Yes, we are up against it but it’s a game where neither team knows each other too well.
“We’ll all do our homework in terms of video analysis but it’s exceptionally hard to get really your inside line on a team until you play them.
“There’ll be a lot of learning in the early phases of that game but we’ve a lot of games under our belts now, a lot of tough games as we know, and those learnings will count, the fact there’s not a big break.”
