Peter Harte is one big-game victory away from landing everything there is to win in Gaelic football.
The Tyrone captain won an All-Ireland senior title with his county in 2021, having lost out to Dublin in the 2018 final.
That Dubs side contained Con O’Callaghan, who terrorised Tyrone in the 2017 All-Ireland semi–final, piercing their double-sweeper system to score a goal early on.
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O’Callaghan will front Cuala’s challenge in Sunday’s All-Ireland senior club final at Croke Park, just as Harte will for Errigal Ciaran.
Errigal Ciaran are the first side from the county to reach a senior final.
“In the back of your head I think you always hope that some day we could get there,” said Harte. “Paddy’s Day was the big All-Ireland final club day. But when you’ve been through the Tyrone Championship, year in, year out, getting knocked out in every different way possible, you wonder will you ever get there.
“Will you ever get a Tyrone title? Even up to 2022, we had eight or nine years of defeats (lost finals in 2017 and 2019).
“Not getting over the line, being in finals and so on. It’s a wee bit surreal. The thing about this week is that you don’t have much time to think about it too much. It’s nearly a good thing.”
Both teams have an eight-day turnaround after last Saturday’s semi-finals following their postponement for a week due to the bad weather.
Perhaps Cuala hold a slight edge in a few areas but it may not count for all that much.
They didn’t have extra-time last weekend where Errigal did, the game is in the capital and they played their Leinster final at Croke Park against St Mary’s, looking right at home in a dominant first half, before conceding two quick fire goals in the second half.
“Croke Park is just a wee different to play in,” says Harte, who has plenty of experience at GAA HQ. “It’s bigger. It’s a lot more around you.
“Playing in Croke Park, even when there is not so many there is different because of the noise and the echo and so on.
“But look, it will be the same for both teams. Cuala had their Leinster final there.
“They have plenty of inter-county experience on their side so hopefully it will not end up being much of a factor.”
Harte, who said Errigal are “definitely indebted” to their bench for their resilience and impact in last weekend’s victory over Dr Crokes, added: “It’s just something to look forward to.
“Getting back to Croke Park to play a Dublin team in an All-Ireland final. Expect nothing easy.
“You get the bodies recovered. Probably get one decent session this week and get ready to go again. You probably don’t have much time to do an awful lot of video and analysis.
“You have to get your house in order and put your best foot forward on the pitch and hopefully that will be enough on the day.
“In Tyrone you are used to playing week on week. The League here is very fast and the Championship.
“We’d a draw this year, a few games in a row. Hopefully that experience of doing that will help us.”
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