BY ALAN RODGERS
MESSAGES of congratulations have been flowing into the Greencastle club from every possible medium this week as the true extent of their achievement at Croke Park last Saturday night becomes clear.
Neighbouring clubs, members of the St Patrick's who are currently abroad and supporters at home have all marked the historic All-Ireland Club triumph. And, the players and panel themselves arrived back to a rousing reception on Sunday night.
Unsurprisingly, the past few days have been something of a roller-coaster following the nailbiting one point win over the Kerry champions, Duagh. However, now that the initial excitement has eased somewhat, it's time to stake stock according to their influential midfielder, Enda Clarke.
"At the start of last year, Sean Teague said that if we worked for each other our ability would shine through. We decided to do that and thankfully that effort has paid off now," he said.
"Winning is a habit and the difference between this year's team and previous seasons is that we've managed to match our ability with a good run.
"After winning the Tyrone title the team just decided to take things fairly steady. But after the Ulster title I think everyone realised that anything was possible.
"Croke Park is just another pitch which is no bigger than Greencastle's. We set out to forget about the stadium and play the football we know that we're capable of and fortunately that was the way it worked out.
"But it's still a great place to play in and when we came down for the practice session the one target was that we wouldn't have any regrets at the end of this. The whole team was counting down from three weeks ago and nobody wanted to say that if we had done this or that we'd be All-Ireland Champions," he continued.
Such a fierce desire to win the All-Ireland meant that even some tough periods against Duagh failed to upset Sean Teague or his players. Instead, each stuck resolutely to the task by producing the kind of performance that most teams only dream about.
Throughout the field on Saturday night they made a decisive impact when it mattered most. Team captain, Martin Conway, played his role at the back where the efforts of Damien O'Hagan were especially impressive.
Patrick Keenan and Enda Clarke were forceful at midfield while the accuracy and speed of Terry McDermott, Barry Treacy and Barry McNulty really made the difference. While it was inevitably tight at the finish, Greencastle always looked comfortably during the final stages.
Their win on Saturday night also proved third time lucky for Tyrone teams in the All-Ireland Club as well. Before Saturday night, the appearance of Pomeroy and Stewartstown were the only outings by a side from the county at that stage, both of them being defeated in 2005.
Now the hope among others will be that they can emulate the Greencastle achievement. For the St Patrick's there's a new focus as they prepare for Division Two domestic football, although nothing will seem impossible after Saturday night.
"To be honest the whole thing about being the first team to win an All-Ireland Club from Tyrone didn't really enter my head because this was first and foremost about Greencastle," he added.
"We wanted to win for Greencastle and anything else was a bonus. But obviously it's a great achievement and no other team will be able to take that away from us.
"This team sat down at the start of last year and set senior football in three seasons as the target. That's the masterplan and we have the players coming through to achieve it.
"Winning the All-Ireland title and all the success of the past few months is only phase one. If we can get on a run, boost the confidence which is such a big thing at the moment, we'll be hard to beat.
"There's a new professional attitude among the players. It has been a case of taking that next step, we're thinking more about our diet and stepping up our preparations generally.
"One thing that we noticed last year was that the team seemed to play with a little more abandon when the pressure of the Tyrone championship and league was lifted. If we can continue to improve, then we believe that we've as good a chance as anyone of doing well at the higher level."
For years Tyrone teams appear to have found club success a bridge too far. Progress by the likes of Stewartstown and Pomeroy during recent years has brought new hope that the apparent barrier can be overcome.
Now that the heroes from Greencastle have reached a new milestone, the task for both them and the rest is to bring the inspiration provided at Croke Park to a new level both domestically, at a provincial level and on the All-Ireland stage.
