Conal McCann will face off against some of his county teammates in Killyclogher’s first round opener against Errigal Ciaran

CONAL McCann admits the bitter after-taste of last season’s county final defeat still lingers as Killyclogher hone their preparations for their 2016 championship opener against Errigal Ciaran on Saturday.

The two sides met in identikit circumstances in last season’s first round: on that occasion Killyclogher engineered a ten-point turnaround as they overcame a five-point deficit at half-time to run out comfortable 2-10 to 0-11 winners in the end-up.

But while possible redemption is on the cards for Errigal this weekend as they return to Carrickmore, Killyclogher are hardly coming into this match with sated appetites – McCann acknowledges he hasn’t yet come to terms with last year’s final defeat to Trillick.

“I’m not [over it] to be honest. It’s just one of those things, you have to use it as motivation when you get the chance again, you know how it feels to lose and you don’t want that feeling ever again.”

It isn’t all parallels and symmetries, however, as McCann has had his first experience of playing senior football with Killyclogher under the watch of someone other than Kieran Howe. Dominic Corrigan has been handed the keys this season, and McCann claims they have starkly different management styles.

“It’s different for me, all I’ve ever had is Kieran Howe since I was a teenager, I haven’t really had anyone else to compare him to. Everything’s the same except Dominic is there, he’s a bit more motivational, he’ll really try to get you up whereas Kieran Howe is a bit more calm. You need that too before a big game or if you’re down.”

Not that it’s had much affect one way or the other on results. Killyclogher are third in the table and the 23-year-old claims that a possible league-championship double is no mere pipedream.

“We won the league two years ago, we didn’t really set about winning it, we just kept on winning every game. We didn’t really prioritise it this year eithr but we’ve only lost two games and we’re sitting second in the table. We’re in the position to do both so we’ll try to the same.

McCann has been on the Tyrone panel for the past two years and he says that experience has conferred on him the authority to be a leader for Killyclogher at the age of 23. At the other end of the spectrum, experienced heads like Leo Meenan and Dermot Carlin have been biding their time, waiting for the championship to come around.

“I think everyone’s grand, a couple of boys particuarly Leo and Dermy haven’t really played this year, they’re taking her handy and have been trying to get themselves right for the championship.”

See Gaelic Life online here or in store’s today for previews of all of this weekend’s championship matches in Tyrone.