FATHER’S DAYS AT CROKE PARK INSPIRED ME TO REACH SUMMIT

AT times Conor Meyler wondered was it all worth it as he endured setback after setback.

From playing on the club second team at Omagh St Enda’s, to missing out on the Tyrone minors and being sent down to play reserve football in the club.

He absorbed the blows and moved on, a memory from the final whistle at the end of Tyrone’s 2005 and 2008 All-ireland final triumphs spurring him on.

That look on his father’s face.

Sean (above, with his son) won an Ulster title with Tyrone in 1989, but didn’t get to experience what Conor did at the weekend, landing an All-ireland senior title.

Meyler said: “I vividly remember being at the All-ireland finals in ‘05 and ‘08 with my da.

“I ran onto the pitch with him and there was this elation. I didn’t really know what was going on.

“But I remember thinking this is powerful, how this feels and seeing how happy it made my da, and thinking ‘that’s what I want to achieve some day. I want to get there’.”

Meyler says he focused on his own game this year,

“playing without fear,” and “trying to get on the ball more”.

It certainly worked for him after years of trying.

He added: “I have had so many setbacks on my football journey that it would have been easy to throw in the towel.

“You wonder sometimes are you ever going to get there.

“That five or 10 seconds after the whistle, I just dreamt of it for years.

“Standing in the middle of Croke Park on a dry day looking around seeing the red and white.

“Seeing my friends coming over and hugging you.

“That’s a dream that I can now cherish.”

For Meyler it’s about more than himself and the Tyrone team.

“It’s kind of like I’ve given that opportunity to some young boys and girls to know how that feels, and hopefully they have dreams of doing the same one day.

“To me, that’s powerful.”