It's a curious aspect of the Ulster club football championship that in its 56 years of existence, the winners have come from Tyrone on just two occasions.
Indeed Sunday’s Red Hand representatives, Errigal Ciarán, are the only side to have lifted the Seamus McFerran Cup, the most recent occasion being 2002.
There are obvious similarities between then and now for the south Tyrone club.
They only required eight points to defeat Enniskillen Gaels to land their second provincial title, yet it was a Canavan that provided half the scores (current manager Enda McGinley also raised a white flag on the day). Brother Pascal was also a central figure on the day, with Enniskillen reduced to 14 men early in the second half for an off-the-ball offence against the older sibling.
While Peter was the undoubted maestro in an All-Ireland journey that ended at the penultimate stage against Nemo Rangers, his sons Darragh (24) and Ruairí (21) lead the charge up front for the current crop.
In their three Ulster outings to date, the brothers have accounted for 47% of Errigal Ciarán's, scores. Last time out, Ruairí was in sublime form, floating over a magnificent score - his ninth of the afternoon - off his weaker left to snatch victory over Clann Éireann. The pair accounted for all but three of their points in a gripping encounter.
The Tyrone side have had three matches to get to the decider, shading it against Donegal champions St Eunan’s before proving too strong for Antrim’s Cargin.
The manner of the win over the Armagh kingpins last time out will surely stand the side in good stead at the Box-It Athletic Grounds, never mind the feat in itself to emerge as kingpins in Tyrone, given the cut-throat nature of the knockout championship.
The Ballygawley club won their semi-final and final by a point, and required a replay to see off Clonoe in the last eight.
Their opponents Kilcoo are also bidding for a third Ulster crown, but their rich provincial history is a more recent phenomenon.
The most decorated club in Down, it took eight Ulster campaigns – their first nine county titles were accounted for before the creation of the provincial championship – before finally coming out on top in 2019.
Their second success was en-route to a maiden All-Ireland title in 2022 and talk of a potential decline has been swatted away by manager Karl Lacey.
Kilcoo's march to the final hasn’t been quite as demanding, getting past a Crosserlough side that were coming off a maiden Cavan crown before serving notice with a five-goal demolition of Scotstown two weeks ago at today’s venue.
Few club sides have perfected the counter-attacking style at club level like the Mourne men in recent years, with wing-back Micael Rooney's two-goal salvo in the semi-final pointing to a side still highly efficient on turning defence into attack.
Down manager Conor Laverty remains as committed as ever to the Magpies and is likely to make an appearance off the bench.
A fourth final appearance in half a dozen years points to a team that knows their way around the business end of the season, and suggestions from outside the camp that there is a lot of mileage on the clock will only fuel the fires even more.
Indeed, following the goal-blitz against Scotstown, who had ended their Ulster campaign 12 months previous, Lacey suggested Kilcoo they were still some way off the markers they had set themselves.
The former Donegal footballer and his backroom team will feel that if they are able to curb the influence of the Canavan brothers to any degree at all – a task much easier in theory rather than practice – it could be the foundation for another tilt at ultimate honours.
