For over six weeks now they've been sitting and watching. Under contrasting skies they've seen as many counties fall out as pass through, but come Sunday, the Tyrone wait for championship football will be over.

As the last team to appear, the nerves and apprehension may be greater than most, yet there's enough seasoning in this Tyrone side to dismiss that as hype. And as it happens, one of their most experienced is also one of their youngest.

Despite just turning 23, Ger Cavlan has a claim on Tyrone's two successive Ulster Championship crowns of the decade. He made his debut in the opening round of the first of those back in 1995, starting in the same position, midfield, and against the same opponents, Fermanagh, as their long-awaited game in Clones this Sunday.

Although he has since juggled with alternative positions, Cavlan seems more content just to find his place anywhere on this Tyrone team and like the rest of them, eager to get on with the game. "Yeah, it has been hard just sitting back and seeing everybody else get into the action," he says. "It's been 13 weeks now since our last competitive game and hopefully that won't make us a little rusty. But at least it's different to last year when we were gone by the middle of May."

It has been a difficult period for Tyrone since losing the 1995 All-Ireland final to Dublin. Since then Cavlan has been switching among the front line and midfield and in last year's championship opener with Down he started at corner forward. So far, however, he has yet to find a preference. "I've played at midfield many times for the club and the county during the league so it won't be any problem. I'm as comfortable playing there as anywhere else and the main thing about this year is when you look at the strength of the panel and the number of quality players that are still around then I'm just glad to have got any position."

Few can argue that Tyrone has both depth and experience. Take the likes of Peter Canavan or Adrian Cush and you have to go back to the very start of the decade to dig up their championship debuts. And while Cavlan appreciates his involvement at any location, manager Danny Ball jokingly surrenders his agreement that this may be the year he will flourish at midfield.

"Well, that's what everybody tells me," says Ball. "But yeah, there is no doubt about his talent even if he is still very much a young player. He is well able to play no matter where you put him."

His long-term involvement with both Tyrone and his club Dungannon has in no way made Cavlan complacent about the fitness requirements to stay competitive, despite his obvious youth. "In order to keep up at this level you have to progress every year and if you're not going forward, then you're going back. It's becoming a younger game all the time and all the emphasis is on improving."

In the meantime, he is well settled in Dungannon, working with Powerscreen International and looking forward to a couple more years at least in the regular Tyrone panel. "I think this season we have more experience than ever, and the mood has been very positive right through the winter. There have been a few interruptions in the training due to club commitments and maybe the preparations could have been slightly better but we're definitely eager to start playing."

Fermanagh's championship fortunes in recent years have been directly contrasting. They haven't progressed beyond the first round since 1992, and their record as a whole has been barren even if they came especially close to Cavan in the last two years.

"Some people think that this will be a comfortable win for us," explains Ball. "But Fermanagh have shown in the last couple of championships that they are far from an easy obstacle. We've had our injury problems like everyone else but I'm happy that the 15 we've chosen here are fit and ready to go. There is no point in playing anybody that is carrying an injury and while it may not be the perfect team, it is the best we can go with."

They will find Fermanagh still riding high from their convincing preliminary round victory over Monaghan, resulting in a joyous pitch invasion that was just one indication of their new-found ambition. They have matured both mentally and physically to create a challenge unlike anything else in recent years.

"The atmosphere is definitely building up around Tyrone for this one and there's a real buzz amongst the supporters. I know Fermanagh are really up for it as well. They're young, they're hungry and they've got the better of us in a couple of earlier games this year. Any of their six forwards can be match-winners, especially the likes of Paul and Tom Brewster, so it's going to be very hard."

A win here would send Tyrone into their fifth Ulster semi-final of the decade, yet another area where Cavlan is well experienced. "But just don't ask me about that one," he says. "We're taking each game as it comes and we'll be lucky enough to get through this one."