Trillick Bridge Twenty Nine Year Gap

Sunday 11.10.2015

 

Trillick 1-9 Killyclogher 0-11

Trillick won their first Tyrone senior championship title since 1986 when they edged a tough battle with Killyclogher before a massive crowd at Healy Park on Sunday afternoon. Lee Brennan proved to be the match winner when he converted a free a minute into injury time to give the St.Macartans their seventh O’Neill Cup success.

 

The winners got off to an unbelievable start when they surged through the middle with Richard Donnelly and Rory Brennan combing for the latter to play the ball to his brother Lee who palmed to the net with only thirteen seconds gone on the clock.

 

Daire Gallagher and Tiernan McCann exchanged points and by the 11^th minute the gap was cut to the minimum after Killyclogher captain Leo Meenan got on the end of a high ball to fist over the bar. In the next attack Killyclogher almost got in for a goal when Tiernan McCann tried to find his brother Conall with a fisted pass but it was too high and the ball came back of the bar before being cleared.

 

Gallagher then weighed in with his second point of the half but Killyclogher responded to draw level with efforts from James Carlin and Conall McCann. Richard Donnelly hit a superb point from distance but almost immediately former Tyrone defender Dermot Carlin levelled matters again. The St.Marys then had the final say of the half from a Conall McCann free to lead for the first time, 0-7 to 1-3.

 

A Brennan free on the restart levelled matters but Killyclogher came straight down the field for Conal McCann to hit a superb score with his weaker left foot. The winners then enjoyed a good spell which yielded three unanswered points from Brennan, Niall Gormley and Tyrone star Mattie Donnelly. With ten minutes to go Trillick held a two point lead but Killyclogher weren’t finish yet. Mark Bradley took a good point before wing half back Gary Wallace joined the attack to score the equaliser via the left post.

 

A Brennan free edged Trillick back in front but when substitute Tomas Flanagan pointed with two minutes to go it looked set for a replay. With the game in injury time Mattie Donnelly cut in from the end line to win a thirteen metre free which Brennan coolly converted to give Trillick their seventh O’Neill Cup success.

 

Trillick – J Maguire, S O’Donnell, R Kelly, G McKenna, N Donnelly, R Brennan, F Donnelly, R Donnelly (0-1), E Gormley, M Donnelly (0-1), P O’Kane, S Kelly, N Gormley (0-1), L Brennan (1-4), D Gallagher (0-2). Subs – D Kelly for McKenna, S Gormley for S Kelly, D McDonnell for F Donnelly

 

 

Killyclogher – S Fox, M Swift, D Gorman, G Sludden, G Wallace (0-1), D Carlin (0-1), E Bradley, C McCann (0-3), N McFadden, T McCann (0-1), J Carlin (0-1), A Kelly, L Meenan (0-1), M Bradley (0-2), E McFadden. Sub – T Flanagan (0-1) for J Carlin

 

 

Referee – J McElroy, Aghaloo