Trillick fend off St Enda’s fightback

Trillick 1-21  Omagh 1-19

TRILLICK held visitors Omagh relatively comfortably at arm’s length on a gloomy old night at Donnelly Park on Saturday to take the spoils in this enjoyable Division One clash.

St Enda’s sub Tom Donaghy slotted home a goal with the last kick of the contest to put a glossier veneer on the final scoreline from their perspective, but while the Reds were sloppy down the home straight, in truth Omagh had left themselves with too much to do.

Daley Tunney and Colm Garrity were excellent at the back for the hosts, while Ruairi King, Charlie Donnelly and top scorer Lee Brennan (who notched up a dozen points) looked lively further up the pitch.

For Omagh Ronan O’Neill also weighed in with twelve points, and the likes of Tomas Haigney and Oisin Miller plugged away gamely, but their chase proved to be a forlorn one.

O’Neill banged over an early two point free for Omagh, but after Frank McCaughey opened Trillick’s account, Brennan then split the posts from the dead ball from outside the 40m arc to edge his side in front.

While O’Neill immediately levelled matters with a free, St Enda’s conceded a 14th minute goal, Brennan twice involved with a razor sharp exchange of passes before offloading to Ruairi King to crash a shot low beyond keeper Niall McCrory.

Charlie Donnelly and the impressive Colm Garrity (two pointer) registered scores to put Trillick six to the good, and while O’Neill tagged on a free at the other end, a couple of ‘3 man’ technical breaches by the visitors enabled Brennan to punish them with a brace of two point frees.

The Reds lead hit double figures (1-11 to 0-4) when King blasted over a point from close range, but a yellow card for dissent for Trillick manager Richie Thornton enabled O’Neill to plant a two point free.

Indeed there was glimpses that Omagh were discovering their attacking mojo coming up to the break and scores from Conan Campbell, Tomas Haigney and O’Neill reduced the arrears to 1-12 to 0-9 at half-time.

A superb two pointer by Brennan on the restart put the Reds in the box-seat again, though it required a superb save from Joe Maguire in nets to deny O’Neill a goal after he latched onto a tremendous pass from sub Conan Grugan.

Even after O’Neill slipped over a brace of frees, Trillick’s response was emphatic in the fast fading light, Garrity hoisting another quality two pointer.

Omagh’s cause wasn’t helped when Grugan picked up a black card, and while Haigney did add to his tally with an assured finish, another nonchalant Brennan two pointer meant the lead was back up to ten-1-19 to 0-12- at the three quarter mark.

To their credit St Enda’s refused to throw in the towel, Haigney with another two quality pointer, but scores from Ryan Gray and Brennan provided Trillick with further breathing space.

O’Neill slipped over a couple of frees and McCrory landed a ‘45’ but the goal Omagh really craved arrived far too late; Donaghy tucking it away after Haigney’s skier was directed into his path.

Scorers

Trillick: Lee Brennan (0-12, 2tp, 3tpf,1f), Colm Garrity (0-4,2tp), Ruairi King (1-1), Conall McCann, Charlie Donnelly, Frank McCaughey, Ryan Gray (0-1 each)

Omagh: Ronan O’Neill (0-12, 1tpf, 8f), Tomas Haigney (0-4,1tp), Tom Donaghy (1-0), Conan Campbell, Tiernan Campbell (0-1 each), Niall McCrory (0-1,’45’)

Teams

Trillick: Paul Courtney, Damian Kelly, Ruairi Kelly, Daley Tunney, Colm Garrity, Daire Gallagher, Michael Gallagher, Conall McCann, Peter McCaughey, Ruairi King, Nathan Farry, Charlie Donnelly, Frank McCaughey, Lee Brennan, Niall Donnelly. Subs used: Ryan Gray for C McCann (h-time), Joe Maguire for P Courtney (h-time), Gavin McCarron for F McCaughey (54mins)

Omagh: Niall McCrory, Ben Groogan, Ciaran McLaughlin, Barry Tierney, Hugh Gallagher, Cormac Corry, Tomas Haigney, Patrick Bradley, Oisin Miller, Cormac Taggart, Ronan O’Neill, Dan Haigney, Conan Campbell, Jason McAnulla, Eoghan McNamee. Subs used: Conan Grugan for C Taggart (h-time), Tiernan Campbell for E McNamee (h-time), Cain Bradley for C Campbell (48mins), Tom Donaghy for H Gallagher (48)

Referee: Sean Devenney (Drumquin)