Fintona recall glory years of the 70s this weekend

ONE memorable victory exactly 50 years ago heralded the start of a winning run which brought Fintona Pearses agonisingly close to completing what would have been a remarkable achievement.

In August 1975, they defeated Gortin to win the Tyrone Junior title. That win marked the beginning of a journey which saw them win the Intermediate title in 1978, before losing by just a point to Carrickmore in the 1979 O’Neill Cup decider.

Now, half a century on, their team will celebrate those magnificent milestones with a series of events this weekend. It’s two days of celebrations which will culminate in them being presented to the crowd at Fintona’s Division Two All-County League clash against Owen Roes on Sunday afternoon.

Four finals in four years at the end of the seventies. Two titles, and a losing senior semi-final outing against Omagh in 1980. The times were good for Fintona, and maybe their youth successes of the present era suggest a return to the big time is once again imminent.

“We had an abundance of young players coming through during that period and many of us had experience playing with Tyrone at Vocational, Minor and U-21 level. Then, Gerry Monteith came as trainer and things just seemed to gel,” reflected Dermot McGuigan, a member of all those teams.

“Fintona won the Tyrone Junior and Intermediate titles, we won the double at Intermediate, the reserve double and the U-21 title as well. That was a great period for the club. Over 12 years, we were regular champions at various levels.”

The 1979 season will be remembered with particular pride. Wins over Moortown, Ardboe and a massive victory over a Dromore team which had reached the previous two county finals, highlighted Fintona’s talents. But Carrickmore stopped them from recording what would have been a unique achievement.

“Looking back now, it was amazing. I suppose the senior final against Carrickmore in 1979 is our one regret. We lost by a point, they used all their experience in the end. John McElroy, who guided Fermanagh to the Ulster Final in 1982 was our trainer and I suppose just a couple of small things went wrong on the day,” added Dermot.

“Then in 1980, we got to the semi-final again and Omagh got the goal that never was to reach the final. They beat us by a point, and that loss meant we didn’t get a craic at Trillick who we’d beaten in numerous tournament finals in the years before then.

“We never trained because, like many teams at that time, we loved playing tournaments. Beragh was our favourite and Tempo. Then, in the early eighties, about six or seven of that team emigrated and our time at the top ended.

Fintona subsequently lost the Intermediate finals of 1984 and 1987 to Coalisland and Aghyaran. Those defeats marked the end of an era still recalled with fondness, and certain to generate many happy memories when the players who blazed a trail all those years ago gather to reminisce this weekend.