Carrickmore’s Loughran hoping team can build more momentum

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINAL

A TEAM brimming with young players is leading the Carrickmore onslaught as they aim to bridge that frustrating two decade gap since the club became the last in Tyrone to retain the senior title.

There was no doubting their control in the comprehensive victory over Moortown two weeks ago. But now the Naomh Colmcille’s are facing a much tougher challenge this Sunday against an Edendork side with strong credentials of knock-out progress.

It has been a season of mixed fortunes for Carrickmore. A few defeats in Division One of the All-County League left them out of contention for the title, before they regrouped with a series of good wins to boost their confidence ahead of the Championship.

Now the race for the O’Neill Cup is demanding their full focus. Centre-back, Ruairi Loughran, was pleased with their win over Moortown, but also realises that improvements will be required if they are to reach the final four. Edendork defeated them in the last Championship tie between the clubs, so there’s a lot at stake on this occasion.

“There was an element of nervousness going into the first round because Moortown had defeated us earlier on the in the league. It was a difficult enough league campaign for us because we were probably down towards the bottom half of the table,” he said.

“That was different from the past four or five years when we’ve been in the top four. But there were a lot of injuries within the squad and a couple of lads had gone away to America. At the same time, that was a chance for younger players to come in and for us to really build the depth of our squad.

“I suppose we weren’t happy with our league position, but the chance to build the squad is something that we’re happy with.”

Carrickmore, of course, lead the O’Neill Cup roll of honour. However, that position which they have held since the golden era of the late nineties and early 2000s is one that comes with the caution of not having reigned supreme since 2005.

They will, though, pose a strong challenge as this year’s competition reaches its climax, beginning with the clash against Edendork. Their first round win over Moortown has bolstered them as well.

“You just want to get over the line in the Tyrone Championship no matter what way. Any one of the eight remaining are all good clubs and there’ll be nothing easy. But we have to take things to another level now, and there are things we’re going to have to work on.”

“Our win over Moortown was a good one. The two goals in the first half were important because they meant that we got the good start. We wanted to get things going, get a foothold and then build on that which is what we did.

“Thankfully we controlled a majority of the play. Obviously there were elements of our play that we won’t particularly happy with, but those are things that we’ll be working on ahead of the quarter final. Our shot selection at times could have been better.”