By 
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
ONE of the most brilliant fairytale stories ever in the history of the Tyrone championship became a brilliant reality on Sunday as Loughmacrory won the O’Neill Cup for the very first time amidst amazing scenes of jubilation at Healy Park.
Few considered them as genuine championship contenders when the 2025 knockout series began. But the St Teresa’s players believed, and their sheer determination and energy saw them capture the title on a score of 0-18 to 2-11 against the mighty Reds from Trillick.
Team captain, Nathan Kelly, raised the famous cup aloft above several thousand cheering fans. He also had a message for the young players to follow their footballing dreams, just as his team of heroes have done with such a ground-breaking success.
Now they proceed to the Ulster Club championship. But, to be honest, that simply doesn’t matter for the moment as hundreds packed into the clubrooms at Pairc An Locha to continue the celebrations. Their story is one that has the ability to inspire others, and comes to a club founded in 1972 – among the youngest and most vibrant in the Red Hand county.
Team manager, Martin Boyle, has enjoyed triumphs with Derry at inter-county level. But it’s fair to say that this one ranks as perhaps the best of all, as he contemplated a glorious season that has seen the St Teresa’s beat all before them.
“This feels pretty good to be honest,” was the team manager’s humble response following the final whistle. ” It’s a bit surreal at this stage, and the time after the final whistle was a bit of a blur. I suppose things will start to become real when we return to the dressing-rooms with the players. It might begin to sink in then.
“The past week was brilliant, the community was going great which was great to see and that’s what reaching a County Final does. But the players were focused and ready to go and the only problem we had was cramming two weeks of preparation into nine days.
“The boys took on the challenge and have delivered big time by winning this title.”
The story of the game, and the video-recording of an historic day for the Lough will be savoured time and again for many years to come. They became the first team to win the O’Neill Cup for the first time since Dromore in 2007, and the first to win it in their inaugural final since Eglish away back in 1970.
But those historic facts bear no relation to the sense of elation which enraptured the players, management and supporters as they raced onto the Healy Park pitch moments after the final whistle confirmed their victory.
“We got six points in a row in the first quarter. Going three points down was a blow, but we got the confidence up and running.Once that happened we knew we’d arrived and were ready to play and boy did we play,” added Martin Boyle.
“In every championship game this year it has been about how we responded to the setbacks. There has been a lot of learning from past defeats. But for me, it’s all about the players They were under pressure from a top class team like Trillick, playing against the breeze and it takes a special kind of player to go and carry out the instructions that they needed to.
“It all comes down to belief. County Finals aren’t going to be won easily and we knew what was coming in this game. Our big development this year has been maturity in being able to back ourselves and deal with confidence to strut your stuff in a humble way.
“Humility is one word which describes all these lads and says everything about them and the homes that they come from.
“When that final whistle went the first thing I did was shake hands with the Trillick joint manager, Ritichie Thornton. This is an unbelievable success and we’ll enjoy every minute of the celebrations.”
Next up for the Lough is an Ulster Club clash against Down kingpins, Kilcoo. But in the meantime the community celebrations will take centre stage – for a few days at least.