Cool Donaghy spearheading the Clarkes challenge

WHAT a difference the past decade has made for the two very ambitious clubs who will go head to head for a place in the Tyrone Senior semi-final this weekend.

It has been some journey for Loughmacrory St Teresa’s and Dungannon Clarkes as they prepare to meet in the last eight on Saturday afternoon (3.30pm at Pomeroy). In the mid-2010s, both were languishing far away from the O’Neill Cup challenge. Now, they’re right up their in contention, and have concrete credentials to make a real push for the title.

Dungannon, of course, won the title so memorably in 2020. For Loughmacrory, the promise of youth success, the presence of so many talented players, and a series of impressive league campaigns since their promotion for the 2019 season, mean that they also justifiably confident of posing a big threat when the O’Neill Cup race reaches its climax.

One of them will go out at the quarter final stage, though. That’s what makes this game so intriguing, especially after their impressive first round victories which saw Loughmacrory cruise past Galbally and Dungannon win the derby tie against Donaghmore.

Among their stars in that game was Paul Donaghy who scored the Clarkes dramatic winning penalty goal right at the death. He has been a star attacker for them in recent years and is looking forward to making the most of the opportunities which this Senior Championship campaign presents for them.

“There was a bit of pressure on when we got the penalty against Donaghmore to win the game. I had asked Cavlo (Gerard Cavlan selector) whether to go for the goal or the point and thankfully everything worked out,” he said.

“It was very important for us to get a win in the Championship. We have reached the semi-finals of the league, but the Championship is the competition that everyone wants to win and we’re just delighted to be able to challenge for a semi-final place.

“The Championship is the pinnacle of Tyrone football and our main goal is to get to the next round. We’ve been playing a lot of good football throughout this year, and there have been a lot of ups and downs. Our win over Donaghmore was probably a down because we definitely didn’t get the performance that we were looking for.

“In spells we played well but overall we were disappointed and that’s something which we’ll be looking to improve on for the quarter final.”

Victories are all-important in the Championship and this game is a repeat of the 2020 first round clash which saw the Clarkes narrowly get through on their way to a first title since 1956. Suffice to say that more of the same dramatic exchanges are being anticipated as the teams renew acquaintances in knock out action.

Donaghy explained: “Loughmacrory have also had a good league campaign. We’re relieved to have got over the line and it’s just about trying to improve things now for the quarter final.”

In 2024, these two clubs were languishing in mid-table Intermediate football. The transformation has been amazing during the intervening period, and one of them will further enhance their reputations when the action gets underway in this mouth-watering quarter final tie.