Killeeshil stalwart Packie savours second title

PACKIE McMullan lives in Aghaloo but you couldn’t get a prouder Killeeshil man and he was visibly emotional in the aftermath of Sunday’s dramatic Tyrone Junior Championship Final triumph, only the second ever in the club’s history.

McMullan was part of a trail-blazing St Mary’s team that not only won their maiden championship title back in 2013, but subsequently surged to the Ulster Junior title.

There have been some difficult days at the office in the mean-time, but a batch of dedicated servants have stayed the course, including 38-year-old Packie who delivered an exceptional personal performance last Sunday.

A lot’s changed since 2013 – he has three children now and is in the twilight of his playing career – but one thing that hasn’t changed is his unvarnished love of Killeeshil, and he’s just delighted that he’s stuck with
it.

“ I’ve been playing for just over two decades now, I’ve been in three finals and I’m lucky enough to have won two of them. For a club like Killeeshil, you really have to take your chance when it’s presented to you.

“ For a large part of the second half it was really getting away from us, and to be honest there was a bit of doubt in my mind as injury-time approached.

“I thought it was gone, Aghaloo had all the momentum. One thing that’s common to the Tyrone Championship is that there’s a shock at the end of it but it usually seemed to be us on the receiving end. Just this one time, it was our day.”

McMullan isn’t the only one on the present panel who was at the coalface of their 2013 triumph, and he believes their experience of winning a previous title made a tangible difference. At the same time, he acknowledged that it was a difficult one for Aghaloo to take as they looked home and hosed deep into injury time before Killeeshil staged a dramatic late intervention.

“I think we have seven or eight lads from 2013 still playing. I suppose that’s seven or eight lads who know how to win a title, and know what’s on the other side of a championship win. You know what it’s like to go back to Killeeshil Hall and the reception you get. It’s important to know those things.

“I feel a bit sorry for Aghaloo, that’s four or five Junior finals they’ve lost since their last one. I’m living right in the heart of Aghaloo and they’ve been really good to me and my children go to school there. I know it’s desperately disappointing for them.”

Michael O’Neill plundered a late equalising goal for Killeeshil followed up by a brilliant late winner from Cormac Donaghy, who steered over a difficult free that will go down in the annals of Killeeshil football.

“That one won’t be forgotten, I’d say it’ll be a picture on the wall in Cormac’s house! It wasn’t an easy one.

“When he went over to take it, I said to him ‘congratulations, you’re about to win us the Tyrone title here’. Cormac thrives on that sort of stuff, there was no better man to step up when needed and it was an unbelievable winner.”