Omagh dismantle Derrylaughan in one-sided tie

TYRONE SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST RD

Omagh 1-26  Derrylaughan 0-2

By Niall Gartland

IN Ireland, we love to talk about the weather so that’s exactly where we’ll start with Sunday’s Senior Championship first-round clash between Omagh and Derrylaughan (Omagh, by the way, won very, very comfortably).

Needless to say it was an absolute pig of a day at Pomeroy – a headache for supporters and players alike. Incessant sheets of rain, a howling breeze and unpleasantly murky sky set the scene for what turned out to be a lop-sided championship encounter with little in the way of drama for any hardy neutrals in attendance.

Defeat confirmed Derrylaughan’s Intermediate status in 2026, though they did have two understandable excuses for their lacklustre performance yesterday – their captain and spiritual leader Brian Kennedy was suspended while the loss of their marquee forward Tomas Carney to an awful leg injury remains a devastating blow.

But Omagh also deserve considerable credit for what was a measured performance in tricky (understatement) conditions. They led from start-to-finish and were eminently comfortable as they booked their spot in the last eight.

St Enda’s opened the scoring in the third minute via Damien McGuigan after a controlled passage of play, and they doubled their advantage when Oisin Miller fisted over after a purposeful diagonal run.

They almost added a goal for good measure, a quick-thinking Ronan O’Neill getting a hand to the ball, though his imaginative effort crashed back off the crossbar.

With Barry Tierney and Callum Daly among those pulling the strings on their regular forays forward, the scores kept on coming. Ronan O’Neill got his first of the day after excellent defensive work from Aidan Clarke before Derrylaughan got a score against the run of play from half-back Connor Hughes. Not that it had any discernible effect on the overall pattern of the game as Omagh surged further ahead with points from Miller, O’Neill and Tom Donaghy.

St Enda’s support play was excellent and they pressed home their advantage on the scoreboard with three more points before the break – O’Neill with another, Dan Haigney and Jason McAnullan leaving it 0-10 to 0-1 at the break.

If the first-half was one-sided, the second was a total non-event, though it must be said that Omagh played some really eye-catching football as they continued on their merry way.

St Enda’s burst out of the traps with yet more points, followed up by the only goal of the game, the influential Patrick Bradley teeing up Ronan O’Neill, who sold a lovely dummy before rifling the ball to the roof of the net.

Derrylaughan were finding it nigh on impossible to break out of their own half and Omagh kept chipping away, Barry Tierney, Ben Groogan and Fionnbharr Taggart leaving it 1-17 to 0-1 on the scoreboard.

It would’ve been worse from a Derrylaughan perspective only Jason McAnulla’s goal-bound was tipped over the bar by Niall Robinson. Conor Meyler had entered the fray at this juncture and assisted in a score, and the final quarter, as you might expect, was a total procession.

Connor O’Donnell landed a two-pointer, as did Patrick Donaghy and Taggart, while Conor Meyler converted a late free. Derrylaughan ended their drought with their second and final point of the afternoon via Ciaran Quinn but it was of little consolation. A bad day at the office for Kevin Barrys while Omagh will be happy with a massively convincing first-round win.

Scorers

Omagh: Ronan O’Neill (1-7, 2f,), Fionnbharr Taggart (0-4, 2 2pt), Patrick Bradley and Connor O’Donnell (0-2, 1 2pt each), Oisin Miller, Tom Donaghy and Jason McAnulla (0-2 each), Ben Groogan, Damien McGuigan, Conan Campbell, Dan Haigney and Barry Tierney (0-1 each)

Derrylaughan: Liam Cushnahan and Ciaran Quinn (0-1 each)

Teams

Omagh: Niall McGinn, Ciarán McLaughlin, Aidan Clarke, Ben Groogan, Damien McGuigan, Callum Daly, Barry Tierney, Patrick Bradley, Oisin Miller, Tom Donaghy, Jason McAnulla, Dan Haigney, Connor O’Donnell, Ronan O’Neill, Enda McCaffrey. Subs: Conor Meyler for Donaghy, Fionnbharr Taggart for Haigney, Eoin Corry for Groogan, Tiarnan Campbell for O’Donnell, Sean Laird for O’Neill

Derrylaughan: Niall Robinson, Mark Robinson, Colm O’Hagan, Caoilean Hughes, Connor Hughes, Liam Cushnahan, Oisin McAliskey, Conor Kennedy, Shane Scullion, Danny Ball, Liam Gervin, Fintan Cullen, Joe Donnelly, Adam Cushnahan, Ciaran Quinn. Subs: Dara O’Hagan for Cullen, Andre Devlin for Donnelly, Matthew Devlin for Caoilean Hughes