Rampant Reds dash Dungannon’s hopes to reach SFC Final

Trilick 0-17  Dungannon 0-7

A WELL-OILED machine. Trillick made mincemeat of Dungannon in Friday evening’s Senior Championship semi-final at O’Neill’s Healy Park, a performance purring with virtuosity and class and easily the measure of anything they have produced over the last decade.

Before the game, the question was thus; who do you fancy tonight? Predictions were divided down the middle in expectation of a heavyweight clash that would go the full 12 rounds, but there would be absolutely no equivocating about Trillick’s superiority against a team unaccustomed to bowing out with a whimper.

Dungannon were, in a sense, dismantled. They mustered a solitary point from play across the entirety of the contest, that coming in the 58th minute from Kevin Barker. And he had to work for it.

There was no shortage of effort but they were a pale shadow of their usual selves and a litany of second-half wides summed up their malaise. It didn’t help that Paul Donaghy was carrying a knock and he left the pitch before evening’s end, but that was hardly the definitive factor in their defeat.

Trillick had been doing enough to get by to this point, overcoming Eglish and Ardboe in measured but unremarkable fashion. It’s difficult to glean whether the reigning champions were merely tipping along in second or third gear, but there’s no doubt that they were at right at the peak of their powers on Friday night.

Now they’re one more assured performance away from achieving the elusive back-to-back, a feat that has proved beyond the reach of any Tyrone team since Carrickmore in 2004/5. Some have come close, Trillick included, but the basic fact remains. For now.

It’s customary to name-check the MVPS and we’ll give it a rattle. James Garrity scored four corkers, Richie Donnelly, Rory Brennan and Mattie Donnelly bestrode the stage in the manner we’ve all come to expect, Seanie O’Donnell, Colm Garrity and Daniel Donnelly danced up and down the wings and put in a zillion challenges each.

The full-back line did their jobs and then some, Lee Brennan played some exquisite passes amidst the maelstrom. Ryan Gray, Liam Gray… it’s everyone really, Trillick were completely in tune with each other and that’s a testament to their coaching as much as anything else.

It was the second-half where Trillick really made their dominance count. They led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the interval and should have been ahead by more, but they outscored their opponents by a full 0-12 to 0-3 for the remainder of the contest.

Early doors and Trillick looked good. Liam Gray and James Garrity got their names on the scoresheet with two fine points, but they weren’t having it all their own way with players at both ends coughing up possession – not because of any lackadaisical lapses either: there was no faffing about, this was high-octane stuff.

The Clarkes were giving it plenty but they were struggling to piece together meaningful passages of play and all they had to show for their efforts in more than 20 minutes of play were two Paul Donaghy frees. Trillick motored into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead – Lee Brennan and Richie Donnelly playing enterprising passes on the way, that sense of dash and creativity reaping dividends on the scoreboard.

They spurned a few opportunities to extend their lead further and before you knew it, Dungannon were right back in the contest. The Clarkes enjoyed a mini-purple patch and tagged on two frees by the end of the half so it was set up rather nicely from the perspective of the many neutrals in attendance at Healy Park.

There was a curious moment right at the beginning of the second-half when Paul Donaghy came inches away from scoring a freakish goal from a sideline kick – his effort dropped short and bounced back off the crossbar.

Kevin Barker scored a ’45’ moments later but Trillick were by no means unsettled and soon assumed almost total control of the contest. Colm and James Garrity and the omnipresent Seanie O’Donnell rattled over a flurry of scores though an increasingly wasteful Dungannon kept themselves in contention with a Paul Donaghy ’45’.

But when Trillick struck back with two sensational scores in a matter of minutes, you just knew there was only going to be one winner. Trillick corner-back Stephen O’Donnell raided upfield and played the ball to the on-song Garrity, and he sliced over an outrageous point with the outside of his boot.

Two minutes later, from a similar position on the right flank, Richie Donnelly drilled over an equally brilliant score and Dungannon may as well have thrown in the towel at that point – there was no coming back.

There were still 15 minutes left but it was more or less a procession from there on. Lee Brennan cracked over a few more frees and a fine point from open play, Ciaran Daly, James Garrity and Liam Gray kept the party coming, and all Dungannon could muster in response was a late point from Kevin Parker.

It was vintage stuff from the reigning champions and now they find themselves in a fifth Tyrone Senior Championship final in ten years – an incredible achievement in itself.

There’s one more box left to tick though – the back-to-back, and they’ve put themselves in a perfect position to go where no Tyrone team has gone in a full 20 years.

The Scorers
Trillick
Lee Brennan (0-5, 0-3f, 0-1 ‘45’), James Garrity (0-4), Richie Donnelly (0-2), Liam Gray (0-2, 0-1f), Colm Garrity, Ciaran Daly, Ryan Gray and Seanie O’Donnell (0-1 each)
Dungannon
Paul Donaghy 0-5, Ciaran Barker 0-1, Kevin Barker 0-1