By 
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL
THERE were scenes of sheer, unadulterated euphoria as the Loughmacrory community came together to celebrate their historic Senior Championship semi-final victory under lights on Friday evening against Carrickmore, but their half-forward Gareth Donaghy was keen to emphasise that there’s one more box left to be ticked.
And it’s a rather voluminous box: on Sunday, Loughmacrory will go head-to-head with a vaunted Trillick side who are bidding for their fourth O’Neill Cup title in eleven years.
If Trillick prevail, it will be their 10th ever title. For Loughmacrory, however, this is uncharted territory and Gareth Donaghy – one of five Donaghy siblings on the Loughmacrory panel – recognises that they have to park their semi-final replay win over Carrickmore.
Speaking directly after the game, he said: “I can barely put it into words – it’s special, but the job’s not done, it was just another game, and we have to perform now in the final. We’re really looking forward to it.
“We have to get back down to business, all focus will be on Trillick. It’s a big one and we’re looking forward to the battle.”
Their two-game saga against Carrickmore could hardly have been more hotly contested, but that’s very much in keeping with meetings of the two parish rivals in recent times. Gareth expects more colossal instalments against the lads from Carmen in the years to come.
“During the week I was looking at how closely the fixtures have been in the last couple of years, there’s only ever a kick of the ball between us. Carrickmore seemed to come out on the right side of it in the big one, but thankfully we stepped up today when it mattered. There’ll be more battles down the line – they’re strong boys and hard competitors. For now we’ll look forward to the final”
Donaghy always said that their previous experience of epic championship battles stood to them in the crunch moments.
“It’s about learning from the years before. We’d been in big games in the last 10 minutes, so we’ve gained a lot of experience of playing in those highly competitive matches. I think we’ve driven on and we showed that in the semi-final and the couple of rounds before it, and to get through those final 10 minutes [against Carrickmore] was special.”