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Trillick clinch the double after league triumph

Trillick 0-8  Carrickmore 0-7

TRILLICK’S day and Trillick’s year. Jody Gormley’s side have won the league and championship double and before we get into the nitty gritty of their win it’s worth pausing for a moment to reflect on the magnitude of the achievement.

They’re the first team since Dromore back in 2011 to achieve the feat, and only the second side from Trillick itself to win both adult titles in a single calendar year, following in the footsteps of the esteemed 1983 team.

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And consider the path they’ve taken to get to this point because this was no fait accompli. When they fell short in last year’s senior championship first-round clash against Dungannon, it was hard not to wonder whether the halycon days of 2015 and 2019 were behind them.

But perseverance is a powerful thing and they’ve responded with back-to-back Division One titles and a drama-laded run to O’Neill Cup honours. Hats off to them on a fantastic campaign.

And a word for Carrickmore, who couldn’t have done much more yesterday. They suffered a desperately disappointing championship defeat at the hands of Edendork 10 weeks ago, but they too have responded to adversity and can look themselves in the mirror knowing they’ve restored pride to the famous green, white and gold jersey ahead of the 2024 season.

Yesterday’s game was played in difficult conditions and it wasn’t a high-scoring affair and understandably so. The opening five minutes were particularly cagey as the teams sounded each other out, the highlight of the exchanges being two expertedly timed tackles from Trillick’s rock-solid full-back Peter McCaughey, a player who has the potential to wear the number three jersey for many years to come.

Trillick got the game’s opening score in the sixth minute with Ryan Gray splitting the posts after an assist from the always lively James Garrity, while Lee Brennan was sharpness personified, stitching together the play against a well-manned Carrickmore defence.

Challengers Carrickmore responded in short notice with a fine 35-metre point from Rory Donnelly and they nudged into the lead with a super score from late inclusion Brian Conway under significant pressure from Garrity.

Carrickmore had set out their stall – they were going to give Trillick nothing easy, they were going to defend en masse and they were going to pour energy into their attacking play. Jonathan Munroe, Ruairi Donaghy and Sean Loughran were disciplined in their defensive duties and Lorcan McBride was getting on plenty of ball in the middle, but sometimes the final pass was a little bit lacking and Rory Brennan and Richie Donnelly made a number of timely interventions at the back in a fairly low-key first-half.

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Trillick drew level from a perfectly judged ‘45’ from Lee Brennan while his brother Rory wasn’t afraid of leaving his station at the back, but Carrickmore were keeping it together and levelled matters from Martin Penrose, reacting fastest after a diving block from Liam Gray.

The defending champions Trillick won a couple of scoreable frees from which Brennan struggled to find the distance (no big deal considering he was facing in to a significant breeze). However, Brennan isn’t a man to give up the ghost and he scored a 35-metre out of his hands as Trillick restored parity.

Daniel Donnelly scored a fine point from a tricky angle but Trillick led for all of 30 seconds as Cormac Munroe squeezed over an exquisite point as the clock entered injury time.

After a slow enough opening, the game was heating up nicely with the scores reading 0-4 apiece as Cathal Bell blew for the half-time interval.
Trillick will have been happy enough – they’d have known they weren’t yet at full pelt and they had the wind advantage after the break.

They got the show on the road with a point from play from Lee Brennan, but Carrickmore weren’t here to make up the numbers and they drew level from Danny Fullerton.

The teams had been level on five separate occasions as the lead swung this way and that. Richie Donnelly (who shook off an ankle injury sustained just seven days prior to do his bit yesterday) scored one of his trademark long-range boomers to ease Trillick into a lead, and they were forced into a reshuffle when Colm Garrity came in for the injured Peter McCaughey.

There was a bit of a lull midway through the half with both sides snatching at pointed efforts, but Trillick could easily have worked a goal when they dissected the Carmen defence with a flurry of handpasses before Simon Garrity’s attempt on goal was smothered by an alert off-his-line Jack McCallan.

Trillick eased two ahead with a free from Brennan in the 48th minute – the first time there had been more than a point between the teams – and given their pedigree, it looked like they were on their way to the title.

Yet Carmen kept battling and reduced the deficit with Danny Fullerton’s second of the day after they won possession in the hotly contested middle sector.

Sub Simon Garrity responded for Trillick after clever build-up play from Colm Garrity and the influential Liam Gray, who rose high to flick the ball into Simon’s path, and you just had that sense that the defending champions would have the nous to see out the game with 53 minutes on the clock.
Yet a resilient Carrickmore weren’t for throwing in the towel.

They spurned a couple of scoreable chances with the scoreboard reading 0-8 to 0-6 in Trillick’s favour minutes from injury time. Danny Fullerton, who was brilliant in the second-half, kicked his latest point and his third from play, curling it over with the outside of the boot and all of a sudden they were chasing an equaliser.

Trillick led by a solitary score and it looked like, not for the first time this year, it could be a case of extra-time for Jody Gormley’s men. Carrickmore drove forward searching an equaliser and were aggrieved not to be awarded a late free seconds from full-time, the referee waving away their protestations.

They couldn’t have done much more on the day but it was Trillick who emerged victorious, setting the seal on a remarkable 2023 by completing a league and championship double for only the second time in their history.

THE SCORERS
Trillick
Lee Brennan (0-4, 0-2 ‘45s, 0-1f), Richie Donnelly, Ryan Gray, Daniel Donnelly and Simon Garrity (0-1 each)

Carrickmore
Daniel Fullerton (0-3), Cormac Munroe, Rory Donnelly, Martin Penrose and Brian Conway (0-1 each)

THE TEAMS
Trillick
Joe Maguire, Stevie O’Donnell, Peter McCaughey, Daire Gallagher; Seanie O’Donnell, Rory Brennan, Daley Tunney, Richie Donnelly, Liam Gray, Ciaran Daly, Niall Donnelly, Ryan Gray, Daniel Donnelly, Lee Brennan, James Garrity. Subs: Simon Garrity for N Donnelly, Colm Garrity for McCaughey

Carrickmore
Jack McCallan, Michael McCallan, Sean Loughran, Ruairi Loughran; Brian Conway, Jonny Munroe, Tiarnan McGarrity, Lorcan McBride, Cormac Munroe, Ruairi Slane, Tiarnan Murray, Aidan Fullerton, Rory Donnelly, Danny Fullerton, Martin Penrose. Subs: James Donaghy for McGarrity Caolan Daly for Penrose, Mark Donnelly for D Fullerton, Conor Gormley for R Donnelly

Referee: Cathal Bell (Killeeshil)

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