Trillick’s lethal Lee aiming for back-to-back titles

ONE of the most naturally gifted attackers in Tyrone, Lee Brennan is chasing his fourth Senior Championship title this Sunday afternoon when he takes to the field for holders Trillick against Errigal Ciaran.

Time seems to have flown by since the then teenager was announcing his arrival on the big stage by bookending the 2015 decider in remarkable fashion. He found the back of the Killyclogher net just thirteen seconds into that Final, while with the very last kick of the game he pointed a dramatic winner as the Reds took the spoils 1-9 to 0-11.

Further O’Neill Cup glory has followed in 2019 and 2023, though he also suffered the contrasting spectrum of emotions with that 2020 penalty shoot-out final heartbreak loss to Dungannon Clarkes.

Now 27 years of age Brennan remains a potent attacking threat on the club front (and many would argue should also be displaying his silky shooting skills on the inter-county scene but that’s for another day).

No doubt he has benefited during his career from lining out alongside seasoned operators, whose guidance and assurance has helped maintain Trillick’s superb sequence of title success across the past decade.

The shoe is now on the other foot with Lee one of those ‘sages’ able to pass on his knowledge and experience to younger members of the Trillick squad. Little wonder then that across all sectors of the pitch they look like a squad laced with leaders.

“ It’s just about trying to keep cool heads in those big moments”, he explains. “ The older boys have been there and done it a long time now and with that experience they are able to pass on that bit of guidance to the younger boys and help them on their way to becoming established players.

“ We have a lot of young talent there but they are also willing to learn and they are buying into the system we want to play. So you can’t ask for anymore from them.”

Trillick seem to be hitting their straps at the right time, having spluttered somewhat in earlier rounds against Eglish and Ardboe. However their second half showing against Dungannon in the semi-final a fortnight ago (when they outscored the Clarkes 0-12 to 0-3) suggests they have timed their Championship run perfectly again.

Brennan admits that he sees similarities with last year’s campaign.

“ We went to extra-time last year against Loughmacrory and then onto penalties, so we weren’t great at the start of the Championship then either. Then against Edendork they missed a few frees near the end which would have knocked us out.

“ So we just scraped through that by the skin of our teeth and maybe people would have been thinking we weren’t looking great either to go all the way but we picked things up after that and hopefully it’s the same this year as well.

“ The longer you can cling in there in the Championship the more improvements you have to make and we are trying to do that with each game.”

It was Trillick who stopped Errigal successfully defending the title last year and now with the roles flipped the Dunmoyle boys will be fiercely intent on preventing the Reds becoming the first back-to-back champions in two decades.

Brennan states that such a narrative will be far from their minds running out onto the Healy Park pitch this weekend.

“ We are in the final again and obviously we want to win it. We want to win the Championship every year but some times it doesn’t go your way. But we have another opportunity now and we are going to try and make the most of it.

“ We just have to go out and play our own game. Errigal have a lot of threats and can’t be taken lightly. We will just have to be prepared.”

Brennan admits that Trillick should be in buoyant mood heading into Sunday on that back of that power-packed destruction of Dungannon

“ The first half was a bit cagey and we made a lot of mistakes and were carrying the ball into the tackle. It just took us a while to get into the game.

“ In the second half we kept the ball moving at pace and avoided the contact in the tackle. We were able to break lines as a result and open them up.

“ We just seemed to be getting over the line in our first two games. We definitely were struggling for a bit of form. A few things didn’t go our way, out shot selection was poor at times, with boys taking the wrong decisions and hitting wides.

“ But I suppose it’s better to find your form as you progress in the Championship. The first few games showed we had to improve and work on things and hopefully we have done that as we have gone along.”