Connollys of Moy Tyrone SFC quarter-final
Carrickmore v Killyclogher (tonight, O’Neills Healy Park, 8.30pm)
THE tie of the round will launch a weekend of Tyrone SFC quarter-final action when the great survivors meet this evening at O’Neills Healy Park in Omagh.
Carrickmore and Killyclogher will fight to the death, and neither side will give up on the dream until the last whistle sounds.
That’s the way it is in Tyrone, a championship famed for dramatic late knock-out blows that set it apart.
Both of these sides delivered the killer punch with stoppage time winners in the last round, Lorcan McGarrity hitting a booming point to eliminate Dromore, and teenage debutant Sean Broderick with a thunderbolt Killyclogher goal to stun Omagh.
In a sense, they’re both in bonus territory, having suffered first round exits last year, but that won’t diminish the belief of either Killyclogher or Carrickmore that they can go all the way in the 2024 series.
The loss of captain and full-back Sean Loughran to a season-ending knee injury is a blow, and their revamped defence faces a tough evening in trying to contain St Mary’s attackers Mark Bradley, Gavin Potter and Dara Hayes.
Carmen, the last club to retain the Tyrone title, back in 2005, also have potential match-winners in Danny Fullerton and McGarrity, and will look to get an edge in the middle third through Lorcan McBride, Cormac Munroe and James Donaghy, where Killyclogher’s McCann brothers, Tiernan and Conall, have strong support from Marc Flanagan and Matthew Murnaghan.
“With every round in the championship, the level goes up. You just have to lift your game every time,” said Killyclogher manager Eoghan Bradley.
“Every game in the Tyrone championship is a tough game. There’s easily six, seven teams can win the Tyrone championship every year.
“There hasn’t been back-to-back winners in nearly 20 years, so there’s no better pedigree than Carrickmore.”
