THE champions have yet to bare their teeth, but there’s no sense of concern in the Trillick camp as they plot a steady course through the choppy waters of the Tyrone SFC.
They’re back in another semi-final, but only after a dogged struggle with Ardboe, from which they chiselled out a two-point win.
Eglish also made life difficult for the Reds, who eventually took control in the latter stages of their first-round tie.
“Ultimately these games are about getting over the line and finishing a couple of points ahead, so we’re happy with the outcome,” said Trillick manager Jody Gormley.
“We have a lot of areas to improve, and we know that we need to do that going forward, but we’re in a position to do that.”
Ardboe’s heavy defeat to Errigal Ciaran in last year’s semi-final left residue of damage that had to be repaired, and predictably, they arrived at Pairc Colmcille with a plan to make themselves difficult to beat.
“We expected a tough battle from Ardboe, for they were very disappointed with their performance against Errigal this time last year, so we expected a tough contest.
“They’re a young team, they have a lot of pace, and they certainly asked plenty of questions of us.”
A tactical battle of wits never found a spark that would ignite it into a fiery encounter, but it was always close, eventually decided by Mattie Donnelly’s first-half goal as the O’Neill Cup holders held on for a 1-8 to 0-9 win.
“We had to work hard, we said before the game that we were going to have to work hard, and we did.
“They were set up well defensively and they asked questions of us, but I think when it came to it, we just got enough to get over the line.”
Next up it’s a last-four clash with Dungannon, with the sides set to meet for the third successive season, Trillick wining a semi-final last year to avenge a quarter-final defeat in 2022.
“Dungannon are a very strong team. They beat us earlier in the season in the league. I suppose that gave them a bit of an impetus, and they won the Kilmacud (Sevens), so they’re on a bit of a high,” said Gormley.
“But we’ll prepare as best we can, and we’ll be ready for them.
“There has been some great battles, but there are a lot of teams who still think that this could be their year, Dungannon no less than anybody else, but we’re still in the mix.”
