FORGET last year. Forget the league. Forget the first hour. But don’t forget to keep an eye on every opponent.
If this game is effectively decided before added time then that will be yet another surprise in a championship contest involving Killyclogher.
Errigal Ciaran will be expected to win, but they know very well they cannot afford to relax against this year’s great escapologists.
Twice Killyclogher looked down and out. Twice they survived. Both times thanks to injury time goals. Both scored by unheralded players, Sean Broderick then Dara Hayes.
On the first occasion they knocked out Omagh in round one. Then they snatched a draw with Carrickmore, before grinding out a narrow victory in the quarter-final replay.
Those never-say-die performances reflect the self-belief in the Killyclogher camp. Manager Eoghan Bradley could have talked up Errigal, finalists last year, winners in 2022, but instead praised his own side:
“This is probably the best Killyclogher team there has been in a while,” he said. “There’s just talent all over the pitch.”
Indeed Errigal selector Stevie Quinn name-checked half a dozen of the St Mary’s players: “the McCanns [Tiernan, Conall, and Oisin], Mark Bradley and young [Gavin] Potter and [Michael] Rafferty from the U20s, so they have a really, really solid team”, while Bradley also mentioned old heads Danny Gorman and Emmet McFadden.
Mark Bradley is the name on all lips while talking about this tie, of course, with Quinn commenting: “He’s superb, everybody knows the quality that Mark Bradley has and he’s really, really on song at the minute, so it’s going to be a tough task for us to get the shackles put on him, but hopefully we’ll be able to do that.”
Still not 30, Tyrone supporters will hope that Mark Bradley can be persuaded back to the inter-county fray by new boss Malachy O’Rourke, such is the tricky forward’s form and talent.
Errigal look to have the newer – and current Tyrone – version in Darragh Canavan, while his younger brother Ruairi is also a county panellist. They scored 0-11 between them last time out against Clonoe.
There’s also a past against present situation in the middle third: Killyclogher have former Tyrone players Tiernan and Conall McCann operating around centrefield, so Errigal may need more in there from their current county men Ben McDonnell and Joe Oguz than they provided in the replay against Clonoe.
McDonnell was effective, though, in helping out his defence in their quarter-final replay against Clonoe, who had netted twice in the drawn game. The O’Rahilly’s pumped plenty of high balls in but never seriously threatened to grab a goal – Errigal may need another clean sheet in that regard on Sunday.
The Ballygawley men will also hope to get more game-time from another Tyrone player, defender Cormac Quinn, and also their former captain, attacker Tommy Canavan, both of whom returned from injuries late on last weekend.
Of course, they’re among the many names the Killyclogher boss could have mentioned had he chosen to focus on the opposition, including other past and present county men in Aidan McCrory, Niall Kelly, and Peter Harte.
Errigal showed great composure throughout their last outing, with the Canavan brothers getting the game’s last two scores to seal a three-point win. They may need similar calmness to prevent Killyclogher reaching their first final since 2018.
The focus on Mark Bradley and the Canavans will present opportunities to others on both sides – and at all times.
