IN ITS heyday, the Trillick St Macartan’s club competed regularly in the Ulster club championship. Provincial finalists in 1974, the Reds were one of the main forces of Tyrone football, winning five county titles between 1974 and 1986.
The cycle of success came to an end almost three decades ago, however, and in recent seasons Trillick have been living in the shadow of neighbours and fierce rivals Dromore.
A new generation of talented, driven footballers has led a spectacular revival this year. A club that had been struggling to maintain senior status suddenly rediscovered its confidence and reconnected with its identity.
Just a year after gaining promotion from the intermediate ranks, St Macartan’s were crowned senior champions for the seventh time a couple of weeks ago.
The renaissance was all the more remarkable given that they failed to win either the league or championship when operating in Division Two last season, finally securing their return to the top tier through the play-offs.
This year, a fearless group of individuals restored pride in a club which had upheld the highest principles of the GAA both on and off the field.
The family ethos which has for generations been the fabric of St Macartan’s was illustrated by the fact that the fathers of no less than 15 of the current squad members have themselves won senior championship medals with the club.
“All the years of talking about your grandfathers, your fathers, your uncles, and we’re now part of that history,” said attacker Daire Gallagher, whose father Iggy was a member of the last Trillick team to win the O’Neill Cup in 1986.
“My father played in 1986, and he was reminding me about it all week leading up to the final, that he had won one when he was 20.
“Now I have won one when I’m 20, so that’s us even scores, and I have to better him now.”
A one-point win over Killyclogher in the county final lifted a huge burden of expectation that had weighed heavily on the shoulders of those who had turned out for the club since those glory days of the ’80s.
And it released an outpouring of joy from a community that had remained faithful to its footballers through good times and bad.
“You saw what it meant to all the people of Trillick, and it was just unbelievable to get over the line.”
Gallagher won an All-Ireland U21 medal earlier this year as a member of the Tyrone squad, but with Trillick he was a regular starter in the first XV, and showcased his attacking talents with two superb scores in the final at Healy Park.
“It was great to win an U21 title earlier in the year, but this was extra special,” he said.
“In a playing capacity, I was starting, and secondly, it’s your club, that’s your bread and butter.
“Looking over at the scoreboard at the final whistle, it was very tight, 1-9 to 0-11, but thankfully we got over the other side of it.”
And he admitted he can scarcely believe that the team stunned the entire county with an unexpected SFC triumph.
“If you’re being honest with yourself, you probably wouldn’t (believe it), but we re-grouped this year, and we have focused more on our own performance.
“Last year we maybe got caught up a wee bit in the hype around Trillick, that they’re going to go straight up from Division Two.
“We probably felt ourselves that we got relegated the year before unfairly, and we probably bought into that a wee bit.
“But this year we have focused a lot mentally on that side of the games, and this year we’re just focused a lot more on performance. Thankfully that has stood us in good stead so far.”
Meanwhile, manager Nigel Seaney will not alter the approach as he prepares for Sunday’s Ulster club championship first round tie against Donegal champions Naomh Conaill.
“We said at the start of the year, small steps, see how we go, don’t look too far ahead,” said Seaney.
“We’ll look at our own performance, see where we can improve it, and try to improve it.”
While he has a host of high-profile players in his side, including four Tyrone senior squad members, Seaney places a high value on the less glamorous roles performed by players such as Proinsias O’Kane, Sean Kelly, Niall Donnelly, Stephen O’Donnell and Fergal Donnelly.
And he attributes the victory over Killyclogher in a tense, tactical county final to those who get through tireless, largely unnoticed, graft.
“A lot of boys do an awful lot of unseen work, they track back to cover the space when the quicker players go forward, to make sure that there’s no space left behind,” said Seaney.
“They’re integral to the whole thing, they bring that honesty, that hard work, that commitment to it that basically makes any side a good side.”
And their interaction with more famous names has made for an effective unit which has elevated the club back to the standing it held during the glory days of the ‘70s and ‘80s.
“Niall Gormley has All-Ireland senior and All-Ireland minor medals, Richie Donnelly and Mattie Donnelly have All-Ireland medals, four of the boys were on that U21 team that won the All-Ireland.
“So there’s a fair bit of quality out there, and when you have players of that quality, and you’re properly organised, properly focused, you’re going to win more games than you lose.”
The Trillick boss traces the club’s renaissance back to the crucial late stages of last season, when the team lost heavily to Dungannon in the intermediate championship final and also slipped up when in pole position to win Division Two, eventually scraping promotion through the play-offs.
“Last year we were in a position to win the championship and league. We switched off mentally more than physically, against Brackaville and against Dungannon, where we were tanked.
“I think the penny has dropped this year, you’re responsible for your performance. You don’t win these sort of games unless you perform. I think that happened individually and collectively to the group, to be honest.”
