TRILLICK’S Richard Donnelly locked horns with Francis Caulfield when the Tyrone champions met Monaghan’s Scotstown in a thrilling Ulster semi-final recently.
The pair of them battled it out in midfield at Brewster Park and, though Donnelly got on the scoreboard, Caulfield was celebrating at the final whistle when An Bhoth got over the line by two points.
Donnelly, who is studying a Masters in Business Development Innovation at Ulster University, shares digs with Caulfield’s Scotstown team-mate Kieran Hughes. He expects his house-mate to be involved in another thrill-a-minute battle in Sunday’s final against Crossmaglen.
“I think the final will be very competitive,” he said.
“Scotstown are very good, they have good footballers all over the pitch and they can mix it up - they can play ball, they can keep it tight and they have a lot of talent. I suppose Crossmaglen are the same.”
Despite the defeat, free-scoring midfielder Donnelly says he enjoyed the Ulster club experience, which was a voyage of discovery for his club: “It’s definitely something you’d look back very fondly on - the whole journey, where we’ve come in the last 12-16 months,” he said.
“We were down in the intermediate and last year was tough in Division Two. It was hard to get out of, but we got up through the play-offs. But we’ve lost two championship games in two years - Scotstown and the intermediate final last year against Dungannon - so that’s a good reflection on the group of players we have and what it means to wear a Trillick jersey.
“We’ve won a lot of tough games and it’s pleasing that we’re still progressing. The championship came at an earlier stage than we thought, but we knew at the start of the season that we’d win more games than we’d lose because of the talent we have, our workrate and the pride we have in the club.”
Club-mate Mattie Donnelly became the first Trillick player to win an Allstar earlier this month and he broke more new ground last weekend by representing Ireland in the International Rules Test against Australia. Those are accolades for Richard Donnelly to aspire to in the future, but his most immediate target is winning the Sigerson Cup with UU, who will host the next finals’ weekend.
“There’s a few of us coming to the end of our student days and we’re very keen to win a Sigerson, especially here in our own backyard,” he said.
“It’s achievable for us, but there are three or four other teams thinking the same, so it’s going to come down to fine margins. We’re working very hard to pull together very tight because there’s a perception out there that Jordanstown don’t play together as a team. But that is all lies. We’re very close in here, we work hard - even with club and county commitments - to show our face and pull together on a Monday and Wednesday. There is a huge commitment from the players and the lads to try and make it work this year.”
Donnelly featured in Tyrone’s Championship run to the All-Ireland semi-finals during the summer. After that, Trillick took over, now it’s Sigerson and then he’ll be back with his county, then club again... It’s a demanding schedule, but he isn’t complaining.
“It’s tough, there’s a lot going on, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.
“People say ‘it’s tough, I’m burnt out and I need a rest’, but I don’t see it that way at all. I love playing football and I love getting out and training - if I didn’t play football, I think I’d still be training as much as I do. It’s no odds to me - I just see it as a development curve - the more football you play, the more you’re going to develop.”
He’ll hope to establish himself as a county regular next season and says Tyrone’s first target is a return to Division One: “I’m looking forward to the challenge,” he said.
“We’re unlucky to be down in Division Two and one of our first targets will be to try and get promotion back to Division One. Obviously, it’s not going to be easy. There’s a lot of Ulster teams in Division Two and, at that time of the year, it’s going to be tough going; but it’s one of the main goals for next year.”
