Football

Former Tyrone star Joe McMahon still seeking Ulster success with Omagh

Joe McMahon (left) led Omagh to victory in Sunday&rsquo;s Tyrone SFC final against Errigal Ciaran at Healy Park Picture by&nbsp;<span class="s1">Bill Smyth</span>
Joe McMahon (left) led Omagh to victory in Sunday’s Tyrone SFC final against Errigal Ciaran at Healy Park Picture by Bill Smyth Joe McMahon (left) led Omagh to victory in Sunday’s Tyrone SFC final against Errigal Ciaran at Healy Park Picture by Bill Smyth

JOE McMahon has won three Ulster titles with his county, and a couple of All-Irelands thrown in for good measure.

Now he wants to taste provincial success with the club, alongside the people to whom he has devoted the latter part of his playing career.

The former Tyrone star led Omagh to a second championship title in four years last Sunday, opening the door to a crack at Ulster, but they have been handed a difficult route, with a first round clash with Slaughtneil facing them on Saturday week at Celtic Park.

"Slaughtneil are the kingpins of Ulster, and it's going to be a tough battle. We'll get our homework done, and we know what lies ahead with Slaughtneil," he said.

In 2014, Omagh ended a 26-year barren spell by lifting the O'Neill Cup, and went on to reach the provincial final, where they met Slaughtneil.

On that occasion, the Derry champions emerged with a narrow one point win, but with former Derry boss Paddy Crozier now in charge of the St Enda's, they will be hoping an extra later of local knowledge can help them reverse that result.

"From 2014, there's a lot of new faces between the two squads, there's a lot of things for us to work on, and we know that we'll be going into that as underdogs."

This year, the Tyrone championship was as fiercely competitive as ever, with a series of thrilling ties, many of which went right to the wire.

Omagh had their own close calls, winning a semi-final against Trillick by a single point, while they had just two to spare in the decider against Errigal Ciaran.

Team captain McMahon reckons those testing encounters will stand to them as they enter the challenging and somewhat unpredictable provincial environment.

"If you win a Tyrone championship, you've had to earn it, and we certainly had to earn it, not just in the final but in previous games as well."

Omagh overcame adversity to claim their ninth Tyrone title. The sudden death of club stalwart Charlie O'Donnell on the eve of their first round tie was a blow to family, club and community.

But McMahon feels the tragedy served to unite the group, and Charlie's Son, Connor, emerged as the star of the championship, finishing as the team's top scorer.

"There was a lot happened off the pitch with this group of fellows, and in a way it has bonded these lads together, and full credit to them, they have gelled well.

"It showed in the dying moments (of the final), when we needed people to stand up and take the game by the scruff of the neck and get scores and make blocks, there were men there to do it. And that's just a testimony to this group of lads."

And as they look towards a trip to Derry city, the Omagh skipper will be looking for a repeat of the resilience which finally wore down opponents Errigal Ciaran at Healy Park last Sunday.

"That game had everything, and both teams were at times reluctant to go at it maybe. It was good defensive systems and players having to take shots under pressure, but that's Tyrone championship, that's the way it is.

"We were concerned about not giving away easy frees, because we had seen in earlier games that that's where they got a lot of their scores, and we did that.

"But at the other end, we weren't taking our chances, hit a few wides, and we just found it hard to get settled into the game.

"Second half, once they had the man sent off, it actually changed it in their favour it seemed. They got on top and we were sitting off men. How often have you seen that in matches, that a man gets sent off and then the opposition just throws the shackles off and comes at you.

"And full credit to Errigal, they gave it their all in the second half, and we were lucky enough to hold off in the end."