NIALL Sludden owes Collie Holmes a debt of gratitude for helping him win a Celtic Cross - but he's still determined to "get one over him" on the club front.
Holmes is part of the Red Hands' backroom team and performs a similar role with Tyrone SFC champions Dungannon Clarke's, who will take on Sludden's side Dromore in a first round clash next Monday in Healy Park.
The 29-year-old Sludden won his way back into the Tyrone team after not playing much in the National League and really enjoyed working with Holmes as they went on to win the All-Ireland SFC:
"All the backroom team were fantastic, but Collie really stood out. He took a lot of the training, actually, Brian [Dooher] and Feargal [Logan] would have done a lot of delegating and let the other boys do a lot of the training. I was very impressed with him.
"He's going to be on the Clarke's sideline this time so I really want to get one over him."
However, Sludden knows that will be a tough task, and compares the Clarke's mindset now to that of Tyrone, saying:
"They're a formidable side, they're champions for a reason. A bit like us with Tyrone, you're going to take great confidence from that. They'll be coming in with that belief.
"We know it's going to be a massive challenge with the players that they have and their management team too."
Dromore can take inspiration from Tyrone too, though. It's a decade now since the St Dympna's last won the Tyrone championship, their third triumph in five seasons, similar to what the Red Hands did between 2003 and 2008.
On the county front Sludden admitted an All-Ireland sometimes seemed out of reach, especially for older players like himself, Mattie Donnelly, and Peter Harte:
"Every year you come back and you were probably thinking 'Will it ever happen?' But we knew the quality was there and we just kept building in every game."
There's a feeling that Dromore are improving too, after some lean years, although he points out that there's a long way to go:
"The quality can bee seen out on the pitch, with our subs too and even the boys who can't make the panel. There were a couple of years we couldn't even get through the first round - but we're only through the preliminary round and into the first round now, against the champions too."
Dromore had to battle past a determined Ardboe, who kept close tabs on him, as usually happens with a big name on the club scene:
"That's what it's about, every team has to do what they have to do to win. We have key men to pick up as well in games. I enjoy that. It doesn't matter, I'll do whatever for the team, tackling back and going forward. It's all about the win.
"It was a pure battle out there but that's what the Tyrone championship's about; it doesn't matter as long as you get into the next round. We've got a tasty one coming up against the champions.
"It's not Croke Park anyway, I tell you! The ball conditions were tough at this time of year. Every pass, every tackle mattered and there was a serious crowd here. We knew it was going to go down to the wire."
Dromore deserved their hard-fought victory, by 0-12 to 0-10, but Sludden says they'll need to be better against the Clarke's:
"I think over the whole game we were better but we missed a lot, so we've a lot to work on for the next day.
"We had just a one-, two-point lead, then lost a man to a black card and it could have gone their way - that is just Tyrone club football. It's tight."
