By Niall Gartland

LOUGHMACRORY defender Dara Curran says that their unflinching belief in one another was an integral factor in their memorable journey to a historic first-ever Tyrone Senior Championship title after Sunday’s thrilling final win over Trillick.

In the first few years since they returned to Division One, St Teresa’s earned a reputation as being extremely hard to break down. They were incredibly solid at the back, they were so well-organised, and they’d give anyone their absolute fill of it, be in league football or the bear-pit of the championship.

That was the foundation stone. Then there was also another fresh batch of talented underage footballers coming through the ranks, including exceptional forwards like Eoin McElholm and Ruairi McCullagh. Mesh those two components and you had a team capable of competing for the O’Neill Cup, and on Sunday they reached the Promised Land for the first time in the club’s history.

Speaking after the game, an overjoyed Curran said that: “It’s unbelievable – this group have worked as hard as we possibly can for I don’t know how long.

“When we came back up to Division One, we were a defensive team that ground out results, and we knew we had talent coming in behind us.

“When those boys came in, we knew we were ready to push on. That belief was instilled in every one of us, and you saw that (against Trillick). We were able to drive on and winning is an unbelievable feeling. It’s insane how much it means for the whole community.”

Curran also had warm words for a gallant Trillick side who have gone to the well time-and-time again over the course of the last decade. There was only a single point separating the sides at the final whistle after a county final of the highest quality.

“It got a bit hectic at the end. Trillick were in their sixth final in the last 11 years. They’re an unbelievable team – the leaders they have, the county players, they’re stacked with brilliant players all over the pitch.

“They’re so good that we knew we had to get our match-ups right. We’ve been conceding goals so we tried to shut them out and they still got two past us. We fought right to the end, and it was chaos in the closing minutes so it’s such a relief to come through it, and Trlllick will be back.”