By Niall Gartland

PAST glories are of “no relevance” as Trillick boss Nigel Seaney looks ahead to Saturday evening’s Senior Championship semi-final clash against fierce rivals Dromore.

Following an utterly convincing victory over Killyclogher in the last eight, Trillick stand on the cusp of their fourth final appearance in seven years, an impressive record to say the least given the competitive nature of the Tyrone Championship.

Their opponents Dromore, by contrast, are bidding to reach their first final since 2012, but they’ve shown their mettle with extra-time victories over Dungannon and Eglish, as well as a preliminary round win over Ardboe.

Trillick thrashed their great rivals by 4-12 to 1-7 when they met in the championship two years ago, but every campaign throws up fresh curveballs and Seaney doesn’t believe their recent experience of reaching semi-finals and finals will count for much in Saturday night’s blockbuster tie against Dromore.

“[Our record] has no relevance to this year’s competition”, said Seaney. “We have to deal with the present and the challenges facing us now. If you’re looking back, you’re going to go out of this championship very, very quickly.

“The championship is cut-throat – it’s a great, great competition. You always prepare your team as best you can but on any given night, you just don’t know what will happen.”

Workmanlike in their championship opener against Galbally, razor sharp and clinical against Killyclogher, Trillick produced a much-improved performance last Friday evening. Seaney was generally pleased with his side’s performance, but he says by no means are they the finished article just yet.

“I just thought our basics were better [against Killyclogher]. I wouldn’t say they were perfect, but there was a significant improvement in our basics.

“I felt there were periods where we played at a very good level, but there were other periods where our concentration levels and basics weren’t what they should, which you can’t afford at this level. Those sort of things need to be tightened up if we’re to progress further.”

Trillick were top dogs almost from start-to-finish as they racked up a 3-14 to 1-6 win over Killyclogher, and it’s fair to say they got it tactically spot on as their middle eight made life incredibly difficult for their opponents. Seaney says the ‘high press’ didn’t always work, but on the whole it was a very successful ploy.

“It’s very difficult to do. They have a very good keeper who can kick out over that high press. He’s got good length in his kicks.

“It’s about getting that balance between that high press and not getting caught out at the back. He got a lot of his kicks away too, from my recollection.”

Their midfielders Richie Donnelly and Liam Gray had excellent games, while half-backs Rory Brennan and Seanie O’Donnell combined for three goals. On the influence of their players in the middle third, Seaney commented: “Well your middle eight players need to be mobile and need to be aware tactically, and we’ve that mix in the middle eight of experience and youthful energy. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but against Killyclogher it worked alright.”