Loughmacrory eyes open ahead of first Ulster step

By Michael McMullan

NATHAN Kelly knows exactly what’s coming down the tracks when Kilcoo come to Omagh on Saturday night.

The Loughmacrory captain was a regular in the crowd, looking on as the Down champions played in crunch Ulster and All-Ireland championship games down the years.

The prize for winning a first-ever Tyrone title is a showdown with the Down giants as they step into the provincial arena.

“Our goal always was to win the O’Neill Cup and we’re now competing for the Seamus McFerran, which is really special,” Kelly said.

“The game is live on RTÉ next Saturday so that’s going to be special as well. It’s just great to go out and play against the top teams in Ulster. We never really give it much thought.”

Kelly was speaking at last week’s Ulster Club launch, days after the historic win over Trillick, and still thriving on a magical weekend for the club. Ulster was beginning to come into view.

“Marty (Boyle), Ciarán (Meenagh) and those boys (in the management) are very aware and they’re very astute.

“They’ll put a plan in place and the players will buy into whatever they put in place,” said Kelly, making the assumption the Magpies will go into the game as “massive” favourites.

“Marty spoke of being able to carry confidence – we’re on the Ulster stage where any team you’re playing has won a county title.

“I’ve been to watch Kilcoo lots in All-Ireland semi-finals, Ulster finals and Ulster semi-finals and they’re a brilliant team,” he said.

“They’re similar to ourselves, a rural place with not a big population but they maximised what they had and we’ve done something similar.

“We’ll approach the game with the same mindset we approach every game with. We’ll respect our opponents and we’ll go out and try and put in a performance and let’s see where the chips fall.”

It has been a rollercoaster few weeks in Loughmacrory with the excitement of preparing for, winning and celebrating their first-ever senior final.

Many of the pieces came together, including the composure they needed in the closing stages. It’s something they tapped into from their 2024 quarter-final exit to Dungannon.

The Clarke’s hit an injury-time goal to lead for the first time and throw Loughmacrory out on their ear.

“If you go back and look at that game,” Kelly recalls. “There were three or four minutes left when that goal went in, which we didn’t really realise on the pitch.

“We thought we had to get a score straight away. So, I think we’ve matured into being able to know how to respond when these things happen.

“I go back to the Carrickmore game. We conceded the penalty. I remember trying to get the message across to the boys, that there was still three minutes left. We spoke about that. I think we grew up a lot this year. We matured and are a real team of men.”