Tyrone star Mattie Donnelly is relishing Trillick’s county senior football championship final after the St MacCartan’s club dethroned Errigal Ciaran last weekend.

The 1-13 to 1-11 victory in Omagh saw Trillick reaching their third consecutive Tyrone SFC final, as they now await the winners of this evening’s replay semi-final between Carrickmore and Loughmacrory at O’Neills Healy Park (7.30pm).

Trillick’s two-point win over the Ulster champions last Sunday also means that it’s now 20 years since the O’Neill Cup was retained in Tyrone, with no team having gone back-to-back in the Tyrone SFC since Carrickmore’s 2005 triumph.

Speaking to BelfastLive.co.uk, Donnelly gave his thoughts on why he feels the coveted title has been so difficult to try and retain.

“Football is very important in Tyrone, and clubs take it very serious. You can see that. The players that are being provided to the county from the clubs is a testament to the work that's going on at club level," said the 2021 All-Ireland SFC winner. 

“The facilities, the amount of time and effort clubs are investing in their teams now produces a championship with a serious depth of quality. In other counties, you might have the luxury of being below par some days and getting away with it, but not here. That's probably why it's unfolded the way it has.

“It's so hard. You have to be on your game every year. You drop, one or two boys drop, it can nip you, and we know all about it.

“You play away at league, toil away at training, but really, you’re training the whole year to just get ready for battles in championship at the end of it.

“That's what we look forward to every year, and that's what we love doing. We're so lucky we get to do it another day in two weeks' time.”

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