Club is what matters says Derrytresk's O'Neill
February 07, 2012A small club based on the shores of Lough Neagh, their county title was their first in their 108 year history.
Half back O'Neill previously brought back a precious honour to the small club when he was on the Tyrone team that won the 2004 All-Ireland minor crown and his work in captaining Derrytresk to this final has brought him to attention of Tyrone senior manager Mickey Harte.
Other players might have thought about moving to an intermediate or senior club to get noticed - but O'Neill would never leave Derrytresk.
"I would never leave my own club. Where you're from is where you play for. I have always been very proud of that, no matter what," he says.
"It's great to be in Croke Park finally. I got plenty of stick about how bad we were so it's great to be here finally. We were always a junior club. We played intermediate for a few years but that was through winning the League. We had never won a Championship before last year.
"After that '04 minor final my mother asked me did I think I'd ever be back in Croke Park as a player and I didn't see it. I definitely wouldn't have said I'd be playing for Derrytresk.
"It was great when we won the county. We never thought we'd end up in Croke Park. It was unreal for a small community where everyone knows everybody and you're related to half the ones in the place," he adds.
They've had a tough road to get here, beating the Derry, Armagh and Kerry champions along the way. And Cathal O'Neill knows there are hundreds of clubs who envy them.
"Once we won Tyrone we said we'd give this a rattle, like everyone else. We played the Derry champions in the first round, Eire Og of Armagh and then Cremartin in the Ulster final. It has been a great journey.
"Normally at this time of year we're trying to get men off the couch and out of the house for pre-season. It's great to be out and playing at this time of the year when other teams are only coming back," he adds.
AIB GAA Football All-Ireland junior club final
Naomh Padraig, Clonbur (Galway) v Derrytresk (Tyrone), Croke Park, Sun (2.00) Tweet
