CORMAC Devlin is confident Ardboe will repair damaged pride with a big performance in Sunday’s Tyrone SFC quarter-final against champions Trillick.
Last season, the Rossas suffered a bruising 18-point semi-final hammering at the hands of Errigal Ciaran on a miserable afternoon that continues to haunt them.
They return to the scene of that 2-19 to 0-7 demolition at Pairc Colmcille in Carrickmore with a shot at redemption and a point to prove.
“We’re still hurting from that Errigal game. That’s’ not the way you want to go out of the championship,” said centre-forward Devlin.
“We didn’t show enough effort and heart that day.
“That’s a team that’s full of class, and they could beat you on any day, but you don’t want to be beaten the way we were, and we’re never going to let that happen again. We’re always going to work our hardest.
“If we are beaten, it will not be due to not trying and not showing heart.”
Devlin, a member of this year’s All-Ireland U20 winning Tyrone team, accepts that the loughshore men must produce a season’s best performance if they are to cause a shock.
“Trillick are going to be a very hard team to beat. It’s going to be a massive challenge, but if we work our hardest, we’re always going to have a chance, so all we can do is focus on ourselves. We can’t control what them boys do.”
Ardboe’s first round victory over an Edendork side powered by a clutch of top-class county players was a massive lift, but they’re about to face a Trillick team with its own array of Tyrone stars.
“It doesn’t get any easier, unfortunately. You go from playing teams like Edendork, stacked with county players, to Trillick, who have even more.
“We’ll have to work really hard and we have to play our best. We’ll just try and work our hardest and hope it goes for us on the day.”
With Derry defender Chrissy McKaigue providing coaching back-up to Gavin Devlin, the manager’s son feels the team will be thoroughly prepared for the many challenges that the O’Neill Cup holders will present.
“You gain confidence from your preparation, and we fall back on that, how hard we have worked and the hours we have put in together as a team.
“And at those pressure moments, it’s good to be able to rely on that, and know that you have the work done.”
Ardboe men won’t allow themselves to get carried away by victory over an Edendork side weakened by injuries.
“They were missing a few big names, and in championship games, you can’t afford to be missing men line that, so it probably gave us that wee edge,” said Devlin.
“But with the class acts that they have, I suppose we were just lucky on the day.”
After playing with the wind, they led by just two points at half-time, hampered by their own wastefulness in front of the posts.
“The wides we hit were probably due to Edendork’s pressure. They’re a very well set up team, and Conleith [Gilligan] has them very well set up.
“They have Niall Morgan sitting in the middle there orchestrating things, and a few brilliant players.”
