Connolly’s of Moy Tyrone SFC quarter-final: Killyclogher 2-9 Carrickmore 1-12
THIS was proof that even in Tyrone, where they all draw all the time, that no two draws are the same.
Killyclogher clawed out a replay with Oisin McCann’s fisted 63rd minute equalising goal, a ball just flung across the square and batted in past Ryan McGarrity, who somehow found himself all alone on the goal-line despite most of the Carrickmore team being in the square beside him.
Did they deserve it? You’d honestly need to watch it all again.
Their first half was a borderline masterclass. It honestly was. Carrickmore came with a full squeeze and Eoin Bradley’s side put them on the rack and stretched them until they were just about hanging together.
Two points was an interval lead that did no real justice to how the game was flowing in their direction.
They were in complete command of the skies and offered a rare in sight in modern football – positive decision making.
There is some method to the madness of the slow, methodical attacking play that inter-county football has artificially inseminated into the club game.
But so much of it is sheep syndrome. Nobody’s kicking it so we better not either. There are times when it’s madness to kick it but there are also times when it’s madness not to.
Killyclogher recognised that Carrickmore’s press was leaving them exposed and they sought to punish them at every opportunity. What they won long from the kickout they delivered long to the forwards.
It was the Carrickmore defence’s worst nightmare, one-v-one attack versus defence.
Mark Bradley, Gavin Potter and Dara Hayes against Brian Conway (taking over from the ACL-devastated Sean Loughran), Michael McCallan and Oisin McElroy.
Potter had a goal rightly disallowed for a square ball before he netted a valid one.
They should have had another but Matthew Murnaghan’s first shot was saved and his second was somehow squirrelled off the line.
His chance was a lot like Carrickmore’s goal in that it came off a piece of good fortune.
Ciaran McBride’s men were struggling in attack, getting turned over at will, and it was only off a ball that rebounded off Rory Donnelly’s shins into a huge space in behind where he could run on to it and finish that they made any headway.
Just as against Dromore, Carrickmore looked to be floundering a bit.
But huge credit to Ciaran McBride and Noel Slane along the line.
Two weeks ago, they were four down and rescued it by going balls out after everything. They just hemmed Dromore in completely.
If this was a rollercoaster, half-time was the few seconds just at the top of the climb where they got a chance to compose their thoughts for the drop.
Carrickmore took completely the opposite approach. Having been brave, they’d had no reward whatsoever.
So they dropped right off the Killyclogher kickout, set themselves up much deeper.
You might not consider that too brave but in the context of being two points down and being over-run as it was, there was a certain element of bravery there.
Whatever about it, it worked. Carrickmore found vigour in the middle of their defence, started to make Killyclogher spit up ball.
From two down, they went three up with five points on the spin inside eight minutes.
Two Lorcan McGarrity frees and fine scores from Sean Donnelly, Tiarnan Murray and Daniel Fullerton totally tipped the balance of proceedings. Carrickmore deserved to win for their second half as much as Killyclogher had for their first. Perhaps even moreso. But then isn’t that how you wind up with a draw?
Mark Bradley pulled it out of the fire in truth.
Malachy O’Rourke was in Healy Park with his coaching team of Ryan Porter and Leo McBride.
The wee man’s phone number won’t be hard to locate. Whether he wants another go at county football is one question but when it comes to capability, there is no doubt.
First he burned down the line and fisted one over off his right hand to make it 1-9 to 1-7.
Six minutes later he rizzed at one from 40 metres that looked to the post for its kiss like a young buck out on his first Tinder date. He got lucky.
The third of them was the best of them. Finding his way up off the turf, he hadn’t a square foot to aim at from the position he was kicking from. A square foot would seem big to that left foot.
That brought Killyclogher kicking and screaming within a point but it looked gone again when the other great left peg was forsaken for the right, Marty Penrose bursting through and going with the weaker leg.
That seemed to be that, but there was one last hairpin bend.
Oisin McCann was only thrown in at the death, landed into full-forward, their challenge looking to be heading the way of the disappointing display against Errigal last year that was all directness and no craft.
But they had one more moment, and McCann got his fist to the brother Conall’s cross.
1-12 to 2-9.
The first draw of the Tyrone championship of 2024. They hate their penalties so much they’ve gotten rid of them for the year, so it’s back to Omagh on Thursday night at 7.30pm.
Absolutely nobody is complaining.