TYRONE'S big two, Eire Og Carrickmore and Eoghan Ruadh Dungannon, will meet once again in the Donnelly Vauxhall Senior Hurling Championship final tomorrow (Sun) at Healy Park.
With both clubs tied at the top of the roll of honour with 23 titles each, history will play an important part in this eagerly-awaited decider.
Champions Carrickmore halted Dungannon’s three-in-a-row bid last season, when they coasted to victory with a 12 points victory in the final.
Stung by that heavy defeat, Eoghan Ruadh have re-doubled their efforts to regain supremacy, and their form in recent weeks suggests they will be a much tougher proposition this time around.
Led by the brilliant Damien Casey, they have an attacker of supreme quality who can always be depended upon for a haul of valuable scores, not to mention the leadership qualities that have seen him handed the captaincy of club and county.
Casey scored ten points in the semi-final win over Naomh Colum Cille, a game that they won by 1-19 to 0-6.
Mark Winters, Conor McNally, Matthew Mulgrew and Duibhuir Marshall also have important roles to play in the challenge, but they will have to be at the top of their game if they are to overhaul the holders of the Benburb Cup.
Aidan Kelly steered over nine points in last year’s county final, and he will once again be one of Eire Ogs’ main sources of scores as they attempt to add a gloss to the club’s 45th anniversary celebrations.
They have others who are capable of hitting the target, such as Gary Fox, Conor Grogan and Sean Og Grogan, while Dermot Begley and Justin Kelly will seek to nullify the Eoghan Ruadh attacking game.
Many of these players were team-mates with Tyrone during another successful season on the inter-county stage, but friendships will be temporarily placed on hold this weekend as they give all in the cause of the club.
Both clubs are also involved in the curtain-raiser, the O’Neills Sportswear U14 Championship final.
