Richie Donnelly played a starring role in Trillick’s Tyrone SFC triumph in 2015, but if they are to win a second title in four years, they’ll have to do it without him.
Manager Nigel Seaney says a united group must accept the setback and compensate for the loss of one of the team’s key cogs.
They confidently negotiated a first round hurdle with a 2-11 to 1-7 win over Donaghmore at the weekend, despite the loss of Tyrone attacker Donnelly, who has undergone surgery to repair a torn meniscus cartilage, and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
“Richie’s a big loss, he’s a powerful player for us,” said Seaney.
“But it’s important that when we go out, we look at the boys that are playing, and that they perform.
“Somebody’s injury is beyond your control, the boys that are playing have it under their control.
“Injuries are part and parcel of it. you very rarely have a hundred per cent fit. We constantly work with the group that we have, we concentrate on the group we have.”
The Reds will face Ardboe in the quarter-final, a tie that promises a quality contest between two clubs with a proud championship tradition.
But Seaney admitted that it has been difficult to develop momentum following an 11-week suspension of club football while Tyrone were involved in an extended run which took them all the way to the All-Ireland final.
“It’s difficult, there’s no point in saying any different. You have a long period over the summer trying to keep boys motivated, to keep boys right, not going stale. It’s a long time right through.'' he said.
“But we have been through this sort of thing before, and that’s the way it’s going to be from now on.
“This Super 8s, Tyrone are going to make them most years, so you’re not going to be playing football until the back end of the year anyway.
“It’s about managing the early part of the season, managing the middle part, and hopefully getting the last part of it right.”
Goals from Ryan Gray and Niall Gormley helped his side to a seven-point win over Donaghmore at Healy Park, but the Trillick boss said he was relieved to get over a tricky tie: “We knew coming into it that they had prepared very well. We had prepared very well.
“We paid them full respect, we trained hard in July and August, we played six preparation games for this.
“And we knew when the county boys came back we would have limited time with them in it to knit back into the group again.
“So we were nervous enough and relieved to get through it.”
After racing into a 1-5 to 0-2 lead, the St Macartan’s were pegged back by a determined opponent, and just two points separated the sides at the break.
“We got a wee bit sloppy in possession during that phase, and we gave the ball away needlessly, carried it into the tackle, and didn’t manage the game particularly well during that stage.
“So half-time definitely did come at the right time for us.”
But a strong second half display, capped by Gormley’s late goal, saw Trillick safely through to the last eight with plenty to spare.
“As the game was closing out, Donaghmore were throwing caution to the wind, and I always thought that if we could break, or get a breakaway, we could get a major score,” he added.
