JUST a few months ago, Brian McLernon had resigned himself to a season spent watching from the sidelines. A serious knee injury halted the flying wing-back in his tracks, robbing Moortown of one of its most important players.
But a combination of hard work and a convenient pause in the league programme bought him time, which he has used to spectacular effect.
Having missed the first seven games of the year due to a torn Meniscus, McLernon’s return to action in time for the championship provided a glimmer of hope for a side struggling in the relegation zone.
And it all came together for the Loughshore men as they struck a rich vein of form.
A triumphant run to the Tyrone IFC title was followed by a formidable provincial challenge and a place in this weekend’s Ulster final.
“I already had cruciate on that leg eight years now and it came back pre-season and I missed the whole league up until August. The break was after that. My season was gone – to be honest I didn’t think I’d be playing,” McLernon admitted.
“That was a fear – knowing your club was going to Junior and you couldn’t help. But thankfully Tyrone put it on and we’ve got this run here.
“I suppose I did have to work hard to get back from the injury I had to keep the head down and get back as soon as I could. I suppose I pushed it on to try and get back, but having had previous injuries before I had to be careful at the same time too. Thankfully at the minute everything has come through successful and that’s the way it is.”
There were to be more hard knocks along the way for the battle-hardened McLernon, whose fearless approach has seen him frequently come out on the wrong side of committed challenges.
“I got concussion against Owen Roes. That knock led to the red card. I came in and thankfully the physio let me go on ahead.
“Then in the Randalstown game I got another slap and I was a bit dazed more than anything to tell you the truth and the physio made the call not to bring me on. I suppose she’s doing her job and she made the right call now looking back.
“I went off after five minutes into the second half. It was nervous – it wasn’t good watching on. But the boys dug in and honestly the grit that they had has summed us up this year form the break we had.
“That’s what we’ve had the most is honesty and that’s all you can ask for – a little bit of grit and honesty and hard work. That's what got us over the line at the end of the day – we weren’t awesome at all, but it was that bit of hard work that got us over the line.”
It was at the height of Tyrone’s unforgettable summer, when the Red Hands were charging towards All-Ireland glory, that a break in the club schedule gave the St Malachy’s an opportunity to pause, re-set, reflect and regroup.
“It has been a good year so far. We’ve battled on and pushed on lately there. I suppose we were probably sick talking about it at the break, but we’ve all regrouped and definitely got together. Whatever happened, the mentality changed and we’ve pushed on and we’re in a good place.
“I think the players basically regrouped and a couple of home truths were probably told. At one stage when we probably did look like going Junior that’s where we probably regrouped and everybody has stood up since and every man accounted for. It definitely has been great.”
