By Barry O'Donnell

THEY may be entering Sunday's Intermediate showdown against neighbours Killyman as the hottest of favourites but history doesn't augur well for Moortown approaching the final.

The highly-touted lough shore men have lost five County deciders in this particular grade and ominously for them one of those defeats came against this weekend's opponents Killyman (1973). Indeed all five of those setbacks came prior to their only solitary victory in the IFC decider, which arrived at the expense of Edendork in 1975.

Since then the St Malachy's have spent the bulk of time establishing themselves as one of the premier forces in the county and as recently as 1992 annexed the senior title, while they were also twice beaten finalists in that decade ('93 and '95).

Tradition alone then would mark them out as the sensible tip to annex the Paddy Cullen Cup this Sunday at Healy Park and with seasoned campaigners in the form of the Lawn twins, Stephen and Chris in their midst, as well as evergreen midfielder Conrad Quinn, and former Tyrone Minor and Under-21 star PJ Quinn, they will not lack for big match savvy on the day.

The side is managed this term by club stalwart Fred McVeigh, who played alongside the Lawns in the Moortown team which lifted the O'Neill Cup against Dromore in 1992. After a fairly stuttering start to their Championship campaign this term, with far from convincing victories over Fintona and Brockagh, the St Malachy's really caught fire in the semi-final when hammering reigning Ulster and All-Ireland junior champions Greencastle by ten points. McVeigh accepted it was an evening where everything at last clicked into place for his charges.

" Championship matches are never going to be easy and we struggled a bit in those earlier games. Against Greencastle everything just fell into place in the second half and we got a couple of goals at vital times. It was going to take that type of effort to get past Greencastle because of their tremendous recent track record in Championship football."

McVeigh stepped into the management hot-seat at his own club during the closing stages of last year's ill-fated relegation scrap, taking over from Niall Conway, current Rock and Derry minor boss. He revealed that he had no intentions then of taking on the position full-time.

"I came in for the last five or six matches when the boys were struggling and the previous management stepped down. I had been in charge of various underage teams at the club before, so I knew the fellas pretty well.

"When we got relegated I didn't really have any designs on staying on but it was too much for 'Cricky' (Martin) Quinn to do on his own so I agreed to stay on and help. I also got a commitment from some of the older boys that they would remain to help us fight to get back to senior football and we took it from there."

Moortown's fall from grace in 2006 was a pretty spectacular one and represented a major blow for the proud east Tyrone club to endure.

" The year before we were involved in the Division 1B promotion play-offs so things were going okay. We just got into a rut last year, losing a couple of tight matches, and got relegated as a result.

" But we were determined to try and bounce back up this year and give promotion a real crack. We have six league matches left and are still in the reckoning there, while obviously we have this chance on Sunday too, though Killyman might have a say or two on that matter."

And McVeigh acknowledged that despite the quality and experience within his squad, the week in week out battle for league points in Division Two was a difficult assignment even for a side of Moortown's pedigree and tradition.

" Maybe people thought it might be handy for us but I would say it's the toughest league in the county. Just take a look at the league table, there is nothing between the top four or five clubs. It's really really tight."

And looking ahead to Sunday's match-up Fred holds Killyman in the utmost respect despite their relatively lowly league status.

" They are a Championship team, plain and simple, and don't seem to have placed a great emphasis on the league. I seen them against Augher in the semi-final and was very impressed, while they also beat Strabane handy enough as well. Having recently won the Junior title they know what it takes to win Championship matches and they'll not be frightened of us this weekend."