OMAGH CBS find themselves only sixty minutes away from a second MacRory Cup final appearance in three years when they lock horns with surprise packets St.Patricks Armagh on Saturday morning.
The Tyrone lads will go into the game as warm favourites to book a St.Patricks Day meeting with St.Macartans Monaghan but they are only too aware of the threat posed by an Armagh side that have defied the odds to get this far to date. Omagh CBS are led by captain Gareth Haughey and the Drumragh Sarsfields man is looking forward to a tough test at the weekend.
"We are well aware that St.Patricks Armagh are in the semi final on merit and at this stage of a MacRory Cup competition you expect nothing less than a tough assignment. People have been saying to us that we were lucky to get Armagh in the draw but we aren't looking on it like that. Any side that beats Dungannon and Kilkeel has to be respected. Dungannon beat us in the Rannafast final two years ago as well as beating us at Corn Na Og level so we knew how strong they were and yet St.Patricks Armagh knocked them out in a play off before Christmas. We played Armagh in a challenge match earlier in the year and although we won that day that will count for absolutely nothing as they had a number of players missing that day such as Jamie Donnelly.
The league prior to Christmas went reasonably well for us, losing only one game, but we were still disappointed to lose it, you want to win everything that you go in for. The team has changed a lot since then and we have come on a lot since the league. There was a lot of hard training put in over Christmas and during January and we are reaping the benefits of it now."
Omagh CBS were paired with St.Michaels Enniskillen in the quarter final and straight away that tie was in the spotlight following their well publicised meetings twelve months earlier which took three games to finally decide it in controversial circumstances but this time round the Tyrone lads made no mistake with a convincing 3-7 to 0-5 victory.
"Last season was certainly disappointing the way things turned out but to be honest we didn't really use that result as a driving force this time around,"admits Gareth.
"You don't need any motivation to play in the MacRory Cup particularly when you are like me, in your final year. The final score line against them this season flattered us to be honest. They were on top early on and missed chances and we got a couple of fortunate goals and after that their heads seemed to drop. It wasn't a good performance from us and we have a lot to improve on for Saturday's game but that's not a bad way to be. Training has been going well under Noel Donnelly and Ciaran McBride; they have put a lot of time and effort in with the players and have kept the training fresh as we do a variety of different things all the time."
Gareth recently picked up his second successive All Star award in the full back position and no doubt he is a key figure as Omagh CBS attempt to get their hands on the blue ribbon event in Colleges football. Gareth has won medals right the way through his colleges' career, Corn Na Og, Brock as well as two Rannafast runners up as well as winning a MacRory Cup two seasons ago so he knows what it's all about.
"I was corner back on the team that beat St.Louis Kilkeel in the final two years ago and it was a great experience. It's a great honour for me to be Captain of the side this year, playing alongside the same boys for the past seven years. We have been fairly successful the whole way through school but I would give that all up if we could win the MacRory Cup this season, that really would be the icing on the cake. We won't get ahead of ourselves though as we aren't looking beyond Saturday at the moment. Semi finals are just about winning and we know that we will have to play better than we did against St.Michaels Enniskillen."
Apart from Gareth at the back, Omagh CBS will be looking for big games from the likes of Adrian Kelly, Kevin Mossey and Ronan McNabb while the midfield pairing of Michael Gallagher and Colin Harkin will aim to win this vital sector. If they do happen to get enough ball into the forward line then the likes of Peter Hughes, Seamus Harkin and Shane O'Neill can get the necessary scores to propel them into the decider.
