FORMER Tyrone attacker Ronan O’Neill has his eye on the big prize with his club and his sparkling form has steered Omagh towards the top of the Division One League.
O’Neill, who retired from inter-county football in 2021 following a decade in the set-up, remains one of the most lethal finishers in the Red Hand county. He chipped in with 2-5 as the St Enda’s overcame Coalisland at the weekend to chalk up a third win in four outings.
“It’s a privilege to pull on the Omagh jersey and a privilege to be playing football,” he said.
He’s been juggling his playing career with his role as a member of the Fermanagh backroom team. But the end of the road in the Tailteann Cup for the Erne footballers means the 31-year-old can now devote all his energies to the St Enda’s.
“It was tight going with Fermanagh over the last six or seven weeks, trying to juggle it, but I have full focus now on Omagh for the rest of the league, " he said.
“It was a brilliant experience, it didn’t work out, obviously, from a success point of view, but lots learned and I can’t really complain about that. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.”
Omagh appeared to be on their way to a comfortable victory when they led by 11 points eight minutes into the second half at Fr Peter Campbell Park, but a furious Coalisland comeback turned the game dramatically on its head.
The home side narrowed the gap to a single point, despite missing a penalty, but Omagh survived to win by 2-11 to 1-13.
“It was a mental game,” said O’Neill.
“We started off slow, but probably that 10 minutes before half-time, we clicked into gear, got a purple patch and got ourselves six points up at half-time. We started off reasonably well the first five or 10 minutes of the second half, and then Coalisland, when you give them momentum, they’re a serious team, even with a few boys missing.
“But we battled it out strongly, and a few key interventions got us out at times, and we held the ball. But we have a lot to work on, we wouldn’t be happy with that second half at all.”
An aggressive press on the Omagh kick-out reaped dividends for the Fianna as they picked off the scores, with Peter Herron smashing home a goal.
“It was our kick-outs, we couldn’t get out. They put a serious press on us, but we probably should have got out a bit better. We are missing a few key men around the middle, but we should have been giving more options to our goalkeeper.
“But we have to give credit to Coalisland, and it’s very hard to change the momentum when you’re up against it. So we need to go back and work on our own kick-outs.”
League football will continue over the summer months, but a forthcoming championship derby against neighbours Killyclogher will help focus Omagh minds as the countdown continues towards Tyrone’s famous straight knock-out series.
“Once you hear the draw, it focuses the minds, especially when it’s your derby rivals. But it’s a long way off, there’s a lot of football to be played over the next three months.
“Both the teams know each other, there’s a lot of friends in each other’s groups. We know we have a lot of work to do before that, they’re a formidable team, and we need to be pitting back to back performances in the league first, before we think about championship.”
