The month of August provided plenty of thrilling sporting events to attend throughout the county and beyond which I keenly look forward to mentioning in this blog.

We begin with the GAA where old rivals Eire Ogs Carrickmore and Dungannon Eoghan Ruadh clashed in an exciting Tyrone Hurling League final at Pairc Eire Og Carrickmore where the visitors recorded a 4 point victory over the hosts with a scoreline of 2-19 2-15 to claim the Tyrone Hurling league crown and secure a passage to the Tyrone Senior Hurling Championship final in September at Healy Park (Omagh) where they will once again meet holders Eire Ogs which promises to be another exciting encounter for the Benburb Cup. From the hurling sticks to the footballs the Tyrone senior teams impressive run in the Super 8s deservedly earned them a place in the 2018 All Ireland semi-final at Croke Park where they met provincial rivals Monaghan who had previously defeated them in the first round of the Ulster championship back in May. In this fixture however a valuable goal from Niall Sludden and a well-timed interception from Colm Cavanagh on Monaghan forward Jack McCarron in the 2nd half both proved to be key moments for Tyrone where they gained revenge on Monaghan to reach their first All-Ireland final since 2008 where they were defeated by a gallant Dublin team who achieved their 4th consecutive All Ireland title on the 2nd September 2018.

Moving on to Football where the 2018/19 Fermanagh and Western season officially got underway with the 2018 Kennedy Cup final taking place between Enniskillen Rangers (Mercer Division 1 League Champions) and Tummery Athletic ( Mulhern Cup winners) took place in a midweek fixture at the Ball Range (Enniskillen) where Michael Kerr’s Rangers retained the trophy recording a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from James Turley early in the 1st half. In the Fermanagh and Western Division 1 Strule United made a swift return to the top flight after one season away where they were defeated 3-2 by Killen Rangers at Donnelly’s Holm (Omagh).

In other sports The 2018 Festival of Darts Irish Open took place at the Weigh Inn premises with many competitors from throughout the country making the journey up to Omagh to compete in this prestigious event throughout the weekend in which Gavin Carlin from Derry defeated the Clonoe Cyclone Mickey Mansell in the Irish Darts Open final. Finally a trip to Belgium was made near the end of August to attend the Johnnie Walker Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at the fabulous Spa Franchorchamp race track. Throughout an entertaining 2 days of qualifying and racing it was Scuderia Ferrari Driver Sebastien Vettel who claimed overall victory in the Belgian Grand Prix to keep his drivers and Ferraris constructor World Title ambitions alive. A special mention to Bill Godfrey of Travel Solutions for organising a fantastic event.

Congratulations once again too to all the teams and athletes who gained success in August! We can look forward to another great month of local sport ahead.