By Niall Gartland

ALL the hard work is paying off for Omagh CBS half-back Nathan Farry, an immensely skilled footballer who hasn’t had it all his own way in this year’s campaign.

Farry suffered a significant sprain to his ACL last autumn that ruled him out of the MacRory Cup group stages, but he bided his time, followed his rehab to the letter and was back in the starting line up for their MacRory Cup quarter-final clash against Our Lady’s, Castleblayney in mid-January.

It was as if he’d never been away – he was one of the team’s stand-out performers and has continued to shine as Omagh CBS made it to back-to-back Hogan Cup final appearances.

Farry, who also starred on last year’s all-conquering Omagh CBS said: “I injured my knee back in September before the season even started. That put me out for about three months.

“I had my first training back with the team just before Christmas and I came in again for the quarter-finals. It was a big step up to go from one or two training sessions to playing in a MacRory Cup knock-out game.

“I knew if I put in the work I’d every chance of getting back into the team so I worked as hard as I could and thankfully I’ve got back in, but having so many good players around me as well as calling on the experience of last year has made it a lot easier for me.”

Last year’s Hogan Cup final turned out to be a walk in the park for the Brothers, who claimed their second ever title at this level with a thumping victory over Summerhill College, Sligo.

Even though it was straightforward in that respect, memories of the day itself are a bit blurred for the talented Trillick lad.

“I don’t really remember too much about last year’s final to be honest. We’d a very good team and I suppose we put them away in the first 15 or 20 minutes of the game and they never really got a chance to get back into the game.

“It was very one-sided, I’m not sure I really fully took it in so I’ll make sure to do that this time around, I’m very fortunate to get back to this stage.”

Farry is an extremely accomplished footballer who lined out in midfield for the Tyrone minors last year.

One of the biggest attributes of his game is his ability to play in a perfectly judged kick-pass to the inside forward line, something that has worked a treat on their journey to the big day at Croke Park.

Farry said: “I like a good kick-pass but they don’t always come off as much as I’d like.

“I keep trying and hopefully they stick. We’ve really good men in the forwards so even if you do hit a bad pass, it’s handy covered up!”

Very few players have the chance to pocket one Hogan Cup medal, let alone two, and it’s definitely not something that Farry takes for granted.

“Whenever I first came into the school, the dream was to play MacRory Cup football. To win a MacRory and Hogan Cup final last year was unbelievable.

“To have the chance of doing that again is brilliant, I definitely never thought it’d happen when I started in the school and the whole experience is something I’ll never forget.”