Football

Paul Ward: Fermanagh title treble challenge brought added pressure

Derrygonnelly's Paul Ward holds off a challenge from Devenish corner-back Vincent O'Brien
Derrygonnelly's Paul Ward holds off a challenge from Devenish corner-back Vincent O'Brien Derrygonnelly's Paul Ward holds off a challenge from Devenish corner-back Vincent O'Brien

For Paul Ward this is Championship medal number five and comes 13 years after his first.

A veteran on the team and so often the match winner for the Harps in the past he didn’t have to be at his electric best on Sunday as his side dominated Devenish to claim their third Fermanagh title in a row.

He still made vital contributions however; hitting a brace of scores, winning possession and tackling hard to prevent Devenish getting easy ball into their attack.

Following the game the former Fermanagh player admitted that there had been a little apprehension in the lead up to the game.

“It’s a big relief. There was a lot of pressure on us to get the three in row coming into the game,’’ he said.

“It had never been done before by the club and we knew what sort of a battle we were going to get from Devenish. They really put it up to us early on.”

The underdogs held a point advantage on 15 minutes but Derrygonnelly were to take over completely until half time as they went about taking a grip of the game.

In that vital period Ward was one of the players who helped grab proceedings by he neck and he shot two points to help his side into a four point lead;

“We just needed to knuckle down and work the scores. Keep the ball and get a good shooting opportunity.

“We did that to an extent. We had 22 shots in the first half and scored nine so we probably need to convert more.

“Our problem was in going forward but to be fair Devenish played well in defence and made things very hard for us,” he explained before adding;

“The four-point margin gave us that wee foothold for the second half because you never knew what that wind was going to do. We knew then it would probably take goal opportunities for Devenish to win the game and I thought our defence coped well with whatever Devenish threw at them.”

The Harps team is well seasoned by this stage and that experience is visible all over the pitch and it is their commitment to workmate first and foremost that has been the cornerstone of their success.

“Our defence has been excellent and since we have got Tiernan and Eamon back we have got even stronger,’’ he added.

“But you have to work hard all over the field when you don’t have possession. It is not just a case of leaving it to the six defenders.”

Ward turned his attention to the Ulster club championship and a date with the Armagh champions at Brewster Park in four weeks time and he believes he and his team-mates are well placed to compete with anyone in Ulster, having learned valuable lessons in the last two years.

“In all honesty the first year against Slaughtneil we were like rabbits in headlights,’’ said Ward.

“It was just a week after the county final. We were better last year but still didn’t get the win.

“This year we have four weeks to prepare, we can go and watch the Armagh final.

“We have a league semi final in there and we have to get over that and hopefully we don’t get any injuries and we can be in the best possible shape for four weeks time.”