Football

Fermanagh SFC holders Ederney put title on the line against Derrygonnelly in Brewster Park clash

Ederney defeated Derrygonnelly in last year's Fermanagh SFC final to win their first senior county title in 52 years and deny the Harps six in-a-row
Ederney defeated Derrygonnelly in last year's Fermanagh SFC final to win their first senior county title in 52 years and deny the Harps six in-a-row Ederney defeated Derrygonnelly in last year's Fermanagh SFC final to win their first senior county title in 52 years and deny the Harps six in-a-row

Mannok Fermanagh Senior Football Championship: Derrygonnelly Harps v St Joseph's, Ederney (tonight, Brewster Park, 8pm) 

The eye-catching tie of the quarter-final stage of the Mannok Fermanagh Senior Football Championship will take place tonight at Brewster Park as holders Ederney put their title on the line against Derrygonnelly. 

This is a repeat of last year’s final were Ederney denied Derrygonnelly a sixth title in a row to end a 52 year wait for the New York Cup and the Harps will be keen to avenge that loss in an eagerly anticipated encounter. 

Derrygonnelly are the form team coming into the game having won the Division One title and certainly they will need no motivation ahead of the game as they look to take a big step towards regaining the New York Cup. 

Joint manager Mick Glynn is expecting another massive contest as his side look to right the wrongs of last year. 

“It will be a very fierce battle. Ederney are a great team – they won the championship deservedly last year, and it will be a big challenge for us to try and avenge last year’s result. 

“But the lads have worked very hard in training, so we are hoping they will put on a good performance on the day.”  

Derrygonnelly are a seasoned side with no shortage of championship experience throughout their ranks. As Enniskillen discovered in the league final, they are extremely hard to breakdown defensively with Tiarnan Daly, Michael Jones and Declan Cassidy all key performers. 

In the likes of Stephen McGullion, Ryan Jones and Garvan Jones they also possess a strong middle third while up front they will look to the likes of Conall Jones and Garry McKenna to keep the scoreboard ticking over. 

Ederney’s league form was nothing spectacular with manager Mickey Cassidy having struggled to get a consistent team out week on week and he believes that the Harps will go into the clash as favourites.  

’Regardless of being champions or not, we won’t be favourites going into this game. They are the team in form, they are the league champions, and they have players back, so their panel is stronger, so it is going to take a big performance on Friday night,” he said. 

As they showed last year, though, Ederney do have the players to produce that big performance. 

Goalkeeper Chris Snow and defender Declan McCusker provide leadership and experience at the back for the St. Joseph’s men while at midfield 40-year-old Marty McGrath continues to defy father-time – his performance in last year’s final going a long way to deciding the game. 

It is in attack though were Ederney are at their strongest and in Paul McCusker, Sean Cassidy and Mark McCauley they have players who are capable of giving that well drilled Derrygonnelly defence problems. 

This is an intriguing battle between the sides rated as the top two in Fermanagh. Ederney will want to show that last year was no one-off while Derrygonnelly will want to get back to winning ways in the championship. 

Although it is only the quarter-final, the winner will be strongly fancied to go on and land the title.