Derrygonnelly make it two from two with Erne Gaels win

Derrygonnelly 0-12 Erne Gaels 0-06

Erne Gaels have supped sorrow from the rusty spoon of defeat to Derrygonnelly in county finals in 2016 and most recently last year.

And while there was very little at stake in this encounter on a balmy May evening that ended under a sickle moon over Knockmore it was the younger and much sharper Harps who emerged as convincing winners.

Both sides were short a number of key players with the Harps having just five of their starting team from last year’s county final while Belleek had eight.

And while Belleek’s new boss Declan Bonner will not be too worried about the defeat Derrygonnelly manager Sean Flanagan will have been pleased at how well his youthful fringe players came through.

The Belleek side also lost corner forward Shane Rooney for a second yellow card 10 minutes from time.

That loss was significant but more significant was the well-organized Harps ability to hit their opponents on the counter-attack and the direct running of Leigh Jones which caused major problems for a battle-hardened Gaels side.

Harps corner forward Gary McKenna was the man of the match hitting 0-07 with four from frees in a side that had two debutants in Nathan Rutledge and Aidan Duffy.

For an outgunned Gaels side, Aoghan Kelm and Shane Rooney posed their main threat.

But the Gaels seemed reluctant to shoot inside the Harps half in the second half.

In fairness much of this was due to a very well-organized Harps defence who filled the space with aplomb.

The Gaels did hit six wides in the second half but will be disappointed that they could only hit one point in the entire second half after a cracking opening half that saw the sides level at 0-5 each at the break.

Stephen McGullion opened the scoring for the Harps after three minutes and McKenna added another point although it looked like his palmed effort was heading for the net but just crept over the bar.

Kelm got the Gaels off the mark and Niall Maguire responded for the Harps before Kelm hit a superb point from the wing with his left foot to leave the home side leading by 0-03 to 0-02 after 13 minutes.

McKenna stretched the lead to two points before Shane Rooney got the first of his three points as the Gaels grew into the game.

Kelm was also on target and McKenna levelled matters to make it 0-05 each at the break.

The Harps lost veteran Declan Cassidy to a black card just before the break but his absence did not yield Belleek any real advantage.

The Gaels almost had a goal on the resumption as for once, the Harps defence opened up for Gregory McGloin but his shot came off the crossbar and to safety after a goalmouth melee.

But the Harps swiftly countered through a McKenna free.

The buzzing Leigh Jones played a lightning one-two with Flanagan to leave him one-on-one with keeper Brian Ryder, but he somehow blazed the ball over the bar.

McKenna stretched the lead to three as the Gaels also missed two kickable frees.

It was then that Shane Rooney shipped a really hefty knock and was lined shortly afterwards by referee Hugh Breen apparently for alleged dissent.

McKenna and Niall Maguire ended the scoring for the Harps as Kelm got the Gael’s only point in the second half.

Speaking afterwards, Derrygonnelly Harps selector Paul Greene was keen to play down the significance of this fine win for a young side.

“It was a tight game and there was not much between the sides in the first half.

“Belleek had a lot of wides in the second half, and I suppose we got them on the break and got the scores and were able to keep them at arm’s length a bit.

“Leigh Jones is pretty sharp, and he is in great condition and long may it continue.

“There is great competition for places and that is what the whole panel is about.

“We have 27-28 players, and they are all pushing each other.”

When told that there are eight or nine “regulars” to come back he said wryly:

“Well, they will have to earn their place and we will just keep working hard.”

For Belleek’s new boss, Declan Bonner it was his first encounter with the county champions, and he was impressed.

“Derrygonnelly were very impressive have a very big panel and with us down a few players it was probably a bit more difficult.

“It was a really good competitive first half and we started the second half really well and we did not take our chances.

“Some of our skill execution was not good and we had some unforced errors in the second half and we missed frees and other chances.

“But Derrygonnelly tagged on the scores but these are two teams that will be much different later on in the season.

“We had scoring chances that we did not take  but this is a small squad we are dealing with, and they will improve and Derrygonnelly were always going to be a good test for us and there are a lot of learnings for the lads to take from this game.”