Fermanagh Football & Hurling

[drici]

October 4th
Brewster Park
v winners of Lámh Dhearg and St Galls (Antrim Intermediate Hurling Final Replay)

[greeny]

All the best to the Lisbellaw lads for that one.

I Hope the fermanagh gaels get behind the team and show in Brewster for that one.

[Lecale2]

I'd expect it to be St Gall's.

[greeny]

St Galls may indeed be favourites but im sure a number of the dual players will also have one eye on the football at the minute. I would expect Lisbellaw to give either team a tough time of it.

[sammymaguire]

from this week's Herald

This should go down to the wire

A novel pairing for this year's senior championship Derrygonnelly and Roslea facing each other for the first time on the competition's showpiece big day.

That in itself has generated an extra seam of anticipation into next Saturday night's encounter, the fact that it will also be the first time for the county final to feature under floodlights another factor to whet the appetite of perhaps the occasional supporter of the games.

So a more than bigger attendance hopefully then at Brewster Park and hopefully too that the game will live up to the pre match billing.

The senior championship of 2009 is much in need of a contest that will deliver a rousing and competitive tie, a game to restore the flagging reputation of the competition. For over the recent weeks there has unhappily been some far from memorable games as the competition trundled its way to next weekend's decider.

No reason however not to be optimistic that the Harps and the Shamrocks can indeed produce a suitably exciting and entertaining match and both will be coming into the game in a positive frame of mind.

Both too however will be keenly conscious that they will have to deliver one of their best team performances of the season if they are to emerge as champions.

For there is a more than solid case to be made for the merits of both teams and the expectation is that this will go down to the wire.

Roslea have had the slightly longer route to travel being involved in a preliminary round tie. Three games on their passage through to what is their first final in two decades.

They opened with a convincing dispatch of Teemore, followed that up by a similarly encouraging dismissal of then holders St Patricks and in the semi final they knocked out Newtownbutler with a rampant second half turnaround that brooked no argument about the result.

Three tidily effective team displays over strong opposition, Roslea have certainly earned their final slot in forceful fashion.

As for Derrygonnelly they made their appearance at the quarter final stage where they ended up comfortable winners over a Tempo side who had been entertaining strong ambitions.

In the semi final the Harps were to demolish a fancied Devenish side in one of the competition's most comprehensive victories.

For Derrygonnelly too there could be no doubt but that they earned their final slot in equally forceful style.

One of the main talking points about the upcoming clash is that of experience versus youth and how that will counter balance to a great extent the perception that it is Roslea who would be regarded as the slight favourites.

This favouritism is based on the fact that Roslea have been in overall terms much the more consistent team this season if the league is also taking into the reckoning. They are currently lying in second place here, Derrygonnelly on the other hand with a string of indifferent performances, labour in the relegation zone.

Roslea too have capably handled the trio of hurdles placed in front of them. Teemore, St Patricks and Newtownbutler were all teams with championship pedigree, but all three were decisively beaten by this effective and highly organised Roslea panel.

Roslea in effect have answered all questions put to them. No reason why they shouldn't step up to the required mark for the fourth time.

But Roslea are by no means the finished article.

They do have an Achille's heels and that is their lack of experience in comparison to that of Derrygonnelly.

Here the Harps are clearly the much more equipped side. Saturday will see them line out for their third final inside five seasons they have been around this course before.

And on that course Derrygonnelly have supped from both cups. They had the exhilaration of winning in 2004 when they ended Enniskillen's six season monopoly. Last year they tasted the bitter dregs of disappointment when they lost out to St Patricks.

In one sense the defeat of last autumn will have made Derrygonnelly even tougher opposition for they will be exceptionally keen to make amends for that failure.

They won't want to go down to championship final defeat for two successive seasons.

Derrygonnelly will be putting out a side which is steeped in experience. Roslea on the other hand, out of the final frame since 1989 will be fielding a squad who are venturing into new territory.

How the Shamrocks deal with that is a key issue and it will without doubt have a major bearing on how the game pans out.

Roslea cannot allow the occasion with all the hype and glamour associated with it, to undermine them.

Here they are clearly more vulnerable than the seasoned opposition who have been there, done that.

On the tactical front the game is also stippled with a range of hugely intriguing battles both collectively and individually.

In the middle of the park, veteran Martin Greene has been the lynchpin for the Harps, by simply doing the essential graft that is fundamental for the well being of any team. His duel with the more eyecatching displays of James Sherry will be especially crucial.

This duo have strong back up from colleagues Ryan Jones and Kevin Cosgrove respectively, so much so that it is hard to see either side being able to gain a distinct advantage in this area.

In the respective attacks much will be looked to from the proven scoring touch of Paul Ward for Derrygonnelly and Seamus Quigley for Roslea.

Ward has been a clinical finisher of the top drawer, his eye for goal unerring and Roslea simply cannot afford him leeway.

The Roslea defence too will have to curtail the input of Kevin Cassidy, whose leadership of the line is a massive asset in the Derrygonnelly attacking armoury.

The Roslea defence has been exemplary this season, producing highly effective displays, this Saturday they will be tested more thoroughly by the Cassidy-Ward combination with strong support for that duo tossed in by the sturdy Jonathan McGurn and the experienced Kevin McGrath.

At the other end of the park, the credentials of the Derrygonnelly back division will all be probed to the limit by a Roslea forward line which has Seamus Quigley as their top notch target man. Quigley on song and supplied with sufficient ammunition can do a considerable amount of damage.

Just as Ward has to be curtailed, it's a similar story for Quigley. Back up for Quigley will come from brother Sean, Ruairi McGuinness who may have a roving assignment and Niall Cosgrove.

All in all a finely poised affair.

Derrygonnelly were particularly impressive in their clearcut semi final victory over Devenish, a game which saw them look a very composed and self assured side.

All the components knitting in for what was one of the most efficient championship team displays of the campaign.

The way in which Derrygonnelly dealt with the Devenish challenge raised their profile immensely and it brings them into next Saturday looking exceptionally difficult opposition for a Roslea side who have had perhaps a greater share of attention so far.

Roslea have done all that has been asked of them so far with those three solid wins in the earlier rounds.

But they have to do it all again against a team who will be fully committed to avoiding the agony of a second successive championship final failure.

So far Roslea have responded but in a game which has the tantalising prospect of being a one or two pointer margin, they will have to deliver their strongest showing of the summer to come through.

In a real sense there is no pre match favourite for Saturday evening.

This is a game which both sides come into with a rooted belief that they will be 2009 kingpins of Lakeland.

They should serve up a championship final to savour..

[Caid]

Come on Roslea

[sammymaguire]

Derrygonnelly 3-09 Roslea 1-07

[backdoor]

Malachy O'Rourke is happy with his decision to continue as Fermanagh football manager for a third year.

The Derrylin man had considered quitting after a disappointing 2009 which saw the Erne County relegated to Division 3 of the National League and beaten by Cavan and Wicklow in the championship but, after much deliberation, he has decided to continue in the role.

"Last year was disappointing because we never really got going like the way we did in 2008," he told the Irish News.

"It was just a case of looking at that and being sure that we were keen as a management team to go again and try and revitalise the whole thing.

"I've always said that it's a great privilege to manage your own county. So when I got a bit of space and thought about it, I was keen to get back. And I suppose we didn't want to leave it the way we did in 2009."

O'Rourke also revealed that he is likely to add a "fresh face" to his management team ahead of the new season.

Although a very disappointing year, I am happy to see O'Rourke commit to another year. Anyone have any ideas who the 'fresh face' might be? I'd have thought he might be hinting at someone from outside the county

See by the looks of teletext last night your new fresh face is Johnny McBride!!!

[sammymaguire]

http://www.impartialreporter.com/sport/gaa/articles/2009/10/01/389906-orourke-adds--mcbride-to--backroom-team/

good move by O'Rourke?

[Master Yoda]

Very good move by O'Rourke. Johnny is a true leader and gives 100% to anything he is involved in. Very bad news for the Loup as surely this means the end of his playing career .

[FermPundit]

SFL Division 1

St. Josephs  2-9 1-11 Enniskillen   
St. Patricks  0-8 0-13 Roslea   
Newtownbutler  0-11 1-13 Tempo 
Derrygonnelly  0-9 0-8 Devenish 
Belcoo  1-10 2-7 Teemore 

SFL Division 2

Derrylin  2-6 0-7 Irvinestown 

[FermPundit]

League table for SFL 1

Team P W L D P+ P- P+/- Pts
Teemore  16 8 3 5 203 179 24 21
Roslea  16 9 4 3 209 200 9 21
Devenish  16 8 6 2 210 168 42 18
Tempo  16 8 6 2 209 211 -2 18
Belcoo  16 5 5 6 208 186 22 16
Derrygonnelly  16 7 8 1 190 199 -9 15
Newtownbutler  16 6 8 2 206 201 5 14
Enniskillen  16 5 8 3 204 232 -28 13
St. Patricks  16 4 8 4 187 204 -17 12
St. Josephs  16 5 9 2 162 208 -46 12

[milltown row]

St Galls may indeed be favourites but im sure a number of the dual players will also have one eye on the football at the minute. I would expect Lisbellaw to give either team a tough time of it.

ya's did that by trying to brutalise us on the pitch, ya know hurling sticks are for hitting the ball?

a shower of dirty Bast*rds

scoreline 6-16 to 1-6 (we'd 14 men for 50 minutes!!)

[dexter]

I hear 'Skea have laid on a free bar in the Donn Carragh for all the Milltown lads.

[milltown row]

St Galls may indeed be favourites but im sure a number of the dual players will also have one eye on the football at the minute. I would expect Lisbellaw to give either team a tough time of it.

ya's did that by trying to brutalise us on the pitch, ya know hurling sticks are for hitting the ball?

a shower of dirty Bast*rds

scoreline 6-16 to 1-6 (we'd 14 men for 50 minutes!!)

Excellent. Pished again milltown? Tell us more about this brutality. I want detail.

Congratulations btw.

nothing really to report. worst team i've ever seen trying to play hurling. shouldn't be allowed to play at that level ever again.

not drinking, honestly!

waiting till its all over

oh change the title of this thread, hurling is not what they play