WHEN ex- Belcoo star Johnny Feely got the call from John Reihill to join Lisnsakea for 2023 he had no hesitation.
Feely had been involved with St Brigid’s in Belfast but was about to re-locate to Enniskillen so the stars were aligning.
Two years on, and ‘Skea have won junior and intermediate titles in successive years and now face Monaghan champions Magheracloone at Brewster Park today for a place in an Ulster intermediate semi-final.
“It has been two great years,’’ admits Feely. ‘’Beating Aghadrumsee in the junior final last year and now we have beaten Irvinestown to take the intermediate title.
“We have a strong side and the first game in the championship was a nervy one against Irvinestown, where neither team wanted to give too much away and it finished up a 1-6 to 0-9 and we were probably lucky to get a draw.”
That was followed by victories over Derrylin, St Pat’s and a close call against Tempo to set up a final re-match with Irvinestown, where two first-half goals were key scores.
“We have been very clinical in all our matches, and we have played with pace and in the final we got those early goals against Irvinestown which were crucial.
“Goals are a big part of our game, and we have scored 57 in total this year which is quite a record.”
“We are strong physically and we have Joe and Justy McDade, Tom Clarke, Mark Kelly and Liam Mullarkey at full-back.
“And we have the Keenans – Niall and Sean – and Brendan Ogie Kelly.”
Today’s opponents are a very experienced outfit, having won the Ulster intermediate title in 2019 and narrowly losing the All-Ireland final.
“We watched them beat Truagh in the Monaghan final and they won it by five points in the end.
“They are a strong physical side, and they have Alan Kearns, their captain, Paudie McMahon and Michael Metzger, who kicked 0-9 in that final so he will take watching.
“He is a strong physical player also.”
Feely added: “We were in Ulster last year for the first time in a long time and we beat Declan Bonner’s Na Rossa and that was a great experience after being out of the provincial competition for so long.
“The lads showed great character to come back and win that game in the second half.
“And then we were beaten by Arva from Cavan and they went on and won the All-Ireland so that was also a big learning curve for us.”
It is a considerable step up from junior to intermediate football as Feely admits.
“We won the All-Ireland back in 2011 and Mark Little was a key man for us, and he is still a key man at 43.
“Magheracloone are as tough a test as we could get, but our preparation has been very thorough and the lads have worked incredibly hard and to be honest we are going in full of confidence.
