Erne Gaels may have leapt over one significant mental block at the weekend but their captain Ryan Lyons knows they still have to clear the biggest hurdle.
The Belleek man was doubly delighted to win Sunday’s second Fermanagh SFC semi-final – not only to reach a third consecutive decider but to do so by beating their bogey team Derrygonnelly Harps.
Last year’s final was just one of a run of narrow, late wins the Harps had achieved over Erne Gaels – with another in this year’s Championship group round three – so Lyons acknowledged the significance of the victory:
“They’ve had the better of us over the past number of years. We’ve had a lot of close battles but we’d never actually got over the line against them, so I suppose mentally it’s a big, big, big plus.”
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Apart from that, Derrygonnelly have dominated Fermanagh football in general, so a win over them is always welcome, Lyons confirmed: “Ah, yeah. What have they won, seven of the last 10? They’re the big dogs in Fermanagh over the last decade or so and they’ve broken our hearts a number of times.”
Belleek had to battle all the way to victory over Derrygonnelly, who came back to lead as their opponents went the first 22 minutes of the second half without scoring.
Lyons was delighted with how his team came good in the end, having failed in such circumstances before against the Harps:
“In previous games against these boys we might have faltered and they could have won by five, six, seven points in the end but we stuck at it.
“We have faith in the way we’re playing. We know individually we’ve a lot of quality, but sometimes we can veer away from what we’re doing. But we trust in our management, trust in the boys around us, and that goes a long way in championship battles, a long, long way.”
Yet the final is likely to be an even stiffer challenge against the Erne County’s form team, Enniskillen Gaels, who comfortably dispatched Ederney in their last four encounter.
Enniskillen did likewise against Erne Gaels in the 2022 Final, as Lyons remembers too well: “We’re going in to play the Gaels. We were there two years ago and they gave us a bit of a hiding so we have a lot to work on. We have a lot to improve on – I think a bit of collective, cohesion, a bit of heart got us over the line, but we know ourselves, execution-wise, skillset-wise, turnovers count, there’s a lot to be done better.
“Knowing you’ve been to the well will hopefully stand to us in two weeks’ time. If we can improve our performance and keep that collective work-rate, we’ll not be far away.”
Although Belleek dethroned Enniskillen last year, in the semi-finals, Lyons accepts that the town team will be favourites for this season’s decider, having already won the league:
“100 per cent. They’ve a brilliant team. I know a lot of their boys personally as well. A lot of firepower and experience in their collective. We’re going to need to bring more. It’s going to need a serious effort.”
A third county crown for Erne Gaels, with their only previous triumphs coming way back in 1979 and 1981, would mean so much to the people of Belleek, says Lyons:
“It would be massive. There are a lot of people have their own individual battles off the pitch, families and stuff going on, which brings football into perspective.
“The joy it would bring… it’s a small place. We’ve won a Division One, won an Intermediate title, been to county finals – it’s been an unbelievable time in the town.
“To get over the line, not just for the 30 boys on the panel and the management, but for the people in the village, it would be absolutely brilliant and absolute carnage at the same time.”
