Erne Gaels 1-13 Enniskillen Gaels 1-09
Erne Gaels bridged a 43-year gap by taking their third Fermanagh SFC club title amid joyous scenes in Brewster Park.
Their last victory was in 1981 when Seanie McCaffrey took the New York Cup to Belleek.
The winners showed immense character in coming back from a five-point deficit to emerge worthy winners by four points.
Enniskillen Gaels lost Richard O'Callaghan to a red card midway through the second half and the victors tagged on the winning scores from man of the match Ultan Kelm and sub Seamie Ryder.
It looked bleak for Belleek as Enniskillen Gaels raced into a 1-05 to 0-03 lead at the end of the first quarter and they also lost their centre-back Brian Mullin while full-forward Shane Rooney was black-carded.
The goal was a magnificent strike from corner-forward Conor Love who hit a corker to the roof of the net in the 14th minute
They had points from Conall Quinn, Love, and Ethan Beresford and Erne Gaels replied through Ultan Kelm, Aogan Kelm and Tommy McCaffrey.
But Enniskillen failed to score for another 16 minutes as Belleek stormed back into the game with points from the impressive Kelm brothers.
They struck for the vital score of the game when a Rooney cross was flicked on by Ryan Lyons to Michael Óg McGarrigle who guided the ball to the net to put the Gaels into a 1-06 to 1-05 lead at the break.
They increased that lead on the restart with a fine point from Shane Rooney, but this was negated by Brandon Horan.
Kelm put two points between the sides from a free
It was then Enniskillen lost their discipline and were reduced to 13 men. Eoin Beacom was black-carded and Richie O’Callagahn was red-carded as Belleek led by 1-09 to 1-08.
But they steamed clear in the final minutes with points from Kelm, and subs Barry McCann and veteran Seamie Ryder.
Enniskillen Gaels: Ross Bogue; Jack Tierney, Nathan Tierney, Josh Horan; Ethan Beresford (0-01) Conall Quinn (0-01), Ciaran Smith; Brandon Horan (0-02) Johnny Cassidy; Eoin Beacom, Conor McShea (0-01), Callum Jones (0-01); Conor Love (1-02), Richie O’Callaghan, John Reihill (0-01)
Subs: Codi Halligan for Conor Murphy (35), Cal McAnespy for J Tierney (58)
Erne Gaels: Brian Ryder; Shane Mimna, Jack McCann, Ultan O’Reilly, Oisin Kelm (0-01), Brian Mullin, Ryan Lyons; Michael Óg McGarrigle (1-00) Paul Ward; Dan McCann, Aogan Kelm (0-01), Martin Gilfedder; Thomas McCaffrey (0-01), Shane Rooney (0-03,4f) Ultán Kelm (0-05,2f)
Subs: G McGloin for B Mullin (3 inj), Barry McCann (0-01) for Greg McGloin (38), Odhran Johnson for Martin Gilfedder (53), Seamus Ryder (0-01), for Aogan Kelm (56)
Referee: Eoin Murphy (Derrylin O’Connell’s)
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
