Erne Gaels manager, Maurice McLaughlin was a happy man at the final whistle after his side emerged comfortable winners against Roslea. The Belleek men were on top all over the pitch but their manager was glad of Seamus Ryder’s goal inside the first five minutes.
“I thought we started nervously enough to be honest but the goal definitely settled us down and going in at half time ahead after playing against a strong breeze was obviously very pleasing.”
If Erne Gaels needed a goal to settle the nerves in the first half no such tonic was needed in the second as they took to dismantling the former county champions. 
“In the second half I thought we played good disciplined football. 
“We had spoken beforehand about limiting the opportunities for Roslea and I thought we achieved that while we were also able to create plenty of chances ourselves,” McLaughlin stated.
Turning his attention briefly to the county final the Belleek boss acknowledged that the fact it has been 35 years since Erne Gaels have played in a final will heighten the anticipation around Belleek for the big day.
“There is no getting away from the fact that we are in a county final and there will be hype and all the rest with it, but we have been very good at taking things one game at a time and that is the approach we will have to take again. 
“We will be looking to go back to Brewster Park in a few weeks time and produce a performance that puts us there or thereabouts at the finish,” McLaughlin stated. 
While Erne Gaels will be hoping to land a first New York Cup in 35 years, Derrygonnelly have their sights firmly fixed on making history themselves as they look to become the first side for the club to clinch back-to-back senior titles.
“We are very pleased to have got to the final and it is a great achievement to be back there but we are not just happy to be there, we want to go on and achieve something that we have never achieved before which is back to back titles,” said Harps boss Martin Greene.
If Derrygonnelly are to succeed in that though then they are going to have to be at the top of their game, reckons Greene, who has been impressed with what he has seen from the Belleek outfit.
“We will have to improve in all aspects of our game and we’ll be working hard over the next two and half weeks to iron out any wee things that we see. I have watched Belleek and they are a very strong, physical team. Maurice has them playing to a system that they all understand and are comfortable with so we know that we will have to be at our best as they are a serious team. It is going to be a massive test but we’ll work on our gameplan and prepare as well as we can for it,” commented Greene. 
On Sunday, the Harps proved too strong for neighbours Devenish. After an evenly contested first half, Greene’s side pulled after the break, just as they did in their quarter-final tie against Ederney.
“Our second half performances have been better than the first. I think the boys showed a bit of composure in the second half against the wind. We carried the ball well and I just felt that we began to do things better than we had been in the first half,” he said
And Johnny McGurn’s goal three minutes after half time was the catalyst for them to push on for victory.
“That gave us a bit of momentum and something to build on and we tagged on another point or two at that stage and you could see the boys growing in confidence. We finished strongly and that was good to see.”