Young Harps progress to set up Cross semi

With the sides tied at 0-03 to 0-03 at half time it was to be Derrygonnelly who emerged as deserved winners in this quarter final tie in the Spirit of Paul McGirr Under 16 Ulster Championship.
Speaking after the game Harps manager Anthony Greene was obviously delighted with the win and a place in the semi final against Crossmaglen this Saturday;
“We are very pleased with how we performed. It was a very good second half performance but I think the foundation was laid in the first half,” he explained before adding;
“It is a first for the club to win a game in Ulster at under 16 and I think the experience that we had from last year really stood to us.”
The game was of the low scoring variety with the sides sharing six points between them in the first half. 
On each occasion the Fermanagh lads would edge their noses in front only for Gaoth Dobhair to restore parity. 
Rian McGovern and Leigh Green were both on target for the Harps with Eoin Magee, who had replaced the injured Conor McGovern, also splitting the posts with an excellent effort.
Eamon Gallagher was on target twice for Gaoth Dobhair with the impressive Kyle Duggan the other point scorer in the open 30 minutes.
The Derrygonnelly defence had been superb in that first half and they were to get even better in the second half holding the Donegal boys to just a single score. 
Green at full back along with Darragh Burke were exceptional with the latter going on to win the man of the match award.
McGovern and Duggan traded scores in the opening eight minutes to once again have the sides all square but from that moment it was to be the young Harps who would dominate proceedings.
 McGovern was again the man to raise the white flag with an excellent free kick. The score remained 0-05 to 0-04 until the final five minutes at which point Derrygonnely hit a flurry of late scores. Gareth McGovern with a fine individual effort was on target first with Cian Corrigan repeating the trick moments later.
Conor Burns added an eighth point for the Harps deep into injury time to leave four between the sides and there was time for one last piece of late drama with Lee Skuce in the Derrygonnelly goal pulling off a tremendous save.
This was a highly polished performance from the Fermanagh champions. Gaoth Dobhair had beaten St Eunan’s Letterkenny, who were Ulster champions last year at this level, in the Donegal final and were full of confidence for this encounter. In the end though it was a deserved win for the Harps.
It is onwards and upwards for Derrygonnelly and manager Greene is looking forward to the challenge of facing off against one of the premier club sides in Ulster;
“We watched Crossmaglen in their quarter final and they are a very strong side. They are physical, probably not as physical as Gaoth Dobhair but still a physical side, and they are very comfortable on the ball. 
“It is fantastic for us to have reached the semi final and we have great confidence at the moment and we want to test ourselves against all these big club teams,” the Harps boss explained before concluding;
“It is a big weekend for the club for the Under 16s and the seniors. Two Ulster semi finals in one weekend doesn’t happen too often.”