Reihill pleased with win as Gaels progress

Enniskillen Gaels produced a strong performance as they saw off Division One side Kinawley to book their place in the semi-final of the Intermediate Championship in Derrygonnelly on Saturday evening.

John Reihill's side had the better of things for the majority of the contest and went in at the break with a four point lead, 0-06 to 0-02, which possibly should have been greater.

They were though rocked when Kinawley closed to within a point when Ruairi Corrigan finished from the penalty spot eight minutes into the second half but Enniskillen regrouped and finished strongly with Eoin Beacom's penalty helping them to a deserving six point win.

Reihill was pleased with the reaction of his young side following Kinawley's goal.

"It was nice to win, especially against a team who have done fairly well in Division One. I thought we generally played well and I was also pleased with the response to their goal. We have a young side but they didn't let it affect them and that was good while the experience of the likes of Richie O'Callaghan was important," he said.

O'Callaghan lined out at full forward, a tactic which worked well, and he was an influential figure right from the outset as Enniskillen won the throw up and went long with O'Callaghan winning the ball before turning and slotting over.

Kinawley were wasteful with a couple of early opportunities but it was Enniskillen who were on top and Eoin Beacom drilled over a long range free before Paddy Reihill landed a point from distance to make it 0-03 to 0-00 to the Division Two outfit.

Kinawley finally opened their account in the 13th minute with a well struck Aaron O'Reilly free but Enniskillen were close to further stretching their lead when O'Callaghan got on the end of another ball to get through on goal but his effort hit the post, much to the Brian Borus relief.

Enniskillen though were to push on as a Beacom free, a good point from Gavin McGinn and a fisted point from Johnny Cassidy extended the their advantage out to five points, 0-06 to 0-01.

Kinawley had the last say of the half when Shaun Doherty knocked over a free but at the break they found themselves four points adrift.

And it was back to a five point game early in the second half as Beacom tagged on another score from a free to make it 0-07 to 0-02 although Kinawley did answer this as Doherty slipped in Sean McManus who blasted over the bar.

O'Callaghan continued to give the Brian Borus defence a torrid time as a foul on him close to goal gave Sean McAleer the simple task of tapping over the free but a good effort from Sean McManus kept Kinawley within four points.

And it appeared that the game might be about to swing Kinawley's way as they netted the first goal of the game to trim the gap back to the minimum.

The Brian Borus intercepted a loose hand pass as Enniskillen looked to work the ball out of defence and as Ruairi Corrigan got in on goal he was hauled down by Conor Carney who received a black card for his troubles.

Corrigan then dusted himself down to convert the subsequent penalty to all of a sudden leave a single point separating the sides.

Having looked in control, Enniskillen now found themselves in a battle and with a youthful side it could have slipped away from them.

However, they dug in and Beacom clipped over a superb free from an acute angle near the right hand sideline to put them two ahead.

Kinawley again replied as O'Reilly rattled over a wonderful point as the game moved into the final ten minutes.

Over the next five minutes though the Gaels were to put the game to bed as Beacom converted his fifth point from a free before they then sliced open the Kinawley defence and Matthew Dixon was upended with referee Gerry McLaughlin awarding a second penalty of the tie.

Beacom stepped up and finished with aplomb as Enniskillen pushed into a 1-10 to 1-05 lead.

Michael Dooris then tagged on a point to put the game beyond Kinawley as Enniskillen pushed into a six point advantage.

Kinawley did have points from Rory McAloon and Sean McManus but the goal they needed was not to arrive as Enniskillen coped well under the high ball and in added on time the lively Johnny Cassidy and Daniel Keenan fired over points to leave six in it at the final whistle.