Derrygonnelly and Devenish will lock horns in the first of the Quinn Building Products Fermanagh Senior Football Championships tomorrow night (Friday). The game, which is a repeat of last year’s final, will get underway at 8.00 pm in Brewster Park.

Derrygonnelly were winners on that occasion and they will be the bookies favourites for this encounter. The Harps had seven points to spare in the championship decider last year and in the opening round this season saw off Roslea by double scores, keeping the Shamrocks scoreless from play for the entire game.

Reflecting on that performance dashing wing forward Leigh Jones said that there were still areas of improvement for his side:

“I think we were very happy with the win and maybe not so happy with certain aspects of the performance. Defensively, we were quite solid and to keep a team scoreless from play is always good but I think that we can definitely get better in attack,” Jones explained.

The prospect of Derrygonnelly, who have won all 19 competitive games they have played this year in league and championship, getting better would strike fear in to most but for Devenish and Terry O’Flanagan it is a case of having a healthy dose of respect for the county champions, rather than any trepidation:

“They are a very good team and have been the best in the county for a good few years. We know we will have to be at our absolute best to give ourselves the best chance of win. We respect Derrygonnelly but we don’t fear them. If you go in to any game fearing the opposition you may as well not take the field.”

Looking back to last years final there is a deep sense of frustration for O’Flanagan:

“We would have been very disappointed with how we played in the final last year. We just didn’t perform and that was frustrating,” he explained before going on to talk about the expectation that exists when you pull on those famous blue and white jerseys of the St Mary’s club.

“Every generation of Devenish player has their championship medals, but we don’t and that is something that we want to put right. Getting to a final is all well and good but we want our own championship and we have to deliver on that.”

While Devenish have the storied history going back to the early 60’s, for Derrygonnelly, their first championship success was in 1995. They have won another five since and have been in irresistible form this season, winning all 18 league games before dispatching Roslea in the opening round of the championship. But, according to Jones, there is no sense of any pressure building on the Harps as they look to go unbeaten in Fermanagh:

“I think we are pretty good at managing our own expectations and we have just parked the league now. It is a new competition now and it is all about the championship and that is what we are concentrating on,” he explained.

Derrygonnelly reached the Ulster club semi final last season and only went down to Cavan Gaels after a replay and Jones admits that while attention is firmly focused on Fermanagh the Ulster arena is something he and his teammates are hungry for:

“There is no point in lying. We want to get back there and we think that squad wise we have more strength and depth this year which would help us. But Fermanagh is what we are concentrating on and getting to another final is our only priority at the moment.”

Derrygonnelly are too seasoned and experienced to take any opposition for granted and they will have Devenish very much in their crosshairs. For the Garrison men they will know that they have to be firing on all cylinders in order to dethrone the champions. It is a tall order but one that Devenish are no doubt relishing, especially after last year’s final defeat.