Before their first round win over Newtownbutler, Irvinestown had not won a Championship game since their last triumph in the competition in 2015.

With that monkey off their back they can now look forward to their first final appearance in three years when they take on Belnaleck in this Sunday’s final at Brewster Park.

It was a comfortable seven point win against Newtownbutler and this was followed up with a one point win against Division One rivals Donagh in which they hit 1-08 in the last 15 minutes.

Things were not going very well for Irvinestown in the semi final as they were six points down after 10 minutes of the second half. However, with the benefit of an extra man they fought back to secure their place in the decider.

Wing half back Kevin McDonnell has put in a string of impressive performances for Irvinestown in the Championship and was to the fore in kick-starting his sides comeback the last day out against Donagh scoring three points.

After his exploits on the Saturday evening he went to watch the second semi final and was impressed with what he saw and is expecting a physical encounter against this Belnaleck side.

“I was very impressed with them. They get men behind the ball and are hard to break down. They turned Enniskillen over numerous times. It’s going to be a tough, tight game and we will have to bring our best and improve on our performance the last day to win.

“If we don’t use the ball well, Belnaleck have the physicality to turn us over and we will have to match their aggression.”

The 25 year old knows that while both teams are playing in different divisions it will count for very little when the ball is thrown in on Sunday afternoon.

His side had a disappointing league campaign which saw them finish in the bottom four and a potential drop to Division Two is still a possibility.

But with the return of some important players, Kevin says things are going well in the lead up to the final as they ramp up their preparations.

“Teams in Division Two have probably got a bit of momentum and are winning more games than they are losing whereas in Division One around the bottom you have probably lost more games.

“There is not much in it between the bottom of Division One and top of Division Two.

“It’s just good to be back in the final. We had a lot of players missing and going into the championship we weren’t really sure what to expect but once we got over the first game against Newtown we got a bit of momentum and carried it into the semi final against Donagh.

“We have got numbers back and training has been intense the last few weeks.

“We knew not to take anything for granted. We went in more focussed and probably because the league hadn’t went so well we weren’t going into it with any major ambitions. We just took it one game at a time so there is no complacency this year,” added Kevin.

Kevin hopes that momentum continues on Sunday for his side as they try and add another year on to Belnaleck’s wait for an Intermediate title.