Derrygonnelly manager Martin Greene felt the strength in depth of his squad has been key to them as they recorded back to back senior championship titles for the first time.
The Harps have lost big players in Tiarnan Daly and Eamon McHugh, both of who have have been part of Pete McGrath’s Fermanagh squad, due to injury this season but Greene believes that those who have come in have fitted in seamlessly.
“We were missing Eamon McHugh and Tiarnan Daly and they are big losses because they are quality players but it just shows you the strength of squad that we have.
“I don’t think we were getting enough credit, we were missing a number of players but it was all about the squad and those that came in worked at it. 
“We had Shane McGullion and Dennis Greene who came in and maybe played different positions than they are used to but they have been excellent. 
“We had Maurice Cassidy and Kevin Cassidy come in during the second half and they won a bit of ball and showed composure. Kevin Cassidy is coming 42 but he is still an amazing footballer. It’s back to back titles, and we’ve earned our credit today,” said Greene.
Winning back to back titles for the first time in the club’s history has been a driving force for the Harps all year and was something that Greene has spoken about over the course of the campaign as being the big goal.
“We’ve won championships through the years and the next year we have got beaten in the first round. We wanted to go out this year and first of all win our first round match and then take every game as it comes. We know we have a talented bunch of players and they know that if they work hard then anything is possible,” commented Greene.
The Derrygonnelly manager couldn’t hide his pride in his players after the game as they showed great character to comeback from the concession of the only goal of the game to rattle off the final three points of the tie to secure a one point victory.
“I’m immensely proud of the players,” he stated. “The guys dug in during the last ten minutes and showed that wee bit of drive, they didn’t want to lose. They worked so hard and they got us over the line, fair play to them.
“Belleek had come back with the goal but it probably lifted us a wee bit. You ask questions of yourself but over those last ten minutes we started to win a bit of ball around the middle. 
“Ryan Jones, Leigh Jones, Deccy Cassidy; how he hit that point with one leg I’ll never know but that just shows you the character of our team.”
As Greene mentioned, Ryan Jones was one of the players who really stood up to the plate as Derrygonnelly found a response in the final stages although his performance was no surprise to his manager.
“Ryan expects a lot of himself and so do we. He’s the leader of this team, he is an exceptional footballer and we are just glad to have him.”
The seniors win wrapped up a wonderful day for the Harps who also claimed the U16 title with victory over Enniskillen Gaels in the curtain raiser. And Greene says that was a boost for his players ahead of the game.
“The U16 win lifted us as soon as we came out we seen them celebrating and it’s great for the cubs. It’s a brilliant day for the parish and all the families, it’s a wonderful occasion,” he said.
Last year’s final was played under the shadow of the death of Derrygonnelly stalwart Damian McGovern and it was his first anniversary mass on Sunday. Greene says that his players were determined to win for the McGovern family.
“It is a special day for us with Damian’s first year anniversary and the boys didn’t want to lie down they wanted to make the McGovern family proud,” he said.
That’s one trophy in the bag for the Harps but their season is far from over with a league semi-final as well as an Ulster Club campaign to come.
“We’ll celebrate this for a day or two and then we have a league semi-final coming up and that should be another intriguing affair.
With regards the Ulster Club, we’ll have to do things different than we did last year. We only had a week to prepare last year but we’ll prepare right this time and we’ll see where that takes us,” stated Greene.