Titanic clash of last year's Fermanagh's finalists the tie of the weekend

The undoubted clash of the opening weekend of the Senior Football Championship will take place on Sunday at Brewster Park with a 1.45pm throw in. Derrygonnelly and Erne Gaels will cross swords in a repeat of last year’s county final.
On that occasion the Harps won out in a tight game and secured back to back titles in the process.
Going on league form the two have been the best teams to date in 2017 and this promises to be a brilliant encounter.
For Erne Gaels manager, Maurice McLaughlin, he is under no illusions that his side face the best team in the county;
“Derrygonnelly are the benchmark. They are the team everyone else has to measure themselves against. I think they have a brilliant management team too and I am surprised there has not been more talk about Archie Greene as a potential Fermanagh manager, I think he has done a terrific job,” McLaughlin said before turning his attention to his own side;
“The mood is good and this is the time of year that everyone looks forward to and these are the types of matches we want to be playing in so everyone is looking forward to the game on Sunday.”
For Derrygonnelly manager Archie Greene the respect flows both ways;
“Erne Gaels are a very good side, very quick and very well set up as well and we also know that they are going to be really hungry so we have to be at our very best,” the former Fermanagh player explained before addressing the topic of whether or not his own team will have the hunger to go for three in a row;
“Well from everything that I have seen and from the attitude of the players so far they seem to be as hungry as ever,” revealed Greene who has enjoyed unstoppable success with the Harps for the last two years.
The game promises to be intriguing in a number of different areas.
The play of the Kelm brothers, Ultan and Oisin have added significantly to the Erne Gaels defence while Ryan Lyons at midfield is one of the smartest operators in that sector in the county.
In attack the Gaels have some top class performers in Tommy McCaffrey and Seamus Ryder who form a perfect foil of speed and guile that is a handful for any defence.
They look like a team primed to make a breakthrough but to do so they will have to beat the seasoned Harps.
Derrygonnelly are a side who do the basics very well and they have real class all over the pitch. Michael Jones is as good a man marker as there is in the county and with Eamon McHugh returning to the fold along with Declan Cassidy they have a formidable defence.
Ryan Jones is also back in the mix around the middle of the field after an injury lay off and he adds so much to the Harps both going forward and as a physical presence.
In attack, the evergreen Paul Ward still makes the county champions tick but in the likes of Leigh Jones and Shane McGullion they have real quality to assist Ward which will be needed.
A titanic struggle, therefore, awaits on Sunday with the winners no doubt taking a huge step towards claiming the much coveted New York Cup which has been in the hands of the Derrygonnelly Harps for the last two years.