Four teams left in New York Cup chase

Editorial Department • Published 26 Aug 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Devenish’s Anthony McGuinness gets a hand to the ball in his Man of the Match performance against Newtown last Sunday.

Quinn Insurance Senior Football Championship

The make up of the Quinn Insurance SFC semi-finals was decided last weekend with Roslea, Devenish, St. Patrick’s and Enniskillen all booking their places in the last four in the race for the New York Cup.

Roslea produced a strong second half showing to overcome a stubborn Teemore side in Lisnaskea last Saurday evening, 0-13 to 0-07, while on Sunday Devenish got off to a flying start which helped them past Newtown.

And those two were joined by the Division Two duo of St. Pat’s and Enniskillen, St. Pat’s having four points to spare against St. Joseph’s and Enniskillen needing a late flurry of scores to take them past Erne Gaels.

The draw for the semi-final took place after Enniskillen’s victory over Erne Gaels and it pitted Devenish against St. Pat’s with Roslea taking on Enniskillen in the other semi-final.

Roslea manager Peter McGinnity had watched his side produce a sparkling performance in the previous round against Belcoo but they had a tougher task against Teemore before finally securing the win.

“We always knew it would be a tough game as it always is against Teemore. No matter how well you are playing you still have to deal with them as they never give up and play right to the final whistle. They are the type of side who always stick in there and I was just happy to get the win,” said McGinnity.

Seamus Quigley was again the main source of scores for Roslea, notching seven points for his side, including a couple of fine second half efforts as Roslea put the game to bed.

However, McGinnity was thankful for a terrific save by goalkeeper Sean Boyle at the start of the second half when there was only three points between the sides.

“It was a fine save and it was important because if it had gone in you just don’t know what might have happened.”

A semi-final against Enniskillen now awaits, and McGinnity is expecting to face a stronger Enniskillen side than the one that narrowly defeated Erne Gaels.

“They were missing quite a few players on Sunday night and they will be better the next day. They are also very experienced and that will count as well,” he said.

Enniskillen manager Gerry Love acknowledges that his side will be underdogs on September 12 when they come up against the favourites for the title.

“It will be a different type of game and it will be difficult. We will be going in as underdogs and it is a big challenge but we always respond well to a challenge. What I will say is that the players in our dressing room are looking forward to it,” commented Love.

Love’s side looked like they could make their exit on Sunday night but they finished the game very well with five unanswered points and Love was pleased with the second half display from his side.

“We went into the game without a number of players and with some players carrying injuries and I thought we were loose in the first half but I thought we were excellent in the second half. We were more focussed and kept the ball well when we were down to 14 men,” he stated.

St. Pat’s will be looking to return to another final, having won the New York Cup in 2008, when they take on Devenish in the semi-final. Manager Ferghal Wray felt it took his side time to get up to speed against St. Joseph’s and states that they will have to improve if they are to get the better of the Garrison outfit.

“We’re just glad to get through. It was tough for us to get used to the step up in pace that you get when you play a Division One side. We are very aware that we are going to have to step it up against Devenish. They are a top three side in Division One and had a number of players in the county set up this year and that will have brought them on,” he said.

When they did find their feet, the Donagh side were able to produce some good periods of football.

“There was a ten minute spell in the second half when we used the ball quicker and scored a series of points which was vital. It is good to be back in the semi-final but we know that there is a lot of work to be done,” he added.

Devenish raced into a nine point lead inside the opening ten minutes against Newtown and joint manager Bart O’Brien thought that was the key to them winning the game.

“Definitely that opening ten minutes was vital for us and was probably the winning of the game as we didn’t score for 30 odd minutes after that. The one pleasing thing for us was when it really counted, when Newtown got back into the game, we were able to step it up and put daylight between the sides again,” he said.

However, O’Brien is wary of the challenge that St. Pat’s will pose when the sides meet for a place in the final.

“We would hope to go one better than last year and get to the final but we know that St. Pat’s won’t be easy. They have the experience of having won a championship a couple of years ago and are going to be difficult to beat.”

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 26 Aug 10

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