Enniskillen and Clogher Valley meet in their first league derby clash of the season on Saturday with both sides hoping a victory will kick start their seasons. 
Enniskillen coach Willie Gibson reckons his side are ready for the challenge. “We aren’t too sure what Clogher are going to come with because they have a new coach in place and it’s going to change slightly their tactics, but we are going to make them worry about us and not the other way around,” he said. “We have to play our own game but we know it’s not going to be easy. The boys have it in them, it’s just whether we can show it on the day. Clogher are a good side and they have been ten years in that league without any issues. They have just had a couple of bad years but we know they still have it and we have to show them respect. They are not going to lie down. They are a good honest hard working side and we have to be the same to get anywhere near them.”
The Enniskillen coach is hopeful that his side can bring their best form into the game, and that unlike some previous games this season their efforts will be rewarded with a win. “The boys are working hard but maybe not getting the rewards they expect from it,” he reflected. “Things just haven’t clicked so far. Maybe when the boys know each other a bit better those mistakes won’t happen. It’s just the massive changes that have happened take time to recover from, and I think Clogher have suffered from the same thing. There has been so many changes from the previous year that it was always going to be that way. A couple of games that should have went our way haven’t and that’s the way it’s been so far. We are by no means downtrodden and we don’t look like a side that is in the position we are in, but we have maybe made mistakes at the wrong time and we have suffered from it.”
Clogher Valley coach David Black is hopeful that having just secured their first win of the season over Carrickfergus, they can extend their winning run with a victory over their local rivals. “We were delighted to get that monkey off our back,” he admitted. “The boys have been working really hard and I felt the result was coming. We maybe didn’t get the breaks we needed in the few games coming up to that but certainly the improvement was coming week after week so to get that first win in gives us a positive outlook at the minute. I always felt if we could get that first win then we could kick on.”
With only one win separating the sides in the table it is expected to be a close encounter, but the Clogher Valley coach reckons it will come down to desire. “It will be down to want,” he said. “A derby is always down to who wants it more and who is prepared to put their body on the line the most, and that is where the game will be won and lost. That is where it will rest on Saturday. Enniskillen are maybe like ourselves in that they didn’t get the results they felt they deserved, but I feel in that league any team can beat anyone else. Come Saturday it will be just about the two of us and nobody else and if you look at the table positions and league form we would be going in as underdogs. Home advantage for them is a big thing as well so we feel we will be going in as underdogs with nothing to lose on Saturday. We are looking forward to it. It will be a good Christmas spectacle and a good sporting occasion for the area to have two local teams competing. With the points difference having closed slightly with our recent win it adds even more to it and it will definitely be a good game.”