Performance pleases Reihill as Gaels claim Division Two title

Enniskillen Gaels produced a strong closing 20 minutes to secure the Division Two title in Derrygonnelly on Saturday evening.

With both sides having secured promotion by reaching the final, the pressure was off to a degree although both showed a desire to go up as champions over the course of the contest.

It was Enniskillen who led 1-03 to 0-03 at the break with John Reihill’s goal late in the half dividing the sides.

However, the momentum seemed to swing the way of Teemore in the early stages of the second half as the Gaels lost the influential Richard O’Callaghan to a black card before the Shamrocks quickly added the opening two points of the period to close to within a point.

Enniskillen though regained the upperhand and they rattled off a string of points before Conor McShea netted to put the game out of Teemore’s reach.

“The main aim for us this year was promotion and then see how we got on in the championship. We did alright in the Championship, we lost to the winners, but for us the league was the important one and we’re delighted to have got promotion.

“It was nice then to finish up with silverware on Saturday by winning the final and it wraps up a good year for the club with the Reserves winning the Championship and obviously the minors winning the Ulster title on New Year’s Day. Of course, those minors are now the basis of the young senior side that we have now,” said Gaels manager John Reihill.

And Reihill was pleased with his side’s performance against an experienced Teemore side.

“We lost Richard to a black card and Teemore came back at us after that for a period but we got back on top and that second half performance was particularly pleasing as they would be a more experienced side than us,” added Reihill.

The game was slow to get going but it was Teemore who landed the first score through Eoin McManus before Eoin Beacom replied with a point from a free for the Gaels.

Enniskillen went on to enjoy the better of the exchanges in the first half but at times they lacked composure in the final third as they wasted a number of scoring chances.

At the other end, Ryan Maguire nudged Teemore back in front midway through the half but Enniskillen responded with a point from play by Conor McAleer and another Beacom free.

The sides were level for a third time when Cian McManus got forward to point for the Shamrocks but the key score was to arrive five minutes before the interval. Conall Quinn got through on goal and although his initial effort was blocked, the ball rebounded to John Reihill who calmly popped it into the back of the net to put Enniskillen into a 1-03 to 0-03 half time lead.

The loss of O’Callaghan was a blow for the Gaels in the opening moments of the second half and with Barry Owens driving on Teemore from midfield, they hit back with scores from Eoin McManus and Damian Lee to leave it a one point game.

However, Enniskillen, with Ryan McCluskey a dominant figure at full back, Brandon Horan beginning to have a big influence in the middle of the park and Matthew Dixon and John Reihill starting to see a lot of the ball, wrestled back control and a sparkling spell of five points in six minute put them firmly in charge of the contest.

Good work by Horan saw McAleer land Enniskillen’s first point of the half and McAleer was to tag on two frees while Michael Dooris and Callum Jones hit points from play to make it 1-08 to 0-05 in Enniskillen’s favour as the game moved into the final quarter.

Eoin McManus did fire over a free for Teemore but a fine point from Reihill was followed by a goal by McShea to put the Gaels nine clear entering the final five minutes.

Indeed, a cracking point from Horan further increased the gap and although Teemore finished with the final three points from Ryan Maguire and two McManus frees, they made no difference to the outcome as Enniskillen deservedly claimed the victory as they rounded off their season with the Division Two title.