McGurn sparkles as Belnaleck cruise to comfortable win

Belnaleck secured an eleven-point home win against Lisnaskea Emmetts with a dominant first half performance paving the way to victory. They held a 12-point margin at the break with Darragh McGurn in sparkling form throughout. He hit 1-09 over the course of the game with his goal coming in the opening half. Darragh McBrien had raised the first green flag for the home side to put four points between the sides early on and Lisnaskea never really recovered from McGurn’s goal which came on the 15-minute mark.

For Belnaleck manager, Colm Bradley, the win was welcome given their defeat at the hands of Maguiresbridge earlier in the week:

“We were very disappointed with losing to Maguiresbridge. We missed a lot of chances, didn’t close the game out and didn’t deserve to get anything from it in the end,” he said before adding:

“The performance against Lisnaskea was much better. We moved the ball well but there were still times I felt we needed to be more clinical and we went to sleep a little in the last ten minutes to let them in for 1-03 or 1-04.”

For Lisnsakea player coach Daniel Kille it was a difficult day at the office:

“Belnaleck are very pacy up front and we found that difficult to deal with. We have a lot to work on to be honest. We are missing a few players and haven’t had a lot of luck with injuries but we have to be better than what we were on Saturday. We have Derrylin on Friday and we will be looking to improve on that performance.”

Mark Little and Sean Keenan had points for the visitors in the first half while at the other end Ciaran McBrien, McGurn and Bryan Owens were all on target.

Lisnaskea started the second half well with Little and Keenan adding scores and Tom Clarke dangerous from midfield with his powerful running. But Belnaleck came back with Darragh McBrien clipping over a 50’ and McGurn adding more from play before Ciaran McBrien hit his side’s third goal of the game.

In the final ten minutes Lisnaskea hit 1-04 of the final 1-06 in this game as it petered towards its inevitable conclusion. Clarke got his side’s goal at the end of a flowing move as he palmed to the empty net and substitute Garbhan McManus contributing two points to their cause.

For the losers Mark McKenna and Clarke had their moments while further forward Sean Keenan enjoyed a good battle with Feargal Keenan and Mark Little also looked dangerous at times.

Belnaleck had strong performers all over the pitch with Ronan Quigley and Peter Monaghan catching the eye in an impressive defensive display while Duwayne McNulty put in a solid shift in the middle of the field. In attack McGurn was best but was ably assisted by the other five forwards on show.

The win keeps Belnaleck in second place, two points behind Newtownbutler while for Lisnsakea the chances of a return to the top flight look particularly forlorn as they sit five points off a place in the top four.

For the Art McMurrough’s manager it is a case of one game at a time for the remainder of the season:

“We have six league games left now and it is important we take each one of those on their own merits. There is no point in looking too far down the line. Six games is a third of the season so we still have a long way to go and I expect a fair few twists and turns before the top four is settled. A number of teams outside of it at the moment will fancy their chances,” Bradley explained.