Derrygonnelly v Devenish, Friday August 9 at Brewster Park, 7pm
Holders Derrygonnelly will begin their quest for a fifth New York Cup in a row when they get the championship action underway against neighbours Devenish on Friday night at Brewster Park.
The Harps have struggled at times in the league this year but they still made the top four and half back Garvan McGinley states that they are where they they want to be.
“We had a lot of injuries and players who were unavailable during the league and a lot of young players came in so from our perspective we did well to make top four. We have though started to get players back and we are where we want to be at this stage."
The sides have met a number of times in the championship in recent years with Derrygonnelly having held the upperhand on each occasion but McGinley feels that they face a difficult test as they look to get their defence up and running.
“It is always tough against Devenish, you know exactly what you will get from them and we have to be prepared for it,” said McGinley. “Hopefully though we can look after ourselves and get the win.”
Devenish captain Joe O’Brien is in no doubt that they will be the underdog on Friday night and he knows that they can’t afford to be chasing the game.
“Derrygonnelly have set the benchmark for everybody else over the last number of years, they are the Dublin of Fermanagh.
“When we have played them in the last few years they have hit a purple patch in the first half and have been able to keep that gap between the sides so we will be looking to keep it tight to half time and then take it from there,” he said.
O’Brien also believes that it is vital that the Garrison men take their chances when they arrive if they are to have any chance of progressing.
“Efficiency has been one of our problems against Derrygonnelly.
“We have not had a high enough conversion rate and to beat them you have to have that and that’s something we will be targetting on Friday night,” he added.

Prediction: Derrygonnelly