Devenish College 4 Drumragh Integrated 2

The show piece final of the F&WSFA season took place at Fisher Park in Ballinamallard in cold but favourable conditions.

With both teams playing an attacking style of football it made for an entertaining spectacle.

The Fermanagh boys got off to a great start moving the ball quickly and an Adam Williams shot hit the outside of the post after five minutes. Alex Brownlee nodded the ball just wide minutes later from a corner and Alex Magee had a chance which sailed just over the bar.

Drumragh were effective on the counter attack with their best opportunity falling to Ciaran O’Reilly who sent the ball just over the bar from 12 yards.

This lifted the Omagh side and they took the lead when their midfielder capitalised on a defensive error to place a shot just beyond Jack Carroll’s reach.

This brought a positive response from Devenish who found an extra gear with Nicky Collen becoming difficult to handle down the right wing, forcing a great save from the Drumragh keeper, Alex Nesbitt, with the rebound just slipping behind Jay Taylor who was in on goal.

Devenish equalised in the last minute of the first half, after a number of shots had been blocked, however Drumragh failed to clear their line and Nicky Collen was on hand to finish smartly to bring the half-time score to 1-1.

There was no let up for the Drumragh side in a dominant period for the Fermanagh boys who created a number of chances on goal, only to be frustrated by good goal keeping from Alex Nesbitt. Collen continued to be difficult to contain and he put Ethan Thompson in on goal who fired a powerful shot just past the keeper.

Alex Magee kept the pressure on creating a chance for Ethan Thompson to score his second, who hit a firmly struck shot on the turn giving Nesbitt no chance.

With 15 minutes remaining Drumragh were awarded a free kick 35 yards from goal. O’Reilly hit the resulting free kick with an unstoppable shot which found the top corner, a goal which any top flight player would have been proud of, to bring the score to 3-2.

With new found belief Drumragh went on the offensive however the Devenish back four of Scott Amos, Tim Magee, Alex Brownlee and Scott Wallace remained resolute. As the clock ran down and Drumragh pushed forward, Ethan Thompson completed his hat-trick using the extra space behind to score the decisive goal to allow the Devenish supporters and coaches to enjoy the final minutes.

Devenish College were delighted to bring home the McKee Cup on the 60th anniversary of this competition and the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Fermanagh and Western Schools’ Association.