Enniskillen 5-13 Devenish 2-08

Enniskillen Gaels hit five goals as they bounced back from a heavy loss at the hands of Kinawley on Wednesday night with a resounding victory over Devenish in Brewster Park on Sunday.

The Gaels took control of the contest midway through the first half and by the break they had plundered four goals and had a couple of further opportunities to add to that.

An understrength Devenish side did continue to battle and bagged two goals of their own but Enniskillen were in command throughout the second half to record a convincing victory.

Enniskillen coach Simon Bradley was pleased with the response of his side to the defeat to Kinawley.

“”We would be very happy to have bounced back after the disappointing performance against Kinawley when we didn’t show up but you have to take that in contest, Kinawley are a very good side and they showed that against Derrygonnelly on Sunday.

“We are also conscious that Devenish were missing several players but from our perspective it was a confidence boosting win.

“Look, I would imagine that we will have a tougher test on Sunday against Roslea but hopefully we can get a similar performance in terms of commitment and effort,” he said.

Devenish joint manager Sid Mulrone explains that they took the opportunity to rest some players after two tough games.

“We had tough games against Roslea and Belnaleck so we wanted to give some players a break and we also needed to get a look at some of the younger lads to see how they would get on against a physical Division One side.

“With no relegation you can try these things out this year which is good. I was though very impressed with the Gaels, they are physically strong and they took their chances,” added Mulrone, whose side face Tempo this Sunday.

The home side welcomed Brandon Horan back for his first game of the season after injury and along with Eoin Beacom he gave them a solid platform in the middle of the park while their forward line was a threat throughout.

There was little between the sides though in the opening quarter. Beacom netted the opening goal of the game in the sixth minute when he collected a flick on by Richard O’Callaghan before firing past Tom Treacy in the Devenish goal.

However, Devenish hit back with a goal of their own as Conor McGowan palmed to net after the ball had come back off the crossbar.

With the sides level at 1-01 apiece though Enniskillen took over and Jonny Cassidy accounted for their second goal as he stormed through the heart of the defence before planting a shot to the net.

Indeed, it could have been worse for Devenish as Treacy pulled off a save to deny John Reihill before Barry Mulrone fired over from distance at the other end to make it 2-01 to 1-02.

A third goal did arrive for the Gaels though moments later with full forward O’Callaghan this time the scorer, playing a one-two with Reihill and tucking the ball beyond Treacy.

Devenish swept down the pitch for Martin Doherty to land a good point but Enniskillen were finding it all too easy to add to their tally with Conor Love firing over two good points from play before the same player rounded his marker and stroked home goal number four to leave it 4-04 to 1-03 at the interval.

The sides traded points early in the second half with Neil McDermott on target for the home side and Joe O’Brien the scorer for Devenish while Sean Treacy also added a point for the Garrison men.

However, the Gaels notched six of the next seven points to pull further clear.

Reihill, O’Callaghan (2), Timmy Boyd, Horan and McDermott all tagged on points to make it 4-11 to 1-06.

Tom Treacy did step up to convert a couple of long range frees for Devenish while Jamie Flanagan registered their second goal with a close range finish.

It was merely a consolation score though at that stage and the home side wrapped things up with their fifth goal as Ryan McGandy tucked home a penalty after he had been fouled.