Derrygonnelly joint manager Brendan Rasdale was magnanimous in defeat as the Harps hopes of six in a row were ended by Ederney at Brewster Park on Sunday.
Rasdale was disappointed that his side did not get to the levels they are capable of but was also full of praise for the victors.
“We have absolutely no complaints about the result,” he said.
“You will always have regrets because Derrygonnelly didn’t get to the level of performance that people usually see from us, and I felt we were a bit sheepish for whatever reason for about 40 minutes of the game.
“We committed and threw the kitchen sink at it after that which is the least I would expect from that group of fellas but I would be perfectly willing to acknowledge that Ederney got a great level of intensity going from after the point of the penalty.
“They got going and got fired up and never looked back. I have to say they are a worthy winners and we as a club don’t begrudge them their championship one bit. We are disappointed with ourselves but it is sport and you have to acknowledge good winners too,” he said.
Derrygonnelly struggled in the final third over the course of the hour plus of play with Ederney closing down any space they had to operate in.
“Ederney learned their lessons from previous games against us and they left no space at the back.
“They were very effective in getting the 13 or 14 back there and they denied us any space in trying to find passes inside and then they pushed out on us when we were looking to work things from outside the 45.
“Then they were ferocious in their tackling and they broke at great speed. Towards the tail end of the game when they broke they looked dangerous but we had committed so many men forward that that was maybe inevitable.”
However, Rasdale is in no doubt that this current group of Harps players will be back challenging for championship titles.
“Those lads have given fantastic performances in championship football for five years on the bounce and in fact even this year again they delivered two really good championship performances but they just didn’t deliver a third one.
“I think with the profile of the panel and maybe if we can recalibrate one or two bits of our play, Derrygonnelly will be a competitive team in championship for the next few years, I have no doubt about that in my mind,” he said.
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