THREE OF THE BEST - Paul Ward

Sunday, October 11, 2015 - Fermanagh SFC Final

Derrygonnelly 3-16 Roslea 3-07

Some games take on extra meaning beyond football, and this was one of those games. 
On Friday, October 2, 2015 – two days before our championship final against Roslea – our club tragically lost one of its greatest club men, in Damian McGovern.
It shook our club and wider community to the core. 
Damian was involved in everything positive about our club and village and was loved and respected by everybody who knew him.
His influence on our club went from top to bottom. From managing teams to being a driving force on our development as a club, his sheer personality rubbed off on everyone. 
A huge number of our squad played under him at one stage or another, and I remember the messages he sent to some of his Minor team who were now playing Senior, heartfelt messages that conveyed his sense of pride in them and his love for Derrygonnelly.

READ MORE: THREE OF THE BEST - James McKenna

A few things stick out. The game was put back by a week, but as a team we weren’t sure how to proceed – do we train, do we leave it a few days?
John, our Chairman, and Damian’s brother, made sure we trained; he felt it was important that we got together and said that we still had a match to win, and that Damy wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
I remember Leanne, his wife, coming up to our training the Friday before the game to talk with us and, for me, that was all we needed – we didn’t need a team talk after that; her courage and strength was enough for us.
Our U-16s were playing in the final before us against Enniskillen, and Damy had two sons playing and the fact these men were able to produce such performances showed unbelievable character, and just how important the GAA was, and is, to the McGovern and McGinley families.

A superb game
The game itself was superb, free-flowing and high-scoring, and we just went for it. 
We had 17-year-old Shane McGullion,who had played under Damy, making his first Senior start, and he scored two goals. It was meant to be; I don’t think he has scored a goal since!
We built up a few leads but Roslea, like the champions they were, came back, but we were able to see it out to win by 3-16 to 3-07. 
The sight of Garvin McGinley, Damian’s brother-in-law, striding upfield to kick his trademark point is, for me, the abiding memory from that game. 
Personally, I had probably my best 20 minutes of football in the first half where everything went right; it was just one of those days.
The win was important for us as a club. We felt we should have been winning championships with the players available to us, and this got the monkey off our backs and allowed us to kick on in the following years.
When the final whistle went, there was the inevitable flood of supporters, and it was an emotional occasion and one that I will always remember.

Tinged in sadness
The victory was tinged in sadness, of course, but it allowed us as a club to have a smile, and remember the good days with Damy on that beautiful Sunday afternoon, and know how proud he would be, looking at the scenes.

Sunday, October 17, 2004 - Fermanagh SFC Final

Derrygonnelly 1-09 Enniskillen 0-11

This win was only Derrygonnelly’s second championship after the historic breakthrough of 1995 – and the most unexpected out of any of our championship wins. 
We were coming up against the juggernaut that was Enniskillen Gaels, who were going for their seventh title in a row, having played two Ulster finals in that time, and the final against Crossmaglen was one, in particular, that slipped away from them.
They were a side laced with experience, know-how and quality.
We were coming from a very different place.
We were only in Division One after a reshuffle of the league, and although we had our fair share of experience in the Greenes, Kevin McGrath, Kevin Cassidy and the McKennas, we were a young team, with a number of our successful Minor team playing including Danny (Ward), Johnny McGurn, Neil Gallagher and Ady Gallagher, while myself, Deccy Cassidy and Stevie Burns were only slightly older. 
We were given no hope outside our camp, and rightly so, but within our group we had a quiet confidence.
The first half was even, tight and hard-hitting. It was four each at the break; we went in reasonably happy. 
The second half was different – the Gaels dominated for the first 15 minutes. 
The match was put on YouTube during lockdown, and I think we only got over halfway twice in this time. 
The only thing that kept us in it was that the Gaels didn’t convert this dominance on the scoreboard. 
It was 0-07 to 0-04 after 15 minutes  of the second half – and that’s when the game-changer arrived.
We broke for a goal, brilliantly converted by Sticks (Kevin McGrath) and we kicked on – Deccy scored a beauty with the outside of his boot, Johnny floated over a 45, Keeves (Kevin Cassidy) knocked over a few beauties, and we went four-up. 
The Gaels weren’t going to give up their title easily and, going into injury time, the gap was cut to a point, and we were hanging on. 
They then attacked down the stand side at Brewster Park – the ball was kicked in, and Stevie Burns won a brilliant ball between two Gaels men that he had no right to win, and won a free.
The free kick was the last kick of the game.
As the final whistle went, it took a moment to sink in: we had beaten one of the top sides in Ulster, untouchable in Fermanagh for the previous six years. 
It was my first Senior championship medal, and was a special moment. To see the supporters on the field, and the pride, and to see what it meant to men like Hugh Kelly, Donal Fee and so many others just added to the moment.

Saturday, June 12, 2010 - Ulster SFC Quarter-Final

Cavan 0-13 Fermanagh 1-13

This game was my championship debut for Fermanagh and to mark it with a win was special . My brother Daniel was also making his debut on the same day, which added to the occasion.
We were not fancied going into the game, for a number of reasons.
We were playing in Breffini Park, where I think Fermanagh had never beaten Cavan in the Championship. 
We had had a poor National League campaign, and lost six out of seven games and were relegated – so, in most quarters, we were given no chance.
Within the squad, though, we knuckled down and worked hard between the end of the league and this game. 
Malachy O’Rourke give a number of us younger faces the chance to stake our claim.
I remember travelling to Kildare one Wednesday to play Wexford, but Malachy told me and Chrissy O’Brien that we wouldn’t be playing because he was afraid of Cavan having someone at the game, and he wanted the element of surprise.
It was a lovely Summer evening, so Chrissy and I got to sit back and soak in the sun – not that Chrissy needed that!
I can remember the actual game very clearly; Breffini is a wonderful stadium.
Daniel’s girlfriend, Ciara, was playing for Armagh Ladies before us and as we were making our way out the tunnel, the Armagh Ladies were waiting to let us by.
I spotted Ciara and said hi, while Daniel never saw a bit of her; obviously he was more focused than I was!
The game started well for me. I got an early point after a pass from Rory Gallagher, but Cavan had the lead for most of the first half, although we were causing them trouble up front. 
I think, looking back, Malachy’s plan to keep an element of surprise worked.

Untold damage
I don’t think Cavan had planned for two pacy inside forwards along with Ryan Carson at 14, who caused them untold damage, scoring 1-03 over the 70 minutes.
I finished the game with 0-03 and Chrissy had 0-02.
However, at half time, Cavan led 0-08 to 0-07 and the second half remained tight.
We were 0-10 to 0-09 down, but we kicked the next three scores, the last of which was a stunning point from Seamie Quigley that he effortlessly sailed over from near the side-line. 
Cavan came back to level but with Seamie and Ryan in the full forward line, Tommy McElroy landed one on top of them – Cavan could barely cope with Ryan; with the two of them in there, it was mayhem – the ball broke and Ryan knocked it home.
From the resultant kick-out, we won it and Seamie knocked over his second.
This was where our experienced men really drove it home. James (Sherry) and Marty (McGrath) at midfield, Shane Lyons and Clucker (Ryan McCluskey) at the back, Mark Little picking up ball and covering the whole field.
Cavan got it back to three but we held out for a first ever Ulster championship win in Breffini. The final whistle bought relief and a great sense of satisfaction. We had proven a lot of people wrong, which added to it.
I had always wanted to play Senior championship for Fermanagh, and to do so while my brother also made his debut, and to also get the victory, means that it was one match I will always remember.