Third quarter flurry secures the Division Two title for Enniskillen

Enniskillen Gaels secured the Division Two title with a hard-fought 1-09 to 0-08 victory over Belcoo in Brookeborough on Saturday night.

This was a game played in very difficult conditions but neither side were lacking in effort and commitment.

Belcoo led by two at the break, 0-05 to 0-03, and they will feel that they should have been further ahead at that stage, given their dominance of the ball.

However, a more clinical Enniskillen side turned the game in their favour in the third quarter, with Erin Tierney’s goal putting them into a lead they never relinquished.

Belcoo did keep battling through to the finish, but the Gaels defence stood firm to clinch the win and a place in Division One for the 2022 season.

Enniskillen joint Manager Fiacre O’Donnell acknowledged the size of the achievement for the players.

“I think it will be only the second time in history that the club will have played in Division One, and it meant so much to everybody,” he said. “It is a credit to this bunch of girls and it also acts as an inspiration to the young players that are coming through at the club.”

On the game itself, O’Donnell agreed that the spell after half time in which Enniskillen outscored Belcoo 1-05 to 0-02 was decisive in the outcome.

“That was the key period,” he said. “We made a few switches to the forward line at half time and in that first 15 minutes after the break, we got the scores that we needed.”

Belcoo Manager Paul McGrath praised the efforts of his players but accepted they missed too many chances on the night.

“It’s disappointing that our first loss of the year came in a final, but I couldn’t fault the players – they put in a serious shift. We’d have held the majority of possession, but hadn’t the shooting boots with us.

“The Gaels had their wee blitz in the third quarter, and despite curtailing Erin Tierney well, she got her one chance and she found the top corner; it was a massive score at the time,” he said.

However, he hopes that the players will learn from this as the focus turns to championship.

“We are a very young team. Nights like that will stand to us down the line. We are back out in championship action this weekend, so we’ll get a few sessions under our belts and St. Pat’s will pose a new challenge on Sunday afternoon,” he said.

The wet conditions left flowing football at a premium and scores were hard to come by in the early stages of the game.

Enniskillen opened the scoring through a Terri McCanny point, but although Belcoo did miss a number of good scoring opportunities, points from the impressive Scarlett O’Connor and an Elaine Maguire free had the O’Rahillys a point to the good at the water break.

Belcoo continued to have the majority of the possession but they found the Enniskillen rearguard hard to break down, although another Maguire free did push them into a 0-03 to 0-01 lead.

A superb point from Aoife Corrigan kept the Gaels in touch, but with O’Connor and Maguire notching points, it pushed Belcoo into a three-point lead, 0-05 to 0-02.

The final say of the half though went to McCanny, who landed her second point of the game to leave two in it at the break.

O’Connor increased the lead on the resumption with another point from play, but Enniskillen were to dictate matters over the next period to stamp their authority on proceedings.

Belcoo had kept a tight rein on the dangerous Tierney, but she got away to fire over a point before then registering the big score of the contest.

The corner forward was found by Eimear Keenan, and she arrowed her effort to the top corner to make it 1-04 to 0-06 to Enniskillen.

Buoyed by this, the Gaels pushed on and after Keenan and O’Connor swapped scores, Enniskillen moved clear as Orla Murphy, Keenan and Kiah Collins all rattled over points to put them four ahead, 1-08 to 0-07.

Belcoo did have a chance to reduce the arrears when Maguire had a goal chance, but she fired wide and as the game moved into the final quarter, another Kiah Collins score had the Gaels five points to the good.

In fairness to the O’Rahillys, they threw everything at Enniskillen as the tie drew to a close, but apart from a converted Michelle Cullen free they could not find the scores they needed as Enniskillen saw the contest out to claim a memorable win.