If Derrygonnelly are going to reclaim the New York Cup, they are certainly going about it the hard way.

This Saturday's replay with Kinalwey will be their fourth game of the Senior Championship, and second replay.

But they have shown in the past that when it comes to replays they learn the lessons, most recently in the quarter final tussle with Ederney.

While they prepare for the replay, manager Mick Glynn expressed a disappointment that they are in this position in the first place.

"The first thing I'd say is we are very disappointed we didn’t win the first game. We had a five point lead when they got the penalty and we recovered well and scored the next two points to take a four point lead and we blew that as well, which is disappointing.

"But we are still there that is the only consolation. We will prepare as normal for the replay and hopefully it will go our way."

Having played in three high intensity games already, for Glynn and the Derrygonnelly management it is all about recovery and freshness for the side, alongside trying to fix the things that didn't go their way on the first day.

"The recovery is the important thing. It's just a matter of managing the players and injuries and the tiredness and try and have them as fresh as possible for the replay.

"But after a number of weeks these hard games in heavy conditions will take their toll but it is better to have them than not."

And in terms of what needs to be done in the replay, Glynn talks of the chances his side took, and missed.

"We scored 15 points which is a good return on any day and we probably created four clear cut goal chances and didn’t convert any of them.

"That is a disappointment but the positive is we scored some very good points and had some very slick movements and defensively I thought we did well except the goals."

Like Ederney, it was goals that kept Kinawley in the game. Glynn felt the penalty was harsh on his side while the second goal was "a mistake anyone can make". And just like the Ederney replay, Glynn will be looking for his side to cut out the goal chances for Kinawley if they are to come out on the right side of the result.

For Ollie Fay and Kinawley, he feels that his side can take heart in the fight back. It was something that was missing in the 2020 championship when the two teams met at this stage.

"It’s bound to give the players confidence and that belief. We were dead and buried with five minutes to go and we came back and drew the game.

"It's bound to give you confidence and going into this weekend we will use that confidence and that belief.

"This time last year when we played them in the semi final we kind of nearly gave up when Derrygonnelly were so far ahead but fair play to the lads they dug deep and finished strong and got the draw at the end of the day which is good."

Like Glynn, Fay knows how important it is to get the recovery right to optimise his side's chances of overcoming Derrygonnelly.

"We are fatigued but ready to go again," said Fay before adding how important the squad is for games like these and how the bench could play an important part in deciding who makes the Championship final: "The last couple of weeks people were talking about Derrygonnelly's bench coming in and freshening things up.

"Sometimes you bring on subs, it works well, it generates energy other times it doesn’t. You're hoping when you do bring on extra fresh legs it will help. "It was a tough game for both teams, a tough championship battle. They will be a different animal Saturday and I am hoping we will be too."

But Fay knows if they repeat the mistakes of the drawn game they will see themselves in a difficult situation.

"You're always looking to improve and if we don’t improve this weekend we are going to be in the same situation again. It's up to us as a group of players and management to improve and cut out the mistakes.

Everybody goes out every game to improve so hopefully it will happen for us."