Erne Gaels 0-10 Irvinestown 0-08

Erne Gaels are through to the final of the Kevin Courtney Garage and Car Sales IFC, but they were pushed all the way by a dogged Irvinestown in Ederney on Sunday.

The Belleek men had cruised through to the semi-final stage with a thumping win over Maguiresbridge, but Irvinestown proved to be a much tougher proposition as they set up to restrict a lively Erne Gaels attack.

Erne Gaels did look as if they had taken control of the contest either side of half time as they forged open a four-point advantage, but the St. Molaise hit back and going into the last quarter only one point divided the sides, 0-08 to 0-07.

Indeed, a point remained the gap moving into added-on time, before Aoghan Kelm popped up with a late point to seal the victory for the Belleek side.

Erne Gaels Manager Seamus Ryder accepted that his side did not reach the levels of performance they hit in the quarter final win, but he hopes that this game will stand to them, going into the decider.

“It was a frustrating game, it was very stop-start, and we missed a lot of chances that we should have taken, but the main thing was that we got over the line. The performance wasn’t great, but the result was the main thing,” he said.

‘Need to improve’

“On the whole I thought that our defence did well, but our shooting was way off, so we need to improve for the next day.

“We would hope though that this game will stand to us, because we are expecting a close game in the final.”

Devenish will provide the opposition in the final and if previous meetings this year are anything to go by, then Ryder is right to expect a tight encounter.

“We have played them three times this year and there has been nothing in it; there was two draws, and we won one by a point after extra time, so that tells you all you need to know.

“It is going to be close; there is that derby spice added to it, and there will be no secrets. Both teams know each other well, so we expect a tight final,” he commented.

It was Erne Gaels who enjoyed the better opening to the game as Tommy McCaffrey clipped over a free and Gareth Deery then doubled the lead, getting on the end of a good ball by Ryan Lyons to slot over.

However, as the opening quarter drew to a close, Irvinestown hit back, with Gary Maguire knocking over two well-struck frees to leave it 0-02 apiece.

It continued to be tit-for-tat over the next period as McCaffrey converted another free for Erne Gaels before Irvinestown replied with a good score from play.

Josh Largo Elis’ breaks from deep caused problems for the Belleek side and he raced on to a Maguire pass before firing over.

It was Erne Gaels though who finished the half the stronger of the sides, with three points in a row to take a 0-06 to 0-03 lead in at the break.

Brian Mullin powered over a fine effort before Oisin Kelm tagged on a point, and McCaffrey cut in from the left to slot over the final score of the half.

Taking control

And Erne Gaels looked as if they were taking control of the contest when Lyons rattled over a score on the resumption to stretch the advantage out to four, 0-07 to 0-03.

But Irvinestown dug deep, and Michael Mahon landed an excellent point before Maguire notched another two points from frees to make it 0-07 to 0-06.

However, Irvinestown could never seem to be able to get back on level terms, and another good score from Mullin edged Erne Gaels two ahead again, although Dwayne Carleton hit back for Irvinestown to leave one in it – 0-08 to 0-07 – at the end of the third quarter.

It remained tight and tense throughout the final quarter with scores at a premium.

Kelm put Erne Gaels two in front, but then substitute Sean Clear answered with a mark for Irvinestown to leave it 0-09 to 0-08 as the contest headed into added-on time.

Stephen Sheridan did have a chance to level things for the St. Molaise, but his effort sailed wide and soon after Aoghan Kelm sealed the win for Erne Gaels as he started and finished a move to leave them 0-10 to 0-08 victors at the finish, despite their rivals’ efforts.