Devenish 2-10 Derrylin 3-10

Derrylin picked up their first win of Division One which took themselves out of the relegation places and in turn saw Devenish fall into the bottom two.

A late 1-01 was enough to clinch the victory for the winners who had started the game brightly before Devenish fought their way back into the game and were leading with five minutes to play.

The result leaves Devenish still chasing their first win of the league.

In the first 10 minutes, Derrylin were five points up, 1-04 to 0-02.

Darren Brady and Fionan O’Brien would hit points for Devenish while Derrylin’s scorers included Diarmuid Owens with their goal coming from the boot of Luke Flanagan.

Devenish though came back into it and Ruairi Maguire found the back of the net before points from Terry O’Flanagan had them level, 1-04 apiece.

Points were traded between the sides with Tom Treacy and Ruairi Doherty on target for Devenish.

But Derrylin would go in at the break in front as they hit their second goal of the game when a 45 landed in the square and wasn’t dealt with and Danny Leonard was quickest to react and he fired home to leave it 1-06 to 2-06.

Devenish responded well after the break and were soon level.

Chris O’Brien did well to win a high ball before sticking it in the back of the net.

Derrylin would respond with points from Conaill Boyle and Louis Leonard.

Alongside scores from O’Flanagan, Doherty and JJ O’Brien the home side were 2-09 to 2-08 in front going into the last five minutes.

And they had a chance of really putting the game to bed when Maguire rushed in on goal but with options either side of him he opted to shoot and blasted the ball wide from 14 yards out.

Derrylin would take advantage from the resulting kick-out as they went up the field and hit their third goal when Morgan Smith was played through and he made no mistake and this was followed by their last point of the game.

Joe O’Brien would hit the last score of the game for Devenish to make it 2-10 to 3-10 but Devenish could not find the goal they badly needed.

Derrylin manager Sean Donnelly, was glad to pick up the first win which he said was badly needed given the closeness at the foot of the table.

“There are four teams all fighting for points so we had to beat them,” he said.

Looking back at the game, Donnelly continued: “We started off well then we slacked off and Devenish came back into it.”

And looking ahead to the game against another team at the bottom, Roslea, Donnelly knows how vital it is to pick up more points: “It’s a massive game. There is a lot to play for.”

Next up for Devenish is the challenge of fellow strugglers, St. Pat’s, Donagh, while Derrylin take on Roslea on Friday.