Newtownbutler 3-18 Coa 0-8

Newtownbutler kickstarted their Junior Championship campaign with a comfortable victory over Coa on Saturday evening at Páirc na hOige.

A quick start saw Ryan Rooney make a strong run before finishing into the top corner.

James Connolly, Jason Flanagan and Diarmuid King added points to take a 1-03 lead less than ten minutes into the game.

Darren McQuade responded for the O’Dwyers with a left-footed free kick but Newtown continued their ruthless attack with scores from Pauric Mullaney, Ger O’Keefe and Flanagan, while Coa came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, but two long-range efforts dropped short, and they were punished with another point from Connolly.

McQuade scored a carbon copy of his first free kick to push Coa’s tally to two points. Scores from King and Ryan Carson saw Newtown’ take a 1-11 to 0-2 lead going into half time.

It was a lightning-quick start again for Newtown as Ryan Carson’s left-footed shot flew into the top right corner of the Coa net.

Player-manager Ruairi McGuinness slotted over a free kick for Coa before Courtney and Carson extended the First Fermanaghs lead.

Coa goalkeeper Peter Phair made a great save to deny Courtney a goal, however, the forward was able to put it over the bar at the second attempt.

Ger O’Keefe palmed in a third goal after some good attacking play by King. Jason Farry (2) and Gary Lynch added points for Coa before Jamie McCaffrey added a late point for Newtown’ to round off the win.

Newtownbutler manager Darren Chapman said he was pleased with his side’s performance.

“We’ve worked on specific areas of our game and game management and that all paid dividends. Colm, Clive and Barry have the lads in great shape.

“It’s Aghadrumsee up next and we are preparing for a real dog fight. They have some dangerous players but our primary focus like last time will be getting a high level of performance out of the squad.”

Coa half-back Ryan Hanna said: “We started poorly and couldn’t get a grip after that. Newtownbutler punished a number of unforced errors and were on top for the majority of the first half. The second half started the same, we played better than the first half, but the gap was too big. There’s a lot to work on and we need to improve if we are to beat Brookeborough next weekend.”