John Reihill admits that Enniskillen simply weren’t good enough when they lost to Derrygonnelly in last year’s Championship final.

The forward though believes that the Gaels have improved this year, although Sunday will tell them whether that improvement is enough to take them to the title.

“Last year hurt, but we weren’t good enough to win it, and Derrygonnelly deserved it, but this year we feel we have improved and we’re looking forward to the final,” said Reihill, who is in the final year of a Civil Engineering degree.

“We learnt a lot last year – we weren’t physical enough, and that was the big push this year in the gym. The experience of last year will hopefully also stand to us.”

Reihill was part of the Enniskillen side that lifted the Ulster Minor Club Tournament title on New Year’s Day, 2018, and the core of that team now backbone the current Senior side.

There has been a lot of talk about this young group stepping up to challenge for Senior titles, and it is something Reihill is fed up listening to.

“I’m sick of hearing that ‘We are a young team’ – we’ve been about that long enough now, and it’s time we moved on from that,” he said.

Now it is about stepping up and delivering and while Reihill acknowledges that they face a huge test on Sunday, the focus is on getting their own performance right.

“Erne Gaels are a good side; they have shown it all year and are the league champions. From our point of view it is about performing. They have players who need to be marked, but they are probably worried about a right few of our players too,” he said.

Hamstring issues have meant that Reihill’s Senior career has been stop-start at times but he enjoyed a good run in the league only for injury to strike late in the competition.

“I played the first eight league games and that is probably the longest run I’ve had in Senior football, and I felt that this was the most I have ever trusted my body.

“When it happened, I knew that I was going to miss one or two Championship games, but I knew I would be back for some of it, and when I got back for the second group game and got through it, I knew I would be fine for the rest of the Championship. That’s all behind me now and I’m looking forward to the final,” he said.

A bump in the road

Enniskillen started their campaign with wins over Ederney and Roslea but they suffered a bump in the road when they went down to Kinawley in the final group game. However, that loss to the Brian Borus was maybe the game they learnt the most from, according to Reihill.

“I think it was the kick that we needed. Going into the Belnaleck game, we didn’t play that well in the first half, but since then, the second half of the Belnaleck game and the Derrygonnelly game, we have been good and hopefully we can bring that form into the final. The Kinawley one though was probably the one that made us step up,” he said.

And now it’s into the final and Reihill believes victory would be huge for the club.

“It would be massive for the club – we have been thinking about it for years, ever since coming into the Senior set-up, so it would be some lift for the club,” he said.