Kinawley 4-08 Derrygonnelly 1-05

Kinawley avenged their league final defeat to Derrygonnelly in last year’s decider with a comprehensive win in Donagh last Sunday morning.

The Borus winning out 4-08 to 1-05 against last year’s champions and again reassert their dominance in Ladies football in the county.

Despite the comfortable looking scoreline, Kinawley manager, Mark Cunningham, felt the game was closer than the scoreline suggested.

“It was a tighter game than the final scoreline might suggest and the goals gave us a cushion early on but Derrygonnelly fought back to close the gap before half time,” Cunningham said.

“Defensively we were strong and that gave us the platform to go on and win the game in the second half.”

Looking back on the league campaign Cunningham added: “The league as a whole was a success for the team with lots of minors introduced to the team and getting exposure to senior football.”

For Derrygonnelly manager, Garry Smyth, he also felt the early goals were a significant boost for Kinawley.

“The two goals from Niamh [McManus] were key scores in game, although our players dealt with that and managed to create some good chances of our own which on another day might have gone in.

“We have no complaints as Kinawley were well organised and brought a good intensity to their game so congratulations to them on winning the league.”

Smyth and his team’s attention now turn to the Senior Championship final where they will once again meet Kinawley: “We will knuckle down now and prepare for the championship. It is a relatively short turnaround for both teams but it is a game we are looking forward to.”

A strong opening to the game saw Kinawley take control of proceedings and this included the half of their final goal tally.

Lisa Maguire opened the scoring in the third minute and this was followed by 2-01 from Niamh McManus in the space of three minutes.

It took until the 14th minute for Derrygonnely to register their first score courtesy of a free from Eimear Smyth.

Smyth then found the net for the Harps after Áine Haren saved her initial attempt and when she converted another free it closed the Kinawley lead even further.

However, with points from Gemma McCaffrey and Danielle McBrien to give Kinawley a 2-05 to 1-03 lead.

A McBrien free got the second half scoring underway but Derrygonnelly responded with tow points from Smyth.

However, the comeback hit a stumbling block when McCaffrey found the net for Kinawley to move them further ahead on the scoreboard.

Full forward Lynne McCarroll blazed a shot over the bar for Derrygonnelly who continued to battle on.

As the game wore on, Kinawley finished strongly with another goal from McCaffrey while Megan Murphy, McBrien and Maguire all registered points for the Borus to seal a 12-point victory.