Sean McManus is very aware of the task that lies ahead for Kinawley on Saturday when they take on Derrygonnelly in Ederney in the Mannok SFC semi-final.

The Brian Borus sealed their place in the last four with a hard-fought extra-time win over Belnaleck last Saturday but McManus knows that they will have to raise their game even further if they are to get past a fancied Harps side.

“We’ve faced Derrygonnelly on a number of occasions over the last few years and we are under no illusions about the scale of the task ahead of us.

“They have a lot of quality and experience in their team and have had that extra few weeks of preparation as well. But, we’ll prepare well this week and we are looking forward to the challenge,” said Borus joint captain McManus.

The sides met in the Division One final this year with Derrygonnelly eventually coming through after extra time and McManus believes the experience of that game will stand to Kinawley.

“It will stand us in good stead to have had the experience of that tight game. We were both that little bit hungover from the exertions of that game when we came into the championship but I’m sure both teams will be ready to go at it again this weekend,” he added.

As McManus suggests, Kinawley made a slow start to their championship campaign with a draw against Devenish followed by defeat to Enniskillen but they have shown great character since as they came up with two injury time points to beat Ederney by a point before Tomás Corrigan landed an injury time point last Saturday to send the game against Belnaleck to extra time. And in added on time in extra time Ruairi Corrigan popped up with the decisive score to seal a place in the semi-finals.

“There is massive belief within our team and we showed that in our last two games when our backs were against the wall.

“We will be hoping to show those qualities again against Derrygonnelly and put in the best performance that we can,” he commented.

However, he knows that they will need to lift their performance again on Saturday.

“It is going to take us upping our level again and put our best foot forward. We need to make sure that we are at the top of our game.

“Hopefully, things will go in our favour and we will see where it takes us,” he stated.