Belcoo 1-08 Erne Gaels 0-15

Erne Gaels kept up their winning start in Division One as they overcame a spirited Belcoo team by four points on Sunday.

The win, which followed a draw with Enniskillen Gaels last Friday, sees the Belleek side in second place in the table.

For Belcoo this was a second defeat in four days as they lost 2-11 to 2-04 to Kinawley last Thursday.

Playing with the breeze in the first half, Erne Gaels had plenty of possession but found it hard to break Belcoo down at times, while their shooting was also wayward.

Ultan Reilly found himself in space on the Belcoo 'D' and a good ball from Dan McCann allowed Reilly to split the posts after five minutes.

Belcoo were level two minutes later when patient build-up play allowed midfielder Barry McGovern to link up with James Gillespie and he blasted over.

Dan McCann pointed a free for the visitors to restore the lead, but Belcoo had a great chance to move ahead as Ethan Butler pounced on a breaking ball and he played it to Cillian Murray who ate up the ground but his shot flew the wrong side of the post.

Oisin Kelm, Martin Gilfeddar and Aoghan Kelm would then rattle over good scores before a McGrath free made it 0-05 to 0-02 to Erne Gaels with less than 10 minutes of the half remaining.

Brian Mullin would get the final score of the half in the 25th minute to leave four in it at the break.

A McGrath free following a foul on Dara Flanagan would get Belcoo moving in the second half but Erne Gaels went on to hit three in a row.

Moving the ball from one side to the other, Oisin Kelm found space to pop over a point while Paul Ward also fired over.

Then Gilfeddar was the beneficiary of some slick passing by Erne Gaels to get his second point of the day and it was now 0-9 to 0-03.

Murray would stop the rot for Belcoo with a point after they worked the ball up the field from a turnover but Luke Ryder responded for Erne Gaels.

Belcoo, however, were not giving up and were right back in it when Paul McGrath found the back of the net.

Quick hands from Ciarán Flaherty, Gerard McHugh and Gillespie put Flaherty in on goal and he passed to McGrath who made no mistake, 0-10 to 1-04.

The sides would then trade points as Aoghan Kelm and Michael Óg McGarrigle were on target for Erne Gaels while McGrath and Flaherty fired over for Belcoo as the game entered the final 10 minutes.

Dara Flanagan then burst through a few tackles to point and make it a two point game.

And it could have been a one point lead from the next attack.

McHugh won the kickout and found Flaherty but he fired straight at the Erne Gaels keeper. The ball was then touched by a Belleek defender on the ground and the referee signalled for a penalty.

However, this was then changed to a free kick and from it, Flanagan hit his second of the day to leave it 0-12 to 1-08.

But it was as close a Belcoo got as late frees from Aoghan Kelm and Tommy McCaffrey left it 0-15 to 1-08 at the final whistle.

Following the game, Erne Gaels manager, Seamus Ryder said he was pleased to get the win after a tough game: "I'm ust happy to get the win. It leaves us in good spot before the break.

"I wouldn't have been too happy with the first half performance but we played well in the second half.

"The goal give Belcoo life and had us rattled but I thought lads finished the game out well," said Ryder who praised Reilly, Gilfeddar and Oisin Kelm for their performances.