By Jonathan Hogan

ERNE Gaels’ captain Ryan Lyons says there’s “huge excitement” in Belleek as the club prepares for another crack at the Fermanagh Senior Football Championship crown against Derrygonnelly Harps at Brewster Park on Saturday evening. Fresh from lifting the New York Cup last season, Lyons and his teammates are back for a fourth consecutive final, aiming to defend their title and cement what has been a golden spell for the border club.

“There’s going to be a massive buzz within any club or community when there’s a county final on the horizon,” said Lyons.

“There’s huge excitement.”

A cornerstone of the Erne Gaels side over the past decade, Lyons believes the team’s consistency in recent seasons has nurtured a strong core while also accelerating the development of their younger players.

“There’s a great blend throughout the squad,” he said. “I think the fact that we’ve played a lot of big games in recent years has brought on some of the younger lads massively in the past 18 months or so.”

Lyons knows exactly what awaits them this weekend. Derrygonnelly, appearing in their ninth final in ten years, have been the standard-bearers in Fermanagh football — a fact not lost on the Erne Gaels skipper.

“Listen, they’ve been the benchmark in Fermanagh for the past decade or so. Seven out of ten I think they’ve got their hands on, so that speaks volumes,” said Lyons. “Again, they’ve a great blend throughout the squad, blooding a few more younger lads in again this year.”

For Lyons and his teammates, last year’s breakthrough title – the club’s first since 1981 – lifted a long-standing weight off their shoulders and instilled a belief that remains palpable heading into another final.

“I suppose there was so much relief at the time,” he admitted. “So many of the team had been involved in the previous finals when we didn’t get over the line so there was massive euphoria with ending that long wait of 43 years. That itself eliminates so much doubt, and naturally gives the team added confidence.”

As Erne Gaels chase back-to-back titles under new Fermanagh manager Declan Bonner, Lyons knows it will take another full-blooded performance to get there, but confidence and togetherness run deep in Belleek once again.