By Mark McGoldrick

ERNE Gaels coach Paul Brennan said that the Belleek men “knew what was at stake” as they showed all of their character and experience to win back-to-back New York Cup titles.

The Belleek side etched their names into the history books on Saturday night, withstanding a late Derrygonnelly comeback, to win their second Fermanagh Senior Football Championship in succession.

Brennan, who stood in as Erne Gaels manager, with Declan Bonner in the United States for the game, praised the character and resilience of his players.

“It’s fantastic. What a night for the club,” Brennan said.

“We really knew what was at stake, to go back-to-back has never been done in the club’s history,”

“We knew there was so much at stake with people who wore the jersey before this group of players came along and the groups that are going to come after.”

Erne Gaels and Derrygonnelly couldn’t be separated two weeks ago, with a replay forced after a late comeback from the Belleek side.

This time around, Erne Gaels made a much stronger start, opening up an eight-point cushion at half-time, to take control of the game from the off.

Brennan said that the Belleek side learned a lot from their first meeting with the Harps.

“We knew we’d need to put in a performance that was worthy of getting over the line and beating Derrygonnelly,” said the Erne Gaels boss on the night.

“There’s no doubt about it, they’re a well-structured team and well organised and we knew that we didn’t do enough last week.

“Our big thing was to come with the energy and come with the attitude and it’s a great night for Erne Gaels.”

Despite their eight-point lead, Erne Gaels were up against it in the second half, with Tommy McCaffrey sin-binned for 10 minutes after picking up a black card.

Derrygonnelly pushed hard and they whittled their advantage down to two points, although the Belleek side showed all of their experience and character to withstand the late surge.

“We knew Tommy picking up the black card before half time, it was going to be a big factor,” explained Brennan.

“We knew we couldn’t concede goals, we’d have to stay compact and we knew we had to go toe-to-toe with them and for every score they got, we needed to chip back with one.

“We knew when we got back to 15 (players), the energy and momentum would swing back to us.”

Erne Gaels now look forward to their second successive foray into the Ulster Senior Club Championship, with a meeting against Cavan champions Kingscourt Stars coming up at Kingspan Breffni.

While Brennan admitted that the Belleek men are looking forward to the challenge, he said their main focus was to enjoy the celebrations.

“This group of players, we try and live in the now and make every moment count.”