Draw was fair result says Belnaleck boss

By Mark McGoldrick

BELNALECK manager Daniel Kille said he was “delighted” after his team came from behind to snatch a draw and a share of the spoils against Kinawley in their senior championship opener.

Two points from Darragh McGurn and Kane Connor earned Belnaleck a 0-6 apiece draw with the Boru’s at Patrick McManus Park. Kille was pleased with his side’s character and resilience.

“We are delighted that we weren’t defeated today [Saturday],” said Belnaleck boss Kille.

“The last two years we have lost in the first round of the championship so to get a point, with us two points down behind with a major breeze and after losing two big players in Bryan [Owens] and Garvan [Quigley], there was massive character and mental strength shown.”

Saturday’s game was by far from a free-scoring encounter and the Belnaleck manager hopes that his side will learn and improve before taking on Enniskillen Gaels this weekend.

“There was a huge amount of errors and I think because it’s championship football, it takes boys a while to get into the game and it was played, from our end very nervously,” said Kille.

“It’s another derby and Enniskillen [Gaels] won the league and they’ll probably feel that they’re the team to beat.

“I went in to watch them last night [Friday at Brewster Park] and while they had a lot of wides in the second half, there’ll be a lot of fires to put out to try and nullify their threats.”

Kinawley manager Dom Corrigan felt that the draw was a “fair result” as his side came from a 0-03 to 0-01 half-time deficit to share the spoils with Belnaleck in their championship opener.

“It was typical Fermanagh senior championship first round game and with two neighbouring teams, there was never going to be much between them,” Corrigan said.

“I think over the course of the game a draw was a fair result. We were a little disappointed with our performance in the second half when we had the breeze that we could have kicked on.”

Kinawley are away to Shamrock Park on Saturday to take on Teemore. Corrigan is expecting a huge challenge from Tony Collins’ side.

“We were happy to get the draw and we now look forward to next week. The format is that every game is a massive contest and there’ll be another massive contest next Saturday,” he said.