Iggy Gallagher, Ederney Manager
For Ederney St Josephs manager, Iggy Gallagher, it was a case of ‘about time’ for his team as they picked up the senior league title with an impressive win over Devenish in the final.
Trillick native Gallagher is in his fourth season with Ederney and he has seen them graduate from relegation battlers to league champions.
“You would have to say fair play to the players. They have worked hard and have shown great dedication and maybe you could say it was about time that we got a trophy but I am delighted for the players.”
But it wasn’t until a late Enda Ferris goal that the game was put beyond doubt;
“We done well and I thought there was great determination shown throughout and in the second half we won a lot of ball but we struggled to convert that into scores and I suppose it took the goal at the end to put the game beyond doubt.”
Gallagher guided St Joseph’s to the top of the table last season but saw no trophy for all their effort while this year they finished fourth but walked away with the division one title, their first in 44 years;
“There was relief at the final whistle to be honest. I think that finishing top of the table last year gave the boys some confidence that they could go on and win something and hopefully this win will give them even more confidence.”
Gallagher believes that there has also been progress made in another area of the teams development this season that may also signal that this side are capable of taking the next step in terms of championship football;
“Counting the league semi and the league final we have played four knock out games this year and won three of them so that is something new for the team and hopefully something that they can build on. We were disappointed with how we played against Roslea in the championship and Roslea also played very well on the night but hopefully the players can learn from that.”
There is no doubt after the progress that has been made over the last number of years that this Ederney team will be looking to win the senior championship but for Gallagher he would prefer that the team just concentrate on hard work and improving;
“You can never say that a team deserve to win a championship or you can never say that they will go out and win a championship. Instead I think the players just have to work hard and believe in their ability and after that you need some luck with injuries and also with the boys staying at home and not having to emigrate.”
After a long year Gallagher and his team will be putting the feet up for a while;
“I think the league was ran off really well in the last few years to be fair to those making the fixtures. There are lots of games and that is what players want, but they will enjoy the break now.” he explained.