A relieved Kinawley manager, Adrian Diver, paid tribute to both sides after an epic battle last Saturday evening with Derrygonnelly.
“I’m very proud of the girls, they really dug deep, they needed to dig deep. I thought Derrygonnelly were excellent and put it up to us, as they always do.
“They’re a great team but our girls rose to the challenge.
“There was a time when I thought we had lost it, a point down with literally seconds to go.
“I say about our girls, if we’re still in it with 15 minutes to go, we can win it, that’s the kind of girls they are, they always dig deep, they’re never beaten until the very final whistle.”
It was that self belief that drove Kinawley on, says the manager.
“When we got that point to take it back, I felt we could push on from there, the goal, maybe a wee bit fortuitous boosted us.
“I have to say, Gemma McCaffrey coming on, her composure on the ball, her scores, probably swung it in our favour”
“I know that Derrygonnelly wanted it as much as we did. It’s about putting your body on the line, putting your head where you really shouldn’t put it, our girls do that week in and week out”.
Citing other factors influencing the win, he said;
“I think there’s probably a wee bit of winning experience there as well. In Joanne, we have a very special player, Roisin O’Reilly is up there too, that kind of player, I thought she was outstanding.
“Then the strength of our bench, when I’m putting on a player, especially in conditions like this, when girls are tired, I’m putting on a player to uplift the team.
His team will have little time to rest on their laurels though, as they turn their attention to Saturday’s (tomorrow) Ulster Club Championship game with Monaghan champions, Scotstown. Diver revealed that the two sides had actually played each other in a challenge back in July.
“They’re a good team, they have three or four Monaghan senior players. We’ve hardly talked about Ulster because we knew that Derrygonnelly were coming strong at us, we had to get over Fermanagh first. It’s great to be there, we’ll enjoy ourselves tonight (Saturday), we’ll pick ourselves up on Tuesday, we’ll be ready for Saturday.
“We have a responsibility now to represent Fermanagh as best we can, the girls have done that well over the past couple of years and we’ll do our very best to carry it on.”
Meanwhile, Enniskillen Gaels welcome O’Donovan Rossa, Magherafelt, to Brewster Park on Saturday (tomorrow) for their Ulster Junior Club match on what will be a momentous occasion for the club.