SUPERCUP NI WARM UP MATCH

Fermanagh Juniors 5 Finn Harps 6

FERMANAGH Junior boss Gareth McGuckin had mixed emotions following a dramatic 11-goal encounter against Finn Harps at Devenish College, as SuperCupNI 2025 preparations took another step up.

Two strikes inside seven minutes by Harps had the Donegal side 2-up early on, with Darragh Boyle halving the deficit.

An own goal restored the two-goal advantage for Harps, with Kaden McGovern again reducing arrears to one goal.

Harps’ Charlie Bonner and Fermanagh’s Shea McManus exchanged strikes, leaving the visitors 4-3 ahead at the break.

McManus completed his hat-trick inside the first 15 minutes of the second half with two goals to put Fermanagh ahead, but two goalsin the final 10 minutes between Oscar Docherty and Buchannan ensured a comeback win for the visitors.

McGuckin was disappointed with a slow start but was impressed by how his boys’ responded.

“We started the game poorly,” admitted the Fermanagh boss. “But we grew into the game and got ourselves 5-4 in front at one stage.

“We made lots of changes which inevitably impacted our shape, but overall, I’m happy with some elements, disappointed in other aspects, but we will work on that over the coming weeks.”

Early strikes from Ethan Buchannan and Diarmuid Farren gave Harps an early advantage, before Boyle halved the deficit for the Ernemen following a flowing team move involving McGovern.

Harps missed a penalty, but regained their two-goal after an Eoghan Callaghan cross from the right was diverted into the Fermanagh net.

McGovern finished from 12 yards to again close the gap to one goal.

Charlie Bonner then made a powering run into the attacking third, finishing into the far corner, before some loose play at the back was capitalised on by McManus, who finished from close range to leave the score 4-3 in favour of the Ballybofey side at the break.

Individual brilliance by Reuben Clarke helped set up McManus to level the tie, before McManus turned home a Conor Goodwin cross to edge Fermanagh in front for the first time.

Docherty then found the top corner from the edge to level the tie once more with 10 minutes to play, before Buchannan had the final say, slotting home and lowering the curtain on an epic encounter.

McGuckin hopes to find the “right mix” with his squad, as they head into the perpetual county tournaments in June.

“The county tournaments are important now. They will be an even tougher challenge, and we are really looking forward to them,” he said.