DERRYGONNELLY HARPS defender Michael Jones went through the wars to help his side claim back-to-back Fermanagh senior titles.
A first-half cut to the head in last Sunday’s final win over Erne Gaels resulted in him needing treatment, but he wasn’t on the sideline long before returning to the fray. For the most of the game, he enjoyed a cracking battle with the lightening-quick Tommy McCaffrey of Erne Gaels.
McCaffrey was able to get on plenty of ball, but kept him at bay enough to blunt his scoring threat and the county defender revealed that, in the build-up to the Brewster Park final, the Harps were looking forward to proving themselves all over again: “There was a lot of talk about Erne Gaels being the up-and-coming team and they are a very good team, but we were confident that, if we played the way we can, that we could get the win,” Jones said, before adding that defending the senior title was a huge motivation for the whole squad.
“It is just an unreal feeling. It is a really big thing for the club to win back-to-back titles. It has never been done, so it was a goal for us this year.”
Derrygonnelly had to show all of their championship experience to see off an Erne Gaels side who hit a real purple patch in the second-half. The Belleek men hit 1-4 to the Harps' 0-2 in the first 20 minutes of the second-half to turn a three-point deficit at the break to a two-point advantage, but the Harps came back to fire over the final three points of the game to take the win.
“When they got the goal, it looked like it might be over, but we just kept working away and we were able to get those scores when it was needed,” added Jones
“We never really moved away from the game-plan, we just kept things going and kept working and we had a couple of players really step up and Leigh Jones kicked some great scores too.”
The experienced defender had something to say about the contributions of Dermot Feely in the Derrygonnelly goal and second-half substitute Kevin Cassidy. Both men turned 42 this year and have now amassed five championship medals in the last 21 years.
“‘Peggy’ [Feely] pulled off a brilliant save when we really needed it and 'Keevs' [Cassidy] was working hard and getting on the ball when he came on. It just goes to show you that it doesn’t matter how old you are, that you can do a job if you want to and those two boys are just unreal.”
Finally turning his attention to the Ulster club championship, Jones believes the experience of playing in the competition last year will stand to the team: “Last year, we probably were not really ready for it, but I think there is no reason why we can’t go and give it a rattle this year.
"We have a good strong team and a really strong bench too, so that is important.”
