Erne Gaels go into Sundays Final as outsiders in most Bookmakers eyes with the Belleek side 6/5 to be victorious come 5.30pm on Sunday evening.
Seamus Ryder who has already hit 1-4 in this seasons Championship feels that Erne Gaels are ready for Sunday’s encounter, “Of course there is great excitement throughout the town. For the town and area in general it’s great to see the flags and bunting up around the club area as Championship finals done come around very often.”
He continues, “Indeed it really brings home the fact that we are in the County final for the first time in 35 years, but as a team we realise that we face a huge challenge on the day if we are to succeed against a well formed side in Derrygonnelly.”
The 29 year old was substituted early in the first half in the Semi final victory over Roslea with a tight hamstring but Ryder feels 100% fit for Sunday, “As for my own form I think this season has gone reasonably well and have been fortunate to be on the end and able to finish some good team play. I do feel that I have been able to train harder this year and thankfully have stayed injury free which has been a major help. We are lucky to have such s strong squad and it showed in the semi final when I had to come off injured being replaced by Luke Ryder (his brother) that it is important to have that strength in depth in any squad that wants to do well.
Erne Gaels have to go way back to 1981 since they last tasted glory in the Senior Championship with a victory that day against Belcoo, Ryder feels that a win on Sunday would be just an amazing feeling and knows that the sub bench will play a big part, “It has been one of the features of this year that there has been serious competition for places. Sunday’s game should be extremely close Derrygonnelly are County champions for a reason they have set the bench mark for all the other clubs in Fermanagh but we feel if we can deliver a performance which does ourselves justice we should be there or thereabouts.
The Occupation Manager in Supervalu Manorhamilton has performed well this season in the full forward line for Erne Gaels and if he can continue his high scoring form then the Derrygonnelly defence may have alot of work to do on Sunday.
By Tom Thu 29th Sep
