Would agree with a lot of what Benny has said. One of those nights where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Benny was close to me in the stand, and as he said, the penalty that the ref gave was for a foul that was about a yard outside the box. However the lads momentum as he went down made him slide about five yards into the area. We then gave away a second goal from a terrible defensive error to be 2-1 to 0-0 behind. I was reminded of the Armagh match in Ballybofey, way back in 1999, and my hope was that there was still plenty of time to pull it back. However unlike Ballybofey, conditions in Enniskillen were terrible - very heavy and greasy pitch, with incessant heavy drizzle sweeping across the pitch. It made for a war of attrition and in such circumstances a seven point lead is huge.
We rallied in the third quarter and spurned a couple of great chances for goals. Derrygonnelly were able to break up the pitch and notch a point here and there to maintain the gap.
I'd have to say that Derrygonnelly were a distinctly average side, but were not undeserving of their win, which probably gives an indication of our performance. I felt that the difference between a team winning their first County Championship in 26 years, and one which had been targetting this very match all year (on the basis of dominance in their home Championship) was very evident. As Benny says, a lot of regrets for our fellas, as there was an opprtunity there to progress.
Still, I'd have settled for where we are at the start of the year. I'd like to thank the players and management for their commitment and efforts to our Club and close by wishing Karol Loughran a speedy recovery from a very serious arm injury.
