Gallagher joy as Erne men edge poor Lilies

RORY GALLAGHER praised his charges for their warming display on a cool and crisp Saturday night at Brewster Park where they beat a disappointing Kildare by two points but, in truth, it should have been six or seven.

Fermanagh converted only eight times from 22 shots but it was enough to see off Kildare, who were incredibly laboured in attack against a packed home defence.

“Delighted with that. I thought that was our best performance but to be honest I thought we have been the better team in our last two-and-a-half games. We made life difficult for ourselves and we missed a hell of a lot of chances,” Gallagher said after the game.

Fermanagh counter-attacked with great speed but were wasteful in front of the posts and led by just two points at the break despite dominating the first half.

Seán Quigley with free-kicks and Conall and Ryan Jones and Eoin Donnelly were on target for Fermanagh, while Adam Tyrrell (with frees) and Fergal Conway scored at the other end.

Kildare were poor throughout and only managed a single score from play in the 70-plus minutes. In the second half, Fergal Conway was on target a mark and Neil Flynn fired over from frees.

Fermanagh had a Seán Quigley point from a free and as the game entered the final 15 minutes the sides were level. Ryan Lyons stepped up to be the hero with the last two points of the game, ensuring Gallagher’s men remain unbeaten after three games while Kildare have taken three points from a possible six on offer.

SCORERS – Fermanagh: S Quigley 0-3f; R Lyons 0-2; E Donnelly, R Jones, C Jones 0-1 each. Kildare: N Flynn (2f), A Tyrrell (2f), F Conway (1 mark) 0-2 each.

FERMANAGH – T Treacy 7; J Cassidy 8, L Cullen 7, K Connor 6; U Kelm 7, J McMahon 7, C Corrigan 9; E Donnelly 6, R Jones 8; R Lyons 8, D McCusker 7, A Breen 7; D Teague 6, C Jones 7, S Quigley 7. Subs: T Clarke 6 for Donnelly (20), P McCusker 6 for Teague (39), E McHugh 6 for Connor (41), S McGullion 6 for Clarke (46), K McDonnell 6 for P McCusker (60).

KILDARE – M Donnellan 7; M Dempsey 7, M O’Grady 7, D Hyland 6; J Murray 7, E Doyle 6, K Cribbin 6; K Feely 6, A Masterson 7; D Slattery 6, F Conway 7, C Hartley 6; A Tyrrell 6, B McCormack 7, N Flynn 6. Subs: J Hyland 6 for Tyrrell (h-t), C O’Donoghue 6 for Hartley (h-t), T Moolick 6 for Cribbin (60), F Dowling 6 for Conway (60), P Nash 6 for Slattery (64).

REF – M McNally (Monaghan)