Good win but injury toll mounts for Gaels

Enniskillen Gaels snatched victory form the jaws of defeat at Brewster Park on Friday as two injury time points from Eoin Beacom and Conor Watson settled a gripping encounter that ebbed and flowed one way and then the other from the first minute.

Indeed, from the Gaels point of view, this was an invaluable win as they suffered some concerning injuries throughout the game as Brandon Horan, Paddy Reihill, Richie O’Callaghan and Conor Love all had to leave the field of play but they still found the resilience to pick up the win.

That will have pleased manager Simon Bradley but his growing casualty list will be a matter of concern.

Ederney manager, Mickey Cassidy, was left frustrated by his side’s inability to see out the game in the closing stages.

“It could have gone either way but we are disappointed to throw away a one point lead going into injury time.

“But it was our own mistakes that cost us the game.”

‘Enjoyable game’

On the other side, Bradley was pleased with the performances from players following those injuries: “ It was a good game, a very enjoyable game. Both teams missed opportunities at certain stages.

“Ederney missed three or four chances half way through the second half they could have pulled away from us but they let us back into it.

“But from our point of view we were very pleased the people that we brought on that haven’t had a lot of senior football played well and one or two other players stepped up and took ownership when the likes of Brandon and Richie and Paddy Reihill went off injured.

“From that point of view it was a good run out for us but we are under no illusion when we meet Ederney again later on in the year it will be a different kettle of fish.”

Ederney will be disappointed given the amount of possession they enjoyed in the second half but they just were not clinical enough when in the ascendancy which left them vulnerable as the Gaels rallied with those injury time points.

This entertaining encounter burst into life when the visitors netted with their first attack. There was only 90 seconds on the clock when a high ball into the Gaels defence saw two defenders go for the same ball which then broke to Paul McCusker and he raced through to fire low to the net for the perfect start for Ederney.

The Gaels then created a couple of goal chances themselves, Chris Snow doing well to save first from Brandon Horan and then from Paddy Reihill, the latter duo both having to then go off with injury after only eight minutes.

Conor McShea then opened the Gaels account before Paul McCusker and John Reihill exchanged points to leave it 1-01 to 0-02 after 11 minutes.

Pól McKervey fired over from play for Ederney before Reihill quickly replied with another lovely strike of the ball before the Gaels then found the net. Beacom played a super ball to Ethan Beresford who passed to James Ferguson who raced in on goal but again Snow saved superbly. This time though, the ball broke to McShea who slotted home to give the Gaels the lead at 1-03 to 1-02 after 16 minutes.

Marty McGrath then slotted over a super point as he broke in from the left side but Beacom replied with a similar effort as the Gaels stayed in front.

The one point lead was soon four when Ross Bogue fielded a great ball in midfield and fed Beacom who spotted ‘sweeper keeper’ Snow ahead of his full back line and he expertly fired the ball from distance over everyone and into an empty net for a fine goal.

Snow made some amends with a free from 46 metres while Enda Cassidy dragged a good goal chance wide on the stroke of half-time as the Gael s led an entertaining game 2-04 to 1-03 at the break.

Ederney upped the ante at the start of the second half and points from play from McKervey and Jacob Britton quickly narrowed the gap to one before the accurate Reihill replied for the home side.

Reduced gap

Mark McCauley reduced the gap to one in the 37th minute and Snow was nearly caught out of his goal for a second time as Reihill flicked a ball goalwards but the keeper got back on his line just in time but in the resulting confusion, Conal Quinn picked up the pieces and pointed to make it 2-06 to 1-07.

Ederney were on top after this and kicked the next three points to take the lead as Conor Watson and Jacob Britton were black carded in separate incidents. Declan McCusker, Ryan Morris, who caused lots of problems after being introduced at half-time, and McCauley all pointed to give Ederney a 2-06 to 1-10 lead.

Crucially, Ederney kicked a couple of wides in this period before Beresford pointed for the Gaels but McCauley quickly replied and then Beacom and McKervey exchanged points to leave it 2-08 to 1-12 in Ederney’s favour entering injury time.

Marty McGrath then picked up a black card and it looked game over when Beacom missed from a free but he quickly made amends with a good point from play to tie the game.

Then in the 64th minute, the Gaels won the ball again and kept possession before passing to Watson whose high shot cleared the bar to give the Gaels the points after a thrilling encounter.

Looking ahead to Friday night’s game against Devenish, Bradley said he will be forced in to a number of changes in what could be a difficult fixture.

“We certainly will be making seven or eight changes to the team this Friday night against Devenish and most of them are forced changes, it’s not a case of us opting to do that. These guys are going to be out for 2-5 weeks.

“Devenish have been missing a couple of players this last couple of weeks and they are getting some of them back Friday night.

“It is a tricky place to go. Devenish are a very proud club, they are fighting for their first division status and they’ll definitely be bringing it on Friday night.

“The fact we are going to be missing a few of our more senior players really puts the game into the mix in my opinion,” said Bradley

Marty McGrath then picked up a black card and it looked game over when Beacom missed from a free but he quickly made amends with a good point from play to tie the game.

Then in the 64th minute, the Gaels won the ball again and kept possession before passing to Watson whose high shot cleared the bar to give the Gaels the points after a thrilling encounter.