Newtownbutler 2-13 Lisnaskea 3-06

Newtownbutler took the derby bragging rights with victory over Lisnaskea in their Division Two opener on Saturday afternoon.

Jarlath Jackman’s late goal proved crucial as Darren Chapman’s side edged to a four-point win despite being down to 14 players for the majority of the game following Diarmuid King’s Red Card.

Newtown manager Darren Chapman was pleased with the character shown by his side after the dismissal.

“It was great to get the win. We played for 50-plus minutes with 14 men, and what was especially pleasing was the resilience and the character shown by such a young group of players to go on and win,” he said.

Kealan Fitzpatrick and Diarmuid King opened Newtownbutler’s scoring with two well-taken points before Joe McDade responded at the other end.

Justy McDade converted a free kick for the Emmets to tie the game until Newtownbutler grabbed their first goal eight minutes into the contest after some patient build-up play resulted in Ger O’Keefe adding a composed finish to push his team out in front.

However, the Lisnaskea response was immediate as Joe McDade punched the ball into the net after a high kick into the square. Fitzpatrick added another score before ’Newtown were reduced to 14 men when Diarmuid King was shown a Red Card for an off-the-ball incident.

Sean Keenan added a score for the away side after the 20-minute mark with Jamie McCaffrey pulling one back a moment later.

Conor Courtney and Donal McDaid added scores for the home team before the break to see them take a slender lead into half time.

Damian Kelly added an early score for the visitors in the second half, but Fitzpatrick (2) replied.

Justy McDade’s point was followed by a James McBrien goal with just under ten minutes to go when Conor Clarke broke a high ball down for Justy McDade, who broke forward and sent the ball towards the square for McBrien, who caught the ball and found the bottom corner.

Sean Keenan added another goal from the penalty spot as Lisnaskea made a late push.

However, late points from James Connolly, Sean Conlon, Barry O’Keefe, and Jamie McCaffrey added to Jackman’s injury-time goal when he won the ball from a kick out and smashed the ball into the net to wrap up Newtownbutler’s victory.

Newtown will be hoping to follow up their win this weekend as they take on Aghadrumsee at St. Macartan’s Park, although Chpman expects another tough test.

“It is always a tough tussle and always very competitive, and it will be more of the same on Friday night,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lisnaskea will play at home to Devenish following their strong win against Coa on Tuesday night.