ENNISKILLEN manager Simon Bradley watched his side see off Kinawley in Brewster Park on Friday night but he wants to see his side be more clinical in front of the posts.
Defensively, they held Kinawley to five points but Bradley knows they need to be scoring more than 1-08 if they are to make a big impact at the business end of the competition.
“We were pleased defensively but we have plenty of work to do at the top end of the pitch. If you look at the other games this weekend, Derrygonnelly got 1-18, Devenish scored 18 points, Ederney 2-13 and Erne Gaels 2-13 as well. Those are the types of scorelines that we need to be getting and we had opportunities to do it. We have identified it as an area and the players will take responsibility for improving that,” he said.
The win made it two out of two in Group B and other results meant that the Gaels have secured top spot with a game to spare, something they targeted at the outset.
“It was something that we said at the start would probably work in our favour this year. Last year actually the extra game probably helped us but we feel we are in a place where the extra week’s training and potential to do things that weekend will probably help us,” said Bradley.
And with top place ensured, Bradley says that he will have a look at a few players against Devenish.
“I’ll be giving Devenish the utmost respect, they will be trying to get the win to avoid the relegation play-off and make the knockout stages but at the same time I have a duty of care to my squad so I do foresee some changes in giving some players championship time which they badly need,” he added.
‘Strengthen any squad’
And the Gaels squad is boosted by the return of two players from America – Eoin Beacom and Aaron Nolan.
“Eoin would strengthen any squad so we are delighted to have him back and we are looking forward to welcoming Aaron Nolan back as well. The great thing is that the boys have really bought into the squad ethos and understand what we are trying to do.”
Kinawley manager Dom Corrigan was disappointed with his side’s start to the game on Friday night but was pleased with how they responded.
‘No complaints’
Overall, I have no complaints and we need to take the learnings from it. We can’t go into a game and be so outplayed for that 15-minute period because you are going to be chasing it all the time. We regrouped and kept going and I was reasonably happy that we could get a good start to the second half but instead of us tipping on a score Enniskillen got a goal and that really killed the game as a contest.
“We kept the Gaels to 1-08 and there mightn’t be too many teams in Fermanagh who keep them to that this year so that was pleasing but we need to be playing much better and getting more scores on the board at the other end,” he said.
The focus now though is on a crunch game against Ederney on Sunday with the three places below Enniskillen still to be confirmed.
“This is real championship this weekend. We know each other well, especially now we are in round three, so every game will be very interesting. We expect a great battle with Ederney but know that we need to be taking massive improvements from last Friday night into this game in Tempo for us to get the result,” added Corrigan.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here