There was delight and also relief for Derrygonnelly manager Sean Flanagan at the final whistle on Sunday.

There was relief that Ultan Kelm’s late thunderbolt came back off the crossbar and didn’t bounce down and into the net while there was also the obvious delight that the Harps had regained the New York Cup after failing to make the final last year for the first time in eight years.

That semi-final loss to Enniskillen stung and Flanagan says that it was satisfying to bounce back this year and lift the cup.

“Last year the Gaels beat the boys in the semi-final and there was huge disappointment in the club. I suppose they have been used to contesting finals and when they weren’t in it and got beat in the semi-final there was huge hurt there.

“At the start of the year – and it is the same every year – your goal is to get to a championship final, you have to set your stall out and see where it gets you in the championship. Championship days are what really tests you and it was really satisfying to get through there today,” he said.

Derrygonnelly targeted a big start to the game and they got just that as Gary McKenna hit the net after three minutes as they settled quickly into the game to open up a five-point advantage.

“We have been a wee bit sloppy at stages in games, we’ve had middling starts and then we have let teams back into it. We focused on getting a good start today and not panicking and taking our scores and it worked well,” stated Flanagan.

However, he admits that their plans were thrown a bit by the dismissal of Aidan McKenna after only 18 minutes, leaving the Harps have to play three-quarters of the game with 14 men.

“The red card really changed the game for us altogether, we had to get a different set up but we got to half time and then we talked about it and what was going to happen in the second half. In fairness to the boys you couldn’t be anything but full of praise for them in the way they dogged it out,” he added.

Down a man, a lot of teams would have struggled but this is a Harps team laden with big-game experience and that came to the fore over the remainder of the contest.

“There is definitely great experience, Jonesy and Conall have great experience but then we have other boys who stepped up really well today, the likes of Rian McGovern, Eamo (Eamon McHugh) were really good.

“Boys presented for the ball, the likes of Leigh Jones and Aaron Jones they didn’t go hiding when the pressure was on. Erne Gaels were pressing us but we controlled the ball well at stages.”

Still, it all came down to fine margins and Flanagan acknowledged that if Kelm’s shot had dipped under the bar to put Erne Gaels ahead for the first time in the game in added on time then the likelihood is that the day would have ended up in defeat for Derrygonnelly.

“How fine is that, the thickness of the post, that was probably a game-winning score so we know how lucky we were to get over the line. Look, Oisin (Smyth) and Ultan had a real battle all day and that was probably the one time that he got in on Oisin,” said Flanagan.

It is now into an Ulster Club campaign for the Harps who will face Down champions Kilcoo at Brewster Park on November 5 but Flanagan stressed that they would enjoy their victory before worrying about that game.

“We have Kilcoo here in two weeks but we have to enjoy this one because there were lots of things being said about us at different stages throughout the year, and rightly so when we didn’t perform.

“But I think this group knows where they are and they are still a force to be reckoned with when they all start to play.

“And I think that is the big thing for us now. One time we were reliant maybe on the bigger men but we now have 15 men who can go out and play,” he said.