Ederney 1-12 Derrygonnelly Harps 1-10

In life in Fermanagh, there are usually three certainties, death, taxes and Derrygonnelly Harps winning close encounters.

But the Harps unusually did not deliver on the third inevitability as they were deservedly pipped by a resurgent 14-man Ederney on a damp dark evening in Ederney, in the summer we have not.

It looked well set up for a Harps win when Ederney lost wing forward Eoin McKervey to a straight red seven minutes from time.

A minute later Ryan Jones tied matters at 1-10 each with five minutes left on the clock.

Referee James Lewis played four minutes of extra time as the home side hit two fine late points from Luke Harron and Paul McCusker to seal a much-needed and thoroughly deserved victory.

But Ederney also gifted a goal to the Harps on the restart as a result of ‘Gaelic Roulette’ when keeper Chris Snow was caught 55 metres out from his goal as Sean McCarron lost possession and Garvan Jones casually lobbed the ball over the stranded keeper’s head.

The winners led by 1-07 to 0-06 at the break in a half where the Harps, who were minus Conall Jones, Leigh Jones, Mickey Jones, Oisin Smyth, Shane McGullion and Jack Kelly were under repeated pressure from Ederney’s sheer pace.

Ederney’s main absentees were Conor McGee and Sean Cassidy and they went 0-02 to 0-00 thanks to early points from McCarron and Declan McCusker.

The Harps opened their account through Aidan Duffy.

Shay Deazley and Garvan Jones swapped points before two Pól McKervey points put the home side into a 0-06 to 0-03 lead by the 20th minute.

Aidan McKenna and Garvan Jones responded for a Harps side who also hit six wides.

It was 0-07 to 0-06 as the short whistle beckoned before a sweeping Ederney move ended with McCarron palming to the net.

That advantage was quickly negated when Snow was trapped in no man’s land early in the second half to cut Ederney’s lead to 1-07 to 1-06.

Paul McCusker increased their lead to two points and that set the pattern for a closely contested second half.

Niall Maguire and Ryan Jones were on target for the Harps while Paul McCusker replied for Ederney as it became very difficult to make out the players in the gathering gloom.

It looked grim for the home side when they lost the influential McKervey.

But a strong gutsy finish saw them pick up two precious points.

Happy Ederney boss Chris Kelly, who was part of the management team when they won an emotional county championship in 2020 said: “It was our best performance of the year so far.

“The things that we wanted to do came to fruition which is good after our poor recent run.

“It is good for the boys to see that what we are actually trying to do works and that should be a massive confidence boost for them in the future.

“And we have the quality of Sean Cassidy and another few boys to come back as well.

“There are boys who could have come off the bench tonight and fitted into that system just as well and that is encouraging too.

“We are pleased to get that win as it was badly needed.

“The lads dug in and showed massive character and it is no secret that our strength is our running and tonight was the first night that we did that as a unit and the boys got their reward and we will have to build on that now.”

This is the Harps' second defeat on the trot but they will not be unduly worried as they have big guns to come back as the business end of the season approaches.