Declan Bonner was left “disappointed” at the postponement of the Senior Championship final on Sunday.

The Fermanagh County Board called the game off on Sunday morning after Storm Ashley arrived and Enniskillen and Erne Gaels’ meeting has now been fixed this coming Sunday in Brewster Park at 4pm.

Fermanagh PRO Deirdre Felloni hit out after strong reaction to the decision on social media.

“Instead of being keyboard warriors, they can come out and start joining committees and make the decisions we have to make,” she said.

Meanwhile, Bonner suggested the game could have been brought forward alongside the Intermediate final due to the fact the county board knew about the storm as early as last Monday.

An issue for Erne Gaels is that their hurlers are due to play in the Ulster JHC against Sean Treacy’s of Armagh on Saturday with five dual players.

Bonner has called on the county board to try and get the Ulster club fixture switched to avoid players playing both games.

Two years ago, there was strong criticism of the Board after an identical fixture was called off at the 11th hour.

“Some might say it is easy being wise after the event- but we all knew it was coming last Monday and that was plenty of time to re-fix the game,” Bonner said.

“Ideally it could have been brought forward to Saturday. We all knew what was coming down the tracks so there was ample warning.

“There was no reason why it could not have gone ahead on Saturday night as a double header with the Intermediate final.

He added that it was not just the players who were affected but people had come from all over the world in hopes that Erne Gaels would end a 43-year wait for a senior title.

“You had lads taking off work next week and the annoying thing is that this was preventable,” he added.

“All the lads were up for it and of course it is the same for Enniskillen Gaels. But I have spoken to the lads and now we have to re-set- but the focus is strong and we will be approaching this week in the same way we approached last week and we will be ready for the challenge next week.”

When asked about Erne Gaels having up to five dual players in action on Saturday, he said: “You would hope that the Fermanagh County will take action here and that common sense will prevail as we have a number of dual players.

“Nothing will detract from our focus, and I would expect that they should appeal to the Ulster Council to have the hurling match re-scheduled.

“These lads have to be given precedence in the county senior football final and the hurlers should be accommodated as well. I am sure common sense will prevail.”

In response, Fermanagh County Board PRO rejected the claim that the storm had been predicted since last Monday.

And she clarified that Brewster Park could not hold a double header due to ongoing work on dressing rooms and hit out at “keyboard warriors.”

“I would love these keyboard warriors, instead of being keyboard warriors they can come out and start joining committees and make the decisions we have to make.”

“It only became a named storm on Friday morning, and it only became a Yellow Storm warning on Friday evening/Saturday morning.

“So do we cancel the match on Monday and then there is nothing? On Sunday morning it turned from Yellow to Amber and that was how quick it was.

“We were monitoring the weather and sometimes these storms can be hit and miss.
“It got worse from Friday.”

The Erne PRO added: “Look we have three weeks until the Ulster Club Championship so there is no big rush to allow for replays.”

When asked why the game could not have been brought forward to Brewster Park as a double header, she said: “It could not because at present, Brewster Park does not have the facilities for a double header with some of the changing rooms out of action and they are not ready yet.

“Brewster Park is the only pitch where a game can be played under lights. We could not predict the weather, and it only changed to a Status Orange late on and it was in the interests of, for example, Belleek supporters coming up the winding Shore Road to the match- we did not want to put them at risk in the bad weather."

She added: “I stood out on Brewster Park at 9am yesterday and there was no wind and then it picked up and got worse.”

When quizzed about a possible rescheduling of Erne Gaels’ hurling tie, the PRO said the club would have to approach the Ulster Council and they would have the full support of the board.