Fermanagh 3-12
Warwickshire 2-7
Warwickshire’s bid to continue their excellent run of form of late hit a stumbling block at Brewster Park, Enniskillen on Saturday as Fermanagh powered to an eight-point Lory Meagher Cup win over the Division 3B Hurling League champions.
Last year’s beaten finalists led throughout against the 2013 winners in a contest where Warwickshire never gave up despite falling nine points in arrears at the end of the opening quarter, and failing to score until the 24th minute.
Fermanagh were comfortable throughout, and could even afford 10 wides over the 70 minutes - in a game which saw Warwickshire finishing with 14-men - after defender Shane Conlan picked up his second yellow card of the afternoon late on.
In a week where Fermanagh hurler and Antrim native Shane Mulholland was laid to rest, a minute silence for both him and local man Cathair McKeown was well observed before the game.
When the action got underway Fermanagh quickly burst out of the blocks. They held firm command in the opening stages, and powered to a 1-6 to 0-0 lead after 17 minutes, as the Warwickshire defence came under tremendous pressure.
Kevin McGarry, John Duffy, and Karl Kehoe taking the hosts points, before JP McGarry snatched the opening goal in the 15th minute.
Warwickshire eventually opened their account after 24 minutes with a well worked goal. A defensive mix-up on Fermanagh’s part saw David Millea cut through to ensure a 1-6 to 1-0 score-line. The St Barnabas clubman may have helped reduce the gap to six points, but this was a mere blip for the hosts.
Duffy’s fourth point of the game came from a free, and set the Erne County on the road once again.
This was the start of a spell which saw Fermanagh score an unanswered 1-3, although Warwickshire finished the half strongly.
Fermanagh moved 2-9 to 1-0 ahead, with a well struck goal from Ciaran Corrigan, who fired a rasping shot past Warwickshire keeper Michael Cremin.
The visitors rallied before the break, with Millea claiming his second goal, before a trio of injury-time points from Emmett McCabe, John Reddan, and Sean Hennessy ensured a 2-9 to 2-3 interval scoreline.
Warwickshire worked hard after the restart as points from Reddan and McCabe cut the gap to four points, but this was as good as it got.
Duffy continued to impress, while there were nice scores also from Daniel Teague, while at the opposite end Andrew Breslin and Mark Curry were solid at sniffing out hopes of a Warwickshire goal chance.
Ciaran Corrigan broke through for Fermanagh’s fourth goal to extend their lead to 3-12 to 2-6, before Conlan’s dismissal as Fermanagh powered to victory.
Scorers for Fermanagh: C Corrigan 2-1, J Duffy 0-5, JP McGarry 1-0, K McGarry 0-2, D Teague 0-2, B Mclaughlin 0-1, K Kehoe 0-1
Scorers for Warwickshire: D Milea 2-0, E McCabe 0-4, J Reddan 0-2, S Hennessy 0-1
Fermanagh: M Curry; D Teague, D McGarry, F Bannon; T Cleary, M Slevin, K Kehoe; J Duffy, D Teague; JP McGarry, K McGarry, B Duffy; C Corrigan, S Curran, B McLaughlin. Subs: A Breslin for Teague (19 mins), D Curran for Cleary (50 mins), O Russell for J Duffy (58 mins), P McGoldrick for Curran (70 mins), C Rice for Karl Kehoe (70 mins)
Warwickshire: M Cremin; D Sheedy, D Kennedy, C Brough; J Meagher, K Courtney, S Conlon; C Robbins, S Hennessy; E McCabe, J Reddan, C Moran; D Milea, J Bergin, C McBride. Subs: P Crehan for Moran (58 mins), J Quinn for C Brough (63 mins)
Referee: K Brady (Louth)
