Ominous Fenagh demolish Gaels challenge with ruthless efficiency

The scary thing is that Fenagh St Caillins' 16 point winning margin in Sunday's Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Quarter-Final didn't flatter them one little bitas they demolished the challenge of Leitrim Gaels with a ruthless display of efficiency and power football in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.

With Ryan and Riordan O'Rourke roaming the wide open spaces of Leitrim GAA's headquarters and seemingly scoring at will, Fenagh St Caillins delivered an absolute masterclass with their intensive all-action style leaving Leitrim Gaels grasping at straws even before the final whistle of an unexpectedly one sided quarter-final.

Perhaps Fenagh were exacting revenge for their one-point loss in the opening round of the championship at the hands of the Gaels or maybe, more accurately, we witnessed a team coming to the boil at just the right time of the championship and one that will be very hard stopped if they can reproduce this sort of form for two more games.

Fans out in force for Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Quarter-Finals - GALLERY

The weather may have ended the day prematurely but fans turned out in their droves for the Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Quarter Finals in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada on Sunday and Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was there to capture some great images of supporters enjoying the day - before the rain! See who you can spot!

That's a question for another day but the intensity St Caillins brought to the fray, their running power from all sectors and adherance to a strict gameplan of attacking the space left to them by Leitrim Gaels meant they never looked in any danger of losing this tie against opponents they have traditionally struggled against.

For the Gaels, looking back over this contest will make grim reading - two scores in the first half, separated by over 30 minutes, left them in a huge hole as they couldn't cope with the variety of threat Fenagh possessed. They tried manfully to carry the fight to their opponents but with Fenagh compressing the space in their own defence and the Gaels pushing up on them, turnovers were turned into scores all too frequently.

Fenagh's ability to turn over the ball and either go long quickly to Ryan and Riordan O'Rourke or alternatively hold onto the ball through a bewildering variety of handpasses executed at dizzing speed before the ball eventually reached the two O'Rourkes was both messimerising and wonderful to watch.

Try as they might, it will be difficult to quieten down the hype about Fenagh now as Sunday's performance showcased a team blessed with physical power, speed, ball skills and, crucially, the ability to score freely.  One caveat, however, is Fenagh won't get as much time or space in the remainder of the championship and many a team has produced big displays one day and struggled to replicate it the next.

It took 24 seconds for the first score to arrive, good work from David Bruen and Donal Casey ending up with Shane Rynn firing over a huge point. Incredibly, Leitrim Gaels wouldn’t not score again until injury time at the end of the first half and by that time, the game was as good as over.

Rynn followed up with a wide but intelligent use of space, a feature of Fenagh’s play, saw Donal Wrynn level on two minutes before Ryan O’Rourke fired over from the right wing two minutes later. Both sides would miss chances and there was a yellow for Colm Moreton for a hefty dunt on Conor Dwyer.

But Fenagh then seemed to move up a gear - David Bruen won a mark and despite a Fenagh player clearly blocking his kick, play was allowed to continue with Mark Keegan finishing off a period of possession play.

Another Gaels attack broke down and a long counter to the wing saw Ryan O’Rourke fire over his second. Riordan O’Rourke emulated his cousin with two on the bounce, the first a long ball and the second after a six or seven pass move from their own defence.

That left Fenagh 0-6 to 0-1 up at the end of the first quarter, a gap that was already looking ominous before another intricate passing move saw the ball almost fired at Eoin McLoughlin. The ball bounced off him but the Fenagh wing-back managed to toe poke the ball past Brian Cull for a goal on 20 minutes.

David Regan strikes for Leitrim Gaels' second goal against Fenagh Picture: Willie Donnellan

Ryan O’Rourke would fire over three points in as many minutes, one from a free, and you could already sense the game was gone from Leitrim Gaels although sub Conor Guckian almost made a break through when David Regan and Aidan Flynn combined but the subs’ shot cannoned off the base of the post with the keeper beaten.

Ryan and Riordan would add three more points, two for the younger man, before Leitrim Gaels won a penalty when Aidan Flynn was fouled in the area. David Regan expertly sent the ball to the net but at 1-12 to 1-1 at the break, the goal already had the feel of a consolation score.

Riordan O’Rourke opened the scoring with Fergal McLoughlin getting in on the scoring act after four minutes. A David Regan free only temporarily halted Fenagh’s run of scores with Donal Wrynn booting a monster 52 yard free over the Gaels crossbar on 37 minutes.

Two more Ryan O’Rourke frees followed, Riordan saw a fisted point attempt hit the woodwork and Wrynn put a free wide but it mattered little, Leitrim Gaels’ one bright spot snuffed out when Aidan Flynn’s goal was ruled out by referee Gareth Foley for a heavy challenge on Ryan Smith after he saved from Regan.

Fergal McLoughlin, Riordan O’Rourke and Ryan O’Rourke would add points before Ryan was substituted as a few heavy challenges obviously took their toll. Jack Gilheaney also came off as an injury precaution and Fenagh will want those two men in particular for the semi-finals.

Eunan Treacy converted a fifty with just over six minutes left and David Regan grabbed his second goal, Ryan Smith saving Donal Casey’s shot but Regan doing very well to force the second ball home.

Fenagh, however, had the last word with points from Riordan O’Rourke and Shane Doonan in a facile win for the League champions.

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FENAGH ST CAILLINS

Scorers: Ryan O’Rourke 0-9, 3f; Riordan O’Rourke 0-7; Eoin McLoughlin 1-0; Donal Wrynn (f) & Fergal McLoughlin 0-2 each; Mark Keegan & Shane Doonan 0-1 each

Team: Ryan Smith, Caillin O’Rourke, Gary Butler, Sean Keegan, Mark Keegan, Jack Gilheaney, Eoin McLoughlin, Daniel McLoughlin, Donal Wrynn, Tom Gilheaney, Ryan O’Rourke, Conor Dwyer, Fergal McLoughlin, Riordan O’Rourke, Shane Smith. Subs: Tony Simms for Ryan O’Rourke (51); Richard Heaney for J Gilheaney (53); Shane Doonan for S Smith (54); Aaron McLoughlin for S Keegan (57)

LEITRIM GAELS

Scorers: David Regan 2-1, 1-1f; Shane Rynn & Eunan Treacy (50) 0-1 each

Team: Brian Cull, Stephen McDermott, Aaron Aldridge, Aaron McLoughlin, Shane Finn, Aidan Flynn, Shaun Chandler, David Bruen, Colm Moreton, Jack Flynn, Donal Casey, Brian Goldrick, David Regan, Shane Rynn, Eunan Treacy. Subs: Conor Guckian for Rynn (24); Michael Connolly for Aldridge (HT); Jamie Rynn for Goldrick (44); Ben Finn for Treacy (54)

Referee: Gareth Foley