Three goals in the opening 30 min­utes certainly swung matters Der­rygonnelly's way in this lively ju­venile league division three clash played early last week at the Belcoo ground. Those three goals separated the teams at the inter­val and it left Devenish with a massive task on their hands on the resumption if they were to haul themselves back into the reckoning.

Devenish were to make a com­mendable effort to bridge the gap and they gave themselves every encouragement with a scoring burst in the immediate minutes af­ter the restart, a goal and a couple of points significantly narrowing the deficit, but that was as good as it was to get for them.

Derrygonnelly steadied their ship in the middle stages of the half and from the three-quarter mark onwards they gradually re­gained the command that they had enjoyed earlier in the hour. A fourth goal for the Harps was the killer blow and there was to be no way back for Devenish after that.

For the winning side, wing half­backs Ryan McTaggart and Tiernán Daly were both very effective throughout while in the centre of the park Conal Jones got through a lot of steady work. Up front for them, Brian Hoy was to emerge as the game's most prolific attacker, finishing with a haul of two goals and two points.

Ryan Elliott was another to show up especially well for Derry­gonnelly, but essentially this was a smooth team performance and this was the basic platform of their eight point success.

For Devenish, Jason Leonard was a tenacious full-back and he was to get solid support in the de­fensive sector from wing half Vin­cent O'Brien. Further up the park, the most prominent figure for the Garrison side was half forward Martin Doherty.

The teams were both quick off the mark - four points being equally shared before Derrygonnelly broke clear with a two-goal salvo. Brian Hoy and Conor Duffy were the two to fire in the goals that put their team on the road to victory.

Devenish were set back by this burst but they answered with a couple of points, which suggested that they might not be over­whelmed. However, they were handed another hit when Derry­gonnelly pounced for a third goal, the alert Hoy again the marks­man, and in the lead up to the break a rampaging Harps strengthened their position with a trio of points, Ryan Elliott, Eugene McManus and advancing half­back Chris Brennan all scoring.

Devenish were in deep trouble but they were to make a deter­mined effort to clamber out of the hole. A Declan Rasdale penalty goal boosted them and they mo­mentarily looked capable of at least making the leaders sweat a little in the final quarter.

But Devenish's chances evapo­rated when they conceded the fourth goal of the evening, Chris Ferguson notching the score that put the result beyond doubt. Late in the game, Devenish did get some reward for the committed display that they had put in when Gavin Gallagher drove in for a fine goal but the silverware was clear­ly destined for Derrygonnelly.