Fermanagh keeper Breen retires

Fermanagh goalkeeper Chris Breen has decided to retire from inter-county football after an eight-year stint between the posts for the Ernesiders.

Manager Peter Canavan favoured Chris Snow for the number 1 jersey during this year's Ulster and All-Ireland Championship and Breen, who made his SFC bow for the county against Down in 2005, now feels his time is up.

A former Northern Ireland schoolboy soccer international, he kept 11 clean sheets in 13 Championship appearances for Fermanagh but found it difficult to nail down a starting berth at times with 'keepers of the quality of Ronan Gallagher, James McGrath and Snow around.

Breen, whose wife Joanne recently gave birth to baby daughter Niamh, will continue to play for his club Enniskillen Gaels - their victory over Brookeboro last Friday put them through to the semi-finals of the Fermanagh Intermediate Championship.

For the final two years of his Fermanagh career Breen combined his inter-county commitments with managing Enniskillen's junior team, so it would be no surprise to see him work his way up the managerial ladder in years to come.