Fermanagh county final called off due to heavy rainfall

POSTPONED: The game will be played at 8pm on Saturday night.

THE Fermanagh final fell foul of a huge downpour around lunchtime on Sunday, forcing the postponement of the decider between Enniskillen Gaels and Erne Gaels.

The game will be played at 8pm on Saturday night, with an open gate policy. All donations will be made to the nominated charity; Friends of Cancer Centre.

Despite the unstinting efforts of many club volunteers in trying to push rainwater off the surface prior to referee James Lewis assessing the pitch, it was patently unsafe to play any game of football, let alone the county showpiece game.

“It was the right decision,” said county board Chairman, Brian Armitage.

“In the interests of player safety more than anything else. The two managers were in total agreement that it wouldn’t be wise to go ahead with the game because of the surface water on the pitch.

“Even though Enniskillen Gaels have made a tremendous effort from early this morning in sweeping water off the pitch and spiking. It just didn’t happen unfortunately, and I would say at least a third of the pitch is totally unplayable.

“The players themselves were out and the ball didn’t even bounce. So that in itself was explanatory.” Asked what the referee communicated, he responded, “James went round and basically said that he didn’t want to take the risk of going ahead in the interest of player safety in case there was a serious injury or anything like that.

“That was his assessment so unfortunately we had to call it off.” 

Armitage also revealed that the Ederney ground was on standby for the final, but due to the timing of the last downpour, it left it too late for patrons to travel across the county, and that the pitch was in perfect condition even after the Intermediate final played there on Saturday night.