By Cian O'Connell

With a delicious twist for Malachy Cullen, Devenish are back operating where they want to be in a Fermanagh SFC Final.

The proud and passionate club haven’t contested a county senior decider since 1998, only a matter of months after Cullen joined from Aodh Ruadh in Ballyshannon. Cullen was a panel member 19 years ago and in the intervening two decades he has busied himself preparing and training teams at every level in Devenish.

“1998 was the last final, 1996 was the last one they won, it has been 19 years,” Cullen says. “I was part of the panel in '98, Enniskillen Gaels beat us that year, they were very, very good.” Crossmaglen Rangers were beginning to acquire confidence and momentum, though. “They went on to an Ulster Final against Cross, they lost, but probably should have won it,” Cullen recalls.

Devenish toiled away from the glamour of County Final day. On seven occasions in a dozen years they were beaten at the penultimate stage. Sheer hard work was being clocked up.

“I have been coaching all along,” Cullen states. “When I came up that year I took on an Under 15 team with a friend of mine Tony Rasdale. We won that League actually.

“Funny enough an awful lot of that team we still have at senior level now. We had them at 15s, 16s, minors, I played with a good few of them when we won a Junior Championship. I've coached them then and trained them at senior level. This is my third time with them.”

A Fermanagh League title in 2008 offered a glimmer of hope, but it is only now that the conversations are being peppered with talk about Sunday’s trip to Brewster Park for what promises to be an interesting encounter with favourites Derrygonnelly Harps.

“It is fabulous because the club is actually celebrating its Centenary Year,” Cullen remarks. “There is great excitement in the club, particularly for the young teams.

“An awful lot of them would never have experienced a Men's Championship Final. We've had a couple of Ladies successes, but we haven't had Men's in a long time so there is great excitement.

“We are quite small, we are down in west Fermanagh. To say we are small is even overstating it, we would be one of the smaller clubs. Derrygonnelly, Belcoo, Erne Gaels are our neighbours, we are kind of boxed in. Leitrim is behind us, so we are quite small, geographically and in numbers.”

Small, but important steps are being taken in the underage ranks which is vital according to Cullen. “Our under 14s this year won their Feile in Fermanagh and got to the Division Nine Feile Final,” Cullen says. “They are doing quite well. Our underage Ladies at Under 13 won their League so did our boys. Our Under 16s they are in a League Final in a couple of weeks. We aren't doing too bad, we are going along quite well.”

The summer and autumn has been sprinkled with exciting matches involving Devenish. Surviving a couple of early scares Cullen acknowledges the drama. “It has been like that alright,” Cullen laughs. “Against Teemore the first day, they are quite a big, physical team with some experience we were lucky, very, very lucky to get a draw the first day. We were good the second day out.

“Tempo are top of Division Two, they are a very good young team. Our current team lost seven semi-finals in the last 12 years. We just couldn't break the semi-final duck and I think that played a big part in that game. It was very nerve ridden. Hopefully that is all gone because we are playing Derrygonnelly, they are double double champions for the past two years. They are quite a formidable outfit.”

Being involved with teams, though, brings the same joy and excitement. Growing up in Ballyshannon Cullen learned valuable sporting lessons. “I was very lucky, I won a Senior Championship with Ballyshannon in 1994 and I captained the club in 1988 at Under 21 level when we won,” Cullen recalls. “So I have a lot of good memories and I got a good grounding.”

The building continues with Devenish.