Fermanagh hurlers will be confident

Review of last year

IT was a case of what might have been for the Fermanagh hurlers last year as they came out second best in the Lory Meaghar final against an in-form Louth team.

In saying that, it was an impressive championship campaign given that the league had gone really poorly.

Under the tutelage once again of manager Joe Baldwin. they finished joint-bottom of Division 3B, which frankly speaks for itself, and only won a single match, overcoming Leitrim on their first day out.

That was as good as it got for them as they lost by 0-17 to 0-12 to Cavan on their second match before particularly forgettable defeats to Sligo and Lancashire poured salt in the wound.

However, they came back strong after the lockdown, and they hit a flurry of late scores to snatch a one-point victory over Louth, one of the county’s most memorable and promising victories in some time, while a draw with neighbours Cavan ensured them of their place in the final.

They faced a repeat meeting against the Wee county, but they struggled to cope with Louth’s superior firepower and lost by 2-19 to 2-8 at Croke Park on a day where the Fermanagh ladies won their All-Ireland Junior title, so it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the county.

Still though, it represented a degree of progress for the Erne hurlers, buoyed by the emerging Luca McCusker, Caolan Duffy and Tom Keenan, while long-serving stalwarts like Andrew Breslin and Francis McBrien were also excellent.

Sean Corrigan led the way up front, and finished second in the overall ranks in the Lory Meagher Cup, averaging over six points a game.

Manager

RETURNING manager Joe Baldwin has good news to report as he has introduced a significant number of new faces to the panel. Barney McCauley, Ruairi Bannon and Kevin McGarry have all been given clearance to line out for Fermanagh this year under the rule that ‘weaker’ counties can take in three outside players from ‘stronger’ counties. McGarry is a Fermanagh native but transferred to Portaferry and Down some years ago.

Talented young players like Peter Rafferty and Darragh McPhillips have also entered the fold, while Thomas Cleary has returned to the flock and there are a number of other lads who weren’t on the squad for their Lory Meaghar final last year, like Aaron Magee, who are understood to be in great shape and ready for selection.

Prediction

FERMANAGH hurlers will be quietly confident of making their mark in Division 3B this year – even achieving promotion – but they’ll likely have to get the better of Louth to do so. The Wee county were relegated from Division 3A last year, but they came out in top of the Lory Meagher Cup, so they’ll be eyeing up a return to the second-lowest placed league at the first time of asking. The Erne county had a strong panel so they’ll be hoping to do better than last year in the league, and that would set them up for another tilt at championship glory even if they miss out on promotion.