By Niall Gartland

BY no means are Fermanagh on a hiding to nothing in this year’s Ulster Championship, according to Ronan McCaffrey.

They don’t yet know for sure who they’ll face in the first round of the provincial series, but it will definitely be a team with recent enough experience of winning the biggest prize of all, the Sam Maguire.

2021 All-Ireland winners Tyrone take on 2024 champions Armagh in an eagerly anticipated preliminary round tussle on Sunday week at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds.

If Tyrone spring a surprise, they will host Fermanagh in the first round proper, while if Armagh advance they will travel to Brewster Park to take on the Ernesiders. Whatever transpires, Declan Bonner’s side will go in as rank outsiders.

They endured a turbulent league campaign in Division Three and found themselves relegated, but while there’s no silver bullet, they’re well-aware of where it all went wrong. The performances were decent but a lack of cutting edge up front proved their fatal flaw, and Teemore clubman Ronan McCaffrey says they’ll pull out all the stops towards rectifying the matter ahead of the championship.

“We’ve been creating ample chances and not executing them – that’s been our downfall but the thing about it is that it’s something we can control.

“We were in most of the games we lost, and we let a couple of big leads slip, so we’re mindful that it is stuff that we can control.

“So we know what’s let us down throughout the league and that’s going to be a big focus over the next couple of weeks, and we’ve a bit of a cushion as we’re awaiting the winners of the preliminary round.

“It’s exciting for us, we’re going to prepare as best as we can, and then we’ll give it our best shot whether the game’s in Omagh or Brewster Park.”

Before this year, McCaffrey knew nothing else other than playing under former Fermanagh forward Kieran Donnelly, who stepped down at the helm last August after four years in charge. McCaffrey will always have fond memories of the man who gave him his chance at senior intercounty level, but he has also felt invigorated by the contributions of the new set-up headed up by Declan Bonner. Bonner needs little in the way of introduction – he’s an All-Ireland winner with Donegal and a former manager of his native county, but he also knew more than a thing or two about Fermanagh football having led Erne Gaels to back-to-back Senior Championships in the last two seasons.

“I thought we did very well under Kieran. I enjoyed my time with him and I’m sure all the other lads had the same thoughts,” said McCaffrey.

“At the same time, there’s a bit of freshness there with the new set-up. It takes a bit of getting used to at the start, but Declan and Paul [Brennan] have brought a different dimension with their coaching style, and it’s adding something new to the team.

“We have to learn from them –both have played and coached at the highest level, and you can see that in the fact they’ve won two championships with Erne Gaels. They really know football. It’s just about getting everyone on the same wavelength with the new setup. It won’t be perfect from the start, but I think we’re moving in the right direction.

This time last year, Fermanagh were in the midst of their preparations for their Ulster Championship opener against Down. They gave it everything on the big day and inspired by man of the match Conor Love led by 0-21 to 0-14 eight minutes from time. A superb two pointer from Down’s Daniel Guinness was followed by late goals from the same man and Ryan McEvoy to seal a memorable comeback. Fermanagh were shell-shocked after the game, but McCaffrey said there were lessons to be learned by the manner of their defeat.

“We put huge effort into that game, and we’ll do the same this year. We got oursevles in a great position with 10 minutes to go, and you could see no real winner other than ourselves. Look, that’s the way it sometimes goes under the new rules too.

“Games are never over and you see big momentum swings in games, so when you have a period of supremacy, you really have to make the most of it.”