By Niall Gartland and Katrina Brennan
DIVISION Three football has proven a happy hunting ground for Fermanagh in recent times.
In 2015, they finished top of the table, achieving promotion. Three years later, they found themselves back in the third tier, and again managed to climb their way out of it. In 2023, they finished top of the table above Cavan before the briefest possible stay in Division Two.
So not only are they accustomed to playing at this level, but they’re accustomed to doing well whenever they do find themselves operating in the bottom half of the league structure.
So that’s the backdrop to Fermanagh’s upcoming Division Three campaign, where they will be pitted against – deep breath time – Antrim, Clare, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Offaly and Sligo.
Their first outing is against Kildare at Newbridge on Saturday week – the two teams who were dumped out of Division Two last springtime. They’ll have very obvious aspirations of finishing top of the pack after seven rounds of action.
Kieran Donnelly – who recently managed Ulster in the revived Interprovincial series – is back for a fifth season at the helm.
The Brookeborough man took his team down to Haggardstown to play Louth in a challenge game last weekend, coming away with a 2-14 to 0-14 victory.
This Saturday, under newly erected floodlights at Tempo, Fermanagh welcome Monaghan for their final challenge match before the teams get down to business a week later.
With the loss of two key players in Conor McShea and Callum Jones, Donnelly has been trying to unearth some new talent and a string of new players were drafted into the squad in early December.
The inclusion of Kinawley man Paul Breen has been a huge positive for Donnelly and the likes of Jack Largo Elis, who came on for his brother Josh last weekend, has also impressed.
Darragh McGurn is fit and the Belnaleck man has been enjoying the new rules and has been going well as preparation ramps up for the league.
Hugely experienced defender Ché Cullen will miss the start of the league. The Belnaleck player has moved to Cork with his partner and logistically it is proving a challenge but one they hope to overcome.
In other team news, Ronan McCaffrey is in a race against the clock to be fit, the Teemore man has an ongoing hip injury and whilst he is back training, its a case of phasing him back in over the next couple of weeks.
Brandon Horan is another who looks doubtful for Kildare after pulling a hamstring in training, so you could see Kinawley man Breen take up a midfield role alongside Joe McDade.
Derrygonnelly’s Aaron Jones, who’s also playing Sigerson Cup with Ulster University , has done well to date and Garvan Jones has been scoring heavily.
Declan McCusker, a hugely influential figure it goes without saying, will once again have a captain’s role. The Ederney man toyed with the idea of retirement at the end of last season but has committed for another year, while another stalwart – Aidan Breen – has called it quits at intercounty level after a stellar career in green and white.
The 2024 season was particularly straightforward. They were competitive in Division Two – a hiding at the hands of Donegal aside – but wins proved hard to come by and they found themselves relegated in spite of a final round victory over Cavan.
In Ulster, they lost out to Armagh by 3-11 to 0-9 in their only outing, but they still would’ve fancied their chances of a run in the Tailteann Cup. The Ernesiders won all three group stage clashes, including a fine victory over Laois, but their campaign came to an end against Antrim at the quarter-final stage. Fermanagh, who had home advantage by virtue of finishing top of the group, led for 67 minutes but succumbed to a late goal and couldn’t find a way back.
Fermanagh have long dreamt of a maiden Ulster title and they’ve been pitted against Down in the first round. Down will be favourites but it’s a winnable clash for a Fermanagh side that haven’t chalked up an Ulster Championship win of any description since they made a provincial final back in 2018.
There’s been a significant enough turnover in personnel in the mean-time with players of the calibre of Eoin Donnelly and Ryan Jones hanging up the boots. while high-scoring forward Sean Quigley isn’t part of the set-up at present and there’s no talk of a return.
So while Fermanagh will target a hasty return to Division Two football, that’s easier said than done. Sligo came so close to upsetting the odds against Galway in last year’s Connacht championship, Offaly will surely get a bounce under new manager Mickey Harte, Antrim have made progress and they’ll be doing well to come away from their first-round tie against Kildare with anything.
But the Erne County have shown in recent times that they have the ability to exceed expectations. Inside the camp they’ll be fully focused on the task ahead – and the next couple of months will surely show whether they have the potential to launch an all-out assault on Tailteann Cup honours later in the year.
NFL target
PROMOTION from Division Three is the obvious target and successfully achieving that goal would set Fermanagh in great stead for their championship campaign later in the year. Division Three looks strong so missing out wouldn’t be the end of the world – but it’s absolutely critical on a number of levels that they avoid falling through the trapdoor to the bottom tier.
SFC target
FERMANAGH will target springing an upset against Down in the first round of the Ulster Championship having gone six winless years in the province. After that, the Tailteann Cup is the big one. Fermanagh would love to have their day in the sun in a Tailteann Cup final at Croke Park and it certainly isn’t beyond their capabilities.
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