Fermanagh park Ulster disappointment as the Tailteann Cup beckons

By Katrina Brennan

THE Down defeat has been “parked”, says manager Kieran Donnelly, as attention turns to their Tailteann Cup opener against Carlow on Sunday.

The draw was made last week and sees top seeds Fermanagh, grouped with Carlow, Longford and Wexford.

On paper, it appears to be a reasonable draw for Fermanagh because when you look at some of the other teams that they could have drawn – the likes of Sligo, Laois and Antrim to name but a few, well, it could’ve been a whole lot more difficult.

But Kieran Donnelly isn’t looking at it like that. He is preparing for three games in the same way as he would for any opposition.

“The big thing for us was to avoid a long trip to an away venue. We have Longford (away) in our second game, so that was a massive plus because we could’ve picked up the likes of London or Waterford.

“The competition is going to be really competitive and they’re all games that we have to take on their merit. Carlow gave us a tough enough game last year down in Carlow, so we’ll give each team the respect they deserve and we’ll just hope to bring the level of performance we know we can into the games.”

Fermanagh’s performance against Down in the Ulster Championship quarter-final over a fortnight ago was as good as they’ve produced under Donnelly. But they let a seven-point lead slip that day, so learning from that will be the big thing and Donnelly has praised his players’ attitude since that.

“All we could do, as devastated as we were, was try and take the positives of the performance and realise the level we produced was as good as we have done.

“They haven’t been hard to get back motivated again, it’s a competition the boys are looking forward to. It’s one they know, realistically, that if we perform to the levels we produced against Down, we can do well in.”

Last year, Down won the Tailteann Cup, so Fermanagh know they have what it takes to get some silverware this season, after running the Mournemen so close.

To win it outright would mean a lot and there’s also the extra incentive of a place in the Sam Maguire competition next season and a team holiday grant from Croke Park.

But, thoughts of that are far away as Fermanagh get ready to play their first round game at home to Carlow on Sunday.

“It’s going to be a competitive championship with Kildare, Offaly and Sligo; they’ll all be believing they can win it, so it’s going to be a competitive one,” said the Erne manager.

Fermanagh played a challenge match with Cavan last weekend in Kinawley and lost by five points but it will be useful preparation for this weekend’s Brewster Park clash.

The Erne men look set to be without Paul Breen after he sustained an ankle injury the last day out and Donnelly confirmed that this weekend might be just too soon.

“Paul has been a real positive of our season. He started every game which is a credit to him; he has a superb attitude and has been a real find for us as a county.

“He rolled his ankle (against Down). He’s a quick healer and we haven’t put a time frame on it but maybe not for this weekend,” said Donnelly.

Carlow finished fourth in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League after a mixed campaign where they won three, lost three and drew one game and come into this game off the back of a heavy 1-30 to 0-19 championship defeat to Leinster Champions Meath in the quarter-final.

Their buildup to that game was far from ideal after their manager Shane Curran and his backroom team departed at the end of March, citing “player-related issues” following their final league game in Ruislip, against London.

The management had said “ongoing issues with certain players, which were further compounded by the failure of several squad members to return home with the team after last weekend’s NFL game in London” as the reason, though the players themselves released a statement refuting that.

Carlow appointed interim manager Joe Murphy following Curran’s departure and they’ll be keen to get their season back on track.

There’s nothing more dangerous than a team that has something to prove and Kieran Donnelly and his team will be well aware of this come Sunday.