Improved Fermanagh looking another win

By Niall Gartland

THIS time last year Fermanagh produced a fairly underwhelming performance in their league meeting against Antrim, losing out on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-8, but they’ve reason to believe that this time will be different.

Kieran Donnelly is now in his second year in charge and has had time to make his mark on the team, and they’re coming off the back of a morale-boosting victory against Down last weekend, a thrilling contest culminating in a game-winning goal from Sean Quigley right at the death.

It was emblematic of a team that are motivated, sharp and united at the moment, and with two wins already under their belts after three games, they’re in a fairly comfortable position already as we cross the mid-way point of Division Three.

The Erne County have undergone something of a transition in recent years, and their young players are in fantastic form at the minute. Darragh McGurn was exceptional against Down, while it was also heartening from a Fermanagh perspective to see Lee Cullen back on the pitch and playing well after a few years away from the fold.

While they were characterised as a very defensive team during the Rory Gallagher years (let’s not forget they did reach an Ulster final), they’ve found a nice blend of defence and attack and moved the ball at pace against the Mourne County.

In all, they scored 2-14 across the hour, and they also scored 11 points in the first half alone against Longford a few weeks back, so they’re motoring along nicely and will be quietly confident of claiming a third league win of the campaign when they take on Antrim, who are still in the very early days of Andy McEntee’s time in charge.