Step up in class is steep for Erne faithful
THE real blessing of Fermanagh’s season cranking back into gear today is that it will stop them looking backwards.
On the face of it, they should have little cause for regret after a rare season of Sundays that saw them win promotion to Division 2 and reach a first Ulster final in 10 years.
But the reality is that football teams rarely winter well on the back of losing a big game and they are no different.
It isn’t so much that they did not take pride in what they achieved, just that it ended so flat. And it wasn’t so much that they lost, but that they never managed to give themselves a chance to win.
Eoghan Ban Gallagher’s goal 12 minutes into the Ulster final left them trailing by four points, and by half-time their deficit had doubled and they were sunk.
‘That was the biggest regret, coming away knowing you hadn’t performed anywhere to our potential,’ admits their centre-back and sweeping specialist James McMahon.
‘If we had performed to our capabilities and Donegal had beaten us by a couple of points you could hold your hands up and sort of accept it, but the fact we didn’t produce a performance ourselves was definitely the biggest disappointment of all and it is one that is still there.’
It is not as if today’s McKenna Cup opener against Ulster University will do anything to ease that sense of disappointment, which was further compounded by an 11-point defeat by Kildare in a fourth round qualifier, but it will point them in another direction.
They have much to look forward to, not least a return to Division 2 football after their relegation in 2017.
Viewed through the prism of that drop to Division 3, the manner in which their last season petered out hardly needs explaining. Despite the glory of their ambush of Monaghan in the Ulster semi-final, they were unable to lay a hand on either Donegal or Kildare — both operating out of Division 1. Division 1 and Division 3 football are worlds apart, but this spring Fermanagh will find themselves under the same roof as their summer tormentors. There is added value in that for the Erne men as Donegal await them in the opening round of next year’s Championship. ‘We were really hoping for a home draw and after that you can’t ask for much more. ‘It was nearly inevitable after the way it ended last year that we would get them, and it’s a tough draw,’ said McMahon. The likelihood, though, is that it will take more than hurt to bridge that chasm in class. After all with Rory Gallagher at the helm, Donegal’s former manager, Fermanagh hardly lacked for motivation last year. But coming up with an attacking game-plan was a different issue.
Gallagher provided the team with the defensive structure they craved after the bottom fell out in Pete McGrath’s final season and it delivered.
In winning promotion, they conceded on average just 11 points per game — the best defensive record in the top three divisions.
And it carried through to the Championship when they limited Armagh to 0-7 and Monaghan, incredibly, to 0-10, but that is impossible to do on a consistent basis against the best teams.
In short, they have to find a better balance to their gameplan this spring if they are to move forward.
‘It’s a tough step up,’ McMahon admits. ‘A right few of our squad would have played in it a few years ago and they know what to expect.
‘Every division you go up you’re playing against better quality but that can only be a good thing.
‘We found there was things we got away with in Division 3 last year that did not get away with in Division 2 the previous year. That can only improve us.’