Fermanagh manager pleased to see his side book league final place
HAPPY Fermanagh hurling boss Joe Baldwin was pleased with the fact that his side have qualified for the NHL Division 3B final after a hard-fought win over Longford at a most mucky Brewster Park last Saturday.
And he regards the win as a “psychological victory” ahead of any probable meeting with Longford in the final in Croke
Park in a fortnight.
Of course, there were huge questions about the suitability of the pitch but Baldwin said both sides were keen for the fixture to go ahead.
“Brewster Park and Enniskillen Gaels have been very good to us, so I am not going to say anything against the pitch,” he said.
“But I was a bit concerned when we arrived up here today as there was surface water on the pitch, but both teams wanted to play the game and it was the referee’s call.
“It is his decision and thankfully we got the result, but the conditions made good hurling virtually impossible.”
Longford had a physical edge on Fermanagh, and this was very apparent as their full backs made it very difficult for a smaller, lighter Fermanagh full forward line to make any real headway in the conditions.
“A day like that is a great a leveller and our low, fast balls into our full forward line were just not physically possible,” Baldwin explained.
‘A bit cross’
“I was a bit cross at half-time, but it took us a while to realise that we were trying to play it through the hand and we were getting turned over and the ball was dropping, and it was wet and sticky.
“Hopefully, we will have a drier sod next time out and you will see a better performance from us.
“It was the same for both teams, but we are just glad to get the win.”
And, while Longford went down a man, they had the better of the third quarter and actually led by 0-05 to 0-04.
“We got a little bit complacent but they had a few soft frees and they only scored two points from play, but we found frees very hard to come by today,” Baldwin said.
“It was very physical, and you can get some strange decisions.
“But we are through to a league final and that was our objective.”
It took a few moments of magic from Danny Teague to put the Erne boys on the road to victory.
Baldwin went on: “Danny can do it and we took him out of defence. When he picked up the booking, we put him inside as we were short a bit on the bench.
“He can play inside and is just so versatile and he hit two great points.
“We pulled Luca Mccusker back and he did very well.”
But Fermanagh hit six wides in a row as they got on top in the home stretch.
“Yes, I am very aware of that,” the boss continued, “and we had a total of 10 and the conditions were difficult for shooting today and it is not that we don’t practice – as we do. And it is something we will be working on. “We are a work in progress.
“It is great to be back in the league final and we could be meeting Longford again in the league final but that win today could create some doubt in their minds and it is a psychological victory for us.
“We have played Longford four times and we have always beaten them,” concluded Baldwin.