That next competitive match, is the Ulster championship quarter final against Donegal in Brewster Park on June 1 and the Fermanagh men are keen to use the experiences of the past week to garner a win.

    The immediate post match disappointment of the players did not necessarily improve over the week as they realised that basic errors had handed Tyrone the goals to win the game. What did emanate from analysis of the game, however, was that Fermanagh were in the game up until the 58th minute when Tyrone plundered the third goal. The previous seven minutes had been scoreless after Ryan Keenan’s goal with Fermanagh trailing by four points and it was then that Fermanagh needed a score but did not get it. However, the players acknowledged they were in the game with 12 minutes remaining. What’s more, they had fought their way back into the game unlike the Kerry or Armagh game of last year.

    So as the boys got down to work on the training pitch and sand dunes, there was a steely determination to right the wrongs, to improve and to be better for the Donegal game which was now looming large on the horizon. How to do this, was fairly simple - hard work and plenty of listening.

    Moreover, the intensity of training a couple of times a day afforded Corrigan, McElkennon et al a greater opportunity to get their message over while the players living and working together undoubtedly fostered a greater team spirit.

    The week also was not without plenty of laughs none more so than Dom Corrigan’s defeat of Martin McElkennon in the sand dunes. One victory for Fermanagh over Tyrone in the week although McElkennon claims a conspiracy and vows revenge on the upcoming fitness tests.

    Team building sketches on the last night were not initially greeted with great enthusiasm but it was ‘alright on the night’ with John Reihill’s impersonation of ‘Good man, good man’ Dom Corrigan proving that while these men are in a serious business, it does not pay to take yourself too seriously. Nobody, it was fair to say, escaped; the higher the profile, the greater the stick you took.

    Then you have the sight of 26 players watching the Man U v Real game with Pepsis in hand although Raymie Gallagher had another matter in hand by the name of Rosa, a mission he claims was successful.

    All in all, the week was wholly positive and there is no doubt that the boys worked hard. I was priviliged to get an insight into the workings of the players and their management team and especially to see how they reacted to such a high profile defeat. It needed to be positive and was.

    This was best represented by the fact that the players may have lost the first day in the sand dunes but they conquered them on the last day with every player showing grit and determination to complete the most arduous of courses.

    What’s more, this very same grit, determination and togetherness will be needed on June 1 to overcome a Donegal team that made it to last year’s All Ireland quarter final.