Fermanagh and Tipperary meet in Brewster Park on Sunday afternoon in an encounter that is sure to garner a lot of interest as both teams look to push on in the Division Three promotion race.

Fermanagh have started this year’s league campaign with two confident victories over Louth (0-16 to 0-09) and Sligo (0-14 to 0-12) with Sean Quigley being the stand-out figure, kicking 0-14 of Fermanagh’s 0-30 to date.

Tipperary were unlucky to lose to Armagh in the opening round of fixtures with the Orchard county scoring two late points to seal a 2-08 to 0-13 victory, while the Premier County defeated Limerick (1-14 to 1-02) in their second outing.

Fermanagh will enter Sunday’s encounter as slight favourites and with home advantage will be quietly confident of getting the win.

They will, however, be well aware that Peter Creedon has a talented squad at his disposal with the squad containing a large number of the 2011 All Ireland Minor winning side, while they have finished in the top 12 of the All Ireland Championship twice in the last three years.

Fermanagh come into the game on a strong run which has seen them win more games already this year than they did in the entire 2014 season.

Once again it will be expected to be a very hard call for Pete McGrath to choose between Chris Snow and Thomas Treacy for the number one spot. Defenders such as Niall Cassidy, Martin O’Brien and Ryan McCluskey have all started this year strongly and should be the mainstays in the defence. while at midfield, Eoin Donnelly and Richard O’Callaghan have started both league games and formed a strong understanding although Derrygonnelly’s Conall Jones impressed when introduced as a substitute against Sligo, kicking two crucial points in the win.

And in attack Fermanagh will once again look to Quigley for scores although the likes of Ryan Jones, Ruairi Corrigan, Paul McCusker and Tomás Corrigan will all be expected to chip in.

Tipperary will be backboned by captain Patrick Codd at full back and Moyle Rovers’ Peter Acheson at centre half back, the pair providing a strong spine to the Tipp rearguard. Tipperary play a fast brand of football and wing half backs Seamus Kennedy and Donnagh Leahy will constantly be looking to get up the field to support play. At midfield, Tipperary are particularly strong, Colin O’Riordain and Stephen O’Brien having destroyed Limerick the last day out. And the Premier County also carry a potent and dangerous forward line. Centre half forward Barry Grogan is a quality playmaker and is supported by Ian Fahy, Michael Quinlivan and corner forward Conor Sweeney who has hit 0-09 in two games. With all this taken into consideration it is easy to see how Tipperary have been tipped by many for back to back promotions.

Both defences will need to be prepared to deal with form players in Quigley and Sweeney. Both players are also quality free takers so it’s imperative that neither side concedes scoreable frees on Sunday as the likelihood is that they will be punished.

The Munster side will have to do without the presence of Creedon on the sideline at Brewster Park on Sunday with the Tipp boss having to serve a one game sideline ban after comments made about referee David Coldrick following the defeat to Armagh.

With Creedon up in the stands, coach Michael McGeehan will take charge of team affairs from the sideline.

This is a difficult game to call as both teams are playing good football and both have the joint best defences in the division, only conceding 19 points.

This has the makings of a close encounter with a point or two in it either way but if Fermanagh can keep a tight rein on the Tipp full forward line, and with home advantage, the Ernemen may just have enough to shade things.

Prediction - Fermanagh