Barry Mulrone doesn’t mince his words when he talks about the importance of Fermanagh maintaining their division two status. 
The Devenish man sees it as ‘crucial’ to the side’s development and wants to make sure it is secured this Sunday when he and his team-mates take on Tyrone at Brewster Park. 
“Playing in division two is huge, just huge. 
"We are not even considering going out of division two but if we did and went back to division three I think it would be a big blow to us,” the experienced Mulrone explained adding that the ‘competitive’ nature of the division will make Fermanagh a better team;
“It is so important that we consolidate ourselves in division two for the next few years, just like Cavan have done. 
"The calibre of teams are very high in division two in any year so it is always very competitive and if we are looking to improve like we want to over the next three or four years then we need to stay in this division.”
Fermanagh took a major step toward securing that position in the second tier of league football with a hard earned draw against Galway in Tuam at the weekend and Mulrone revealed that the team were content on their journey home from the West. Fermanagh lost defender Niall Cassidy to a red card early in the second half and with the game in added on time they trailed by two points.
 However, Tomás Corrigan slotted over a free and Declan McCusker rattled over a fine point from play to ensure Fermanagh returned home with a point;
“We were very happy with the point. 
"Obviously we were going down for the win but after going down to 14 men so early in the second half we were happy with the point.
"I suppose in the end we had enough chances to win it but they could say they missed a fair few chances in the first half so we will take a draw.”
What was most pleasing about the game in Tuam was the marked improvement in the display by the Fermanagh men when compared to the uncharacteristically limp effort that they showed against Cavan two weeks previous in their last league game; a point conceded by Mulrone;
“We showed better form against Galway than we did against Cavan. 
"And we also had a lot of strength on the bench and I thought everyone who came on really played well.
"It is a 20 man game these days and Sunday definitely proved that.”
The point picked up by Fermanagh was all the more crucial given that Armagh had picked up a point the previous night against Tyrone. 
The point moved Armagh, who are one of five teams who could be relegated this weekend, level with Fermanagh so it was vital that the Erne men secured something on their travels to Galway;
“The Armagh result maybe brought that little bit more of a focus for us and it was even more important that we get something out of the Galway game so that division two status remained in our own hands.”
The result means that Fermanagh are a point ahead of both Armagh and Meath and two points ahead of Laois and with Tyrone visiting Brewster Park on Sunday Fermanagh have their future in their own hands although Mulrone readily admits that there will be no favours from already promoted Tyrone; 
“Tyrone won’t be happy that they didn’t close out the game against Armagh and I’m sure Mickey Harte will be looking to have a relatively strong team out and looking for players to be competitive for the league final.”
All focus is on maintaining division two status and producing a good performance against Tyrone in the process but Mulrone revealed that once the final whistle blows on Sunday attention will switch to the summer, and championship football;
“We want to finish the league on a positive note and hopefully we can do that on Sunday but once five o’clock comes on Sunday that is it over and for the next six weeks we will be focusing on nothing except Antrim. 
"They are obviously going to be very confident having went through the league unbeaten so far, but I would hope the competitive nature of division two will stand to us come championship.
" It should be a good game,” the Devenish man explained. 
This Fermanagh team have been making steady progress under Pete McGrath. 
There have been very few blips along the way and relegation to division three would represent the biggest one to date. 
The players though have shown ample evidence that they battle and scrap and also play the good football required to play at this level. 
They have one more test on Sunday before they can look forward to a date with Antrim in the Championship.