If Fermanagh hurlers can overcome Tyrone in Saturday’s league play-off, it would be their fourth straight win, mean Division 3A hurling next season and stand them in good stead for their Nicky Rackard championship encounter with Monaghan, in just over a fortnight.
Joint Manager, Sean Duffy realises the importance of Saturday’s game;
“It’s our biggest game so far this year. We don’t want a set-back. We have that winning feeling at the minute. Winning is a great habit and with the championship only around the corner it’s important to be going into the game off the back of a win as opposed to going into it after a defeat.”
Tyrone have been plying their trade in the tier above Fermanagh but find themselves in the bottom two along with Lancashire. Whether they stay up or Fermanagh gain promotion all comes down to the result in Ballyshannon this Saturday.
The teams are no strangers to each other. The players are familiar with one another at club and county level. Only on Tuesday night past, Carrickmore and Lisbellaw played in the Ulster Hurling League, in which a fair sprinkling of inter-county players from both counties were on show.
With that familiarity comes a healthy rivalry and Duffy doesn’t deny the fact they want to get one over Tyrone: “They (Tyrone) really wouldn’t like Fermanagh to put them down. It’s going to be a really tough battle. Our lads would love to bring Tyrone down a peg or two because there’s a fair rivalry there. When it comes to Fermanagh and Tyrone games, it’s not hard to lift the lads. When they see they red and white of Tyrone that’s usually enough.”
Fermanagh know the capabilities of the Red Hand County all too well and many of the current panel won’t need to be reminded of the 2012 Lory Meagher final, which Tyrone won in extra time.
“We really should have won that game and that still lingers with a lot of our boys. It’s still fresh in the minds of the lads who played that day.” He goes on to say; “Tyrone have a player Damien Casey and he’s deadly accurate from placed balls. They tend to put up high scores but that’s all dependent on the weather as well.”
Fermanagh have only a couple of injury concerns ahead of the game. John Duffy is still carrying a shoulder injury but Duffy said on Monday evening, his son is “seventy or eighty percent fit” and will hopefully be okay.
The other concern is over Daniel Teague. The dual star was playing for the county footballers on Sunday afternoon against Tyrone but limped off injured with 12 minutes left. Duffy watched the game and thought it may have been a hamstring injury although he hadn’t received an update on Teague on Monday evening but will be hoping for the best.
Duffy believes that they can finish off their league campaign with a win;
“We are confident but not over-confident. The boys know they are playing well and anybody that has seen them knows they are hurling well over the last few weeks. We know they are capable of winning.”
With neighbouring Ballyshannon the chosen venue for the game, Duffy is encouraging Fermanagh Gaels to come out and cheer on the hurlers this weekend; “It means a lot to any team to have a good support. We have a fair band of supporters who follow us but it’s always good to see a few more supporters and if anyone has a few hours to spare on Saturday they should head to Ballyshannon.”