Failure to gain promotion to Division 3A was a bitter pill to swallow for Fermanagh, especially after getting so close. 
Ryan Bogue though is keen to put that disappointment behind them and put together a run in the Nicky Rackard Cup which starts this Saturday with a meeting against Monaghan at Brewster Park.
In the Promotion/Relegation Play Off against Tyrone, Fermanagh were four points up in added on time but didn’t hold on as the Red Hands forced extra time before going on to claim the victory which means Fermanagh will once again be in Division 3B in 2017.
“That league promotion defeat was very hard to take but the key is to lift things again and get ready for Saturday and the game against Monaghan,” said Bogue.
“We were delighted with the way we were going up to that promotion game. We improved every game in the league and we started to get a bit of rhythm but the extra time in that game against Tyrone just killed us. We should have won it in normal time but we were always chasing after that. Tyrone got a bit of confidence from getting those late couple of scores and they managed to kick on in extra time. We need to just put that behind us now and focus on the championship,” he added.
Fermanagh’s Lory Meagher Cup success last season has seen them promoted to the Nicky Rackard competition and Bogue admits that this is where they want to be playing.
“This is the level of hurling that we want to be playing at and these are the teams that we want to be playing so we’ll just have to see where we are at. Our aim will be to try and win a few games in the competition and get to the final stages if we can,” he said.
And the experienced Bogue says that while this is a step up, they have nothing to fear from the competition.
“We have played most of them before and we’ve played against most of the players with the club so we definitely don’t fear the teams in it.”
He does though feel that Armagh will enter the competition as favourites after a fine league campaign.
“Armagh are only after getting promoted to Division 2A, they won Division 2B, so they will probably be the favourites but there are plenty of good teams in it and you never know with the championships, any team could go on to win it,” he said.
However, the only focus for Bogue and his Fermanagh team-mates is Saturday’s clash against Monaghan and he states that they are aiming for the win.
We need to get off to a good start because if you are chasing at all against teams like that they will put you away. You have to stay in there up to half time and try and push on them
“We feel that we have a good chance against Monaghan and we’ll be targeting a win from the game.
“It will be a dogged affair. Monaghan are a big strong team but we feel that we have enough hurlers to take the game to them and hopefully we will be able to get the result,” he concluded.