Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath is in no doubt that his squad are capable of challenging for an Ulster title.
The county’s search for that elusive Anglo-Celt begins on Sunday when they take on Antrim at Brewster Park and McGrath is convinced that his players have what it takes to be contenders for the Ulster crown, providing they can perform on any given day.
“I’m convinced that the players we have in our squad are very capable of putting a strong challenge in Ulster. I’ve seen this squad grow, develop and mature. I’ve seen them put in great performances and I’ve seen them show character and courage. I’ve seen this team evolving over the last two years and I just step back and look at them and consider the other teams in Ulster. 
“I ask myself are they as good as A, B, C, D and E and I try to answer it honestly. I feel yes, we are as good as anything that is out there in this province, I’m convinced of that and I think the players are now realising that as well. They also realise that on any given day you have to go out and perform but if they do that we can have a serious Ulster Championship campaign because we have got in my view the artillery to achieve that,” he said.
McGrath’s belief in his players has been strengthened by a good league campaign that saw them retain their Division Two status, the former Down All Ireland winning manager feeling that the tough games they faced during the league has left them in a good position moving towards championship time. He warns again though that while Fermanagh are in a good place, it’s all about getting the performance right on the day.
“People were asking me about Division Two at the start of the season and I was saying that at the end of our seven matches we will have a clear picture of where we are in terms of our development and where we are in terms of how we have improved. 
“I think the way we finished the league programme by grinding out that result against Galway and then by playing exceptionally well in a high pressured game against Tyrone and getting the result we wanted, we have all that in the bank and it is there to be tapped into in the championship. Again I got back to the thing of you have to perform. 
“I have seen teams before and I have been with teams in the past that have done so much right in the spring and where in a good place but come to a certain match in the championship and didn’t perform, it can happen. It’s up to us to make sure on Sunday that it doesn’t happen and I’m sure that we will perform,” he stated.
The league may have been a success but McGrath acknowledges that it is championship football that people remember.
“The players are aware of that the championship is what you are judged on. Your overall placing in the league is important but that is all part of the framework that leads up to championship and this is a time of the year that you want to really be playing football. This is the time of year when you want your season to just go on and on with better weather and bigger crowds and more tv coverage. Needless to say, Sunday’s game is very, very important, we want to make an imprint on the Ulster Championship this year and that means we have to really perform well on Sunday and get the result we are looking for. I have no doubt that if we perform to our potential and if we bring that energy and that intensity and all the things we have built in to who we are, if we bring all those things to the game on Sunday I’m in no doubt that we will be very hard to beat.”
Sunday will be the fourth championship meeting at Brewster Park between the two teams in three years. Antrim claimed the victory in the summer of 2014 but Fermanagh had two wins last year, one in Ulster and one in the Qualifiers.
And McGrath is adamant that his side is a much improved version this year than the one that played in the defeat in 2014 or both the wins in 2015.
“I would like to think that since that first game in 2014 when they beat us we have evolved and changed beyond recognition. We beat them last year twice and as I said to the players that although we beat them twice we weren’t overly impressive in either game so I’m looking forward to us being more impressive on Sunday because I think we have come on quite a bit since this time last year. Our run in the championship and how the team developed during our Division Two league campaign, all these things have answered very serious questions about our team, about our players. I think we are a much better article than we were 12 months ago or 15 months ago. I think the winning and the losing of this game is in our hands and I say that without underestimating Antrim. Antrim our a team that have come out of Division Four, they have got promotion, they are building and they will be a challenge and they will be a threat. At the end of the day though, if we have any real aspirations about making a serious impact this year then we have to win this game on Sunday.”
So, how do Fermanagh go about this game? Well, McGrath feels they must play it on their own terms.
“I think this is a game that we have to go into with a mindset that how this game pans out, the dynamic that this game takes on, has to be decided by us. We have to go out and put our fingerprints all over the game and whatever way this game goes it is going to be how we play it, that’s the way we have to approach this game. 
“We know the type of football that we are good at, we know the type of things that makes us most effective and it is up to us on Sunday to make sure that is the dynamic that is in this game. 
“We don’t want this game to be determined by what Antrim our doing, I wouldn’t like to think that the game is going to be about what Antrim are doing, I would like to think that the game will be about our performance and us doing the things that we are good at,” concluded the Fermanagh manager.