Fermanagh ladies have had a difficult year. They failed to win any of their league games in Division Three and had yet another change of management. There was a massive change of personnel too with many of the more experienced players opting out this year. All in all, the young charges, with a scattering of more familiar faces, have carried the mantle and will do so again, this Saturday evening when Fermanagh travel to Clones for their Ulster Intermediate Championship semi-final against Tyrone.
The Red Hand county have not had an easy run of it either. They too failed to collect any league points this year but the difference is, they were plying their trade in Division One, playing the likes of Mayo, Galway and Dublin to name but a few.
Tyrone will be a massive, massive challenge for this young and rather inexperienced Fermanagh team. In Gemma Begley and Neamh Woods they have two of the best players in the province both of which represented their county in the Inter-provincial series which Ulster won last weekend. The Erne ladies will be massive underdogs going into the match and will certainly be relying on Aisling Woods, Shauna Hamilton and Danielle Maguire’s experience to steady the ship.
Fermanagh Managers, Emmett Curry and Michael Mooney have inherited a team in transition. Curry is taking a realistic approach to Saturday’s game:
“They were Division One and we are Division Four. All you can do is try and win. We’ll try to put the best team out and the most organised team out and you never know.”
The Derrylin man has had in the range of 15 to 20 players out at training over the past couple of weeks. He says it’s difficult to get everyone together with exam and college commitments at the minute but they have been training twice a week despite these challenges.
Curry says he has contacted the ‘former’ players who opted out but bar Lynne Carroll (née McFrederick) he is not expecting any of them back this year:
“We did try but it’s their choice. The way I look at it is, I asked, but you never know what might happen” says Curry, who is reluctant to rule anyone or anything out.
Carroll is expected to return to the fold after the Tyrone game. If Fermanagh should lose, as is expected on Saturday, they get a second bite at the Ulster Championship crown with a game against Down. Carroll would be available for this, as would Marita McDonald who is currently carrying a shoulder injury.
Curry admits he knows little about Tyrone who have made the drop from senior to intermediate this year. His attention lies solely with readying Fermanagh for the formidable task.
“Hopefully the girls go out and play with their hearts. These girls have taken a lot of slack and a lot of heavy beatings. We have said before, this year is about getting a panel together and hopefully next year we will be in a position to bring in some of the under 16’s. We need to build a team with young players.”