It is a last throw of the dice for Fermanagh hurlers this Saturday in the Athletic Grounds (1.30pm) as they look to retain their Nicky Rackard Cup status.
Defeat to a Louth side who won the Lory Meagher Cup last Saturday with victory over Sligo would see Fermanagh drop back down to the Lory Meagher next season and that is not something that joint manager Sean Duffy wishes to contemplate.
Indeed, Duffy believes that it is important for progress in the county that they continue to play at this level next year.
“We said all year that we don’t want to go down, we want to stay in the Nicky Rackard, so this is last chance saloon for us. 
“It is important for this group of boys because they know themselves that they are good enough for this level, they showed that against the Monaghans and the Donegals and they don’t want to drop back as that would be a step backwards. 
“It is also important for the new lads as there is some great young players coming through and they want to be playing at the highest level as possible,” he added.
Fermanagh had a chance to secure their place in the competition when they took on Tyrone in a play-off game but it was a disappointing performance from the Ernemen as the Red Hands pulled clear for the victory.
Duffy states though that they will write that off as just one of those games and have already put that defeat behind them.
“The Tyrone game was just one of those days were you think it’s not going to happen for you and that was definitely the case. 
“We’ll not dwell on what happened against Tyrone, we know we are a lot better than that but we have to prove it. 
“The boys are determined though to stay up and this Saturday will be a different game.”
Louth though will travel to the Athletic Grounds full of confidence after their final win over Sligo at Croke Park last weekend and Duffy knows from experience how big a boost that can provide a team.
“Louth won the Lory Meagher last Saturday so they will be on a high coming into the game. 
“We know from winning it last year that Louth will have got a big boost from that win and it will give them confidence,” he commented.
He therefore stresses that it is vital that Fermanagh do not allow Louth’s confidence to grow by letting them get off to a good start on Saturday. 
“That’s the key for us, not letting Louth get a good start. We seen the Lory Meagher final on television last week and their full forward seems a very handy guy so we will have to curtail his influence,” added Duffy.
Fermanagh are also set to be without some key players for the crunch tie. 
Danny Teague is tied up with the footballer who face Donegal in the Ulster quarter-final a day later while Mark Slevin and Declan Mc Garry are also set to be absent.
Duffy says that having planned to be without Teague all year, his absence is not such a blow but he admits that the other two will be massive losses.
“I don’t think Danny will be with us this weekend but we have had to play all season without him and we have planned without him all year so it’s not that big a blow.
“A bigger loss for us though is Declan McGarry and Mark Slevin who are unavailable through work. That’s our centre back and our centre forward, that is a massive blow.”
However, he still believes that if Fermanagh can get their performance right on the day then they will be alright.
“We haven’t won a championship game all year so this is our last chance to put that right. If we play like we did against Tyrone we will be beaten but if we get the type of performance we produced against Donegal then we will not be far away,” he concluded.