Fermanagh midfielder Richard O’Callaghan is already looking forward to the opportunity of crossing swords with Mayo in the next round of the All Ireland qualifiers. Fermanagh’s win over Wexford at the weekend saw them enter the second round draw of the qualifiers where they have been paired with the men from the West.
Mayo were defeated by Galway in the Connacht semi-final for their first provincial loss in six years and O’Callaghan describes Fermanagh’s next opponents as one of the ‘top four sides in the country’.
“It will be a huge test but one that we are looking forward to. Everyone knows what Mayo has achieved over the past number of years. They are one of the top four sides in the country and we want to be playing that calibre of team to see where we are at.”
Fermanagh came up short against Donegal in the Ulster Championship but will get another chance to test themselves against division one opposition in the shape of Mayo.
“We were disappointed with the result against Donegal. Looking back at the game and analysing the stats we definitely got the better of them in a lot of areas and broke even in other areas but we were maybe missing something as a team in the final third and then of course we would not be happy at conceding two goals.”
Fermanagh didn’t keep a clean sheet against Wexford in their qualifier win but in terms of attacking play the Enniskillen Gaels man believes that there was a marked improvement;
“We found it hard to get the scores against Donegal and that is the responsibility of the whole team. We had targeted that area against Wexford and thankfully we were able to put up a decent score.”
The first half against Wexford was nip and tuck with the Leinster men matching Fermanagh but after the break Pete McGrath’s men lifted their game and were impressive winners in the end. 
O’Callaghan believes that the improved showing in that second half will leave the team in a good place to tackle the Mayo challenge.
“We knew Wexford were going to be really up for it and it was very tough throughout. Nothing in it really for the first half but thankfully we were able to pull away a little bit in the second half and it should give us a good bit of confidence. It was really important that we bounced back from the Donegal defeat and we did that.”
Fermanagh will travel to Castlebar for their clash with Mayo and the big Erne midfielder was honest enough to admit that a home draw would have been much more favourable.
“You are always looking for a home draw to be honest and we have a pretty decent record in Brewster Park. Last year we got a number of home draws so maybe we were due a few trips away.”
After a long trip to Wexford Mayo represents a slightly shorter jaunt but there is no doubt the opposition represents a serious step up in class and O’Callaghan believes that the men in green and red will be looking to a prove a point especially with the change of management that occurred following their run to the All Ireland semi final last year.
“I think after all that happened with the players over the winter and then losing to Galway they will definitely want to come out and prove something.
 “They will want to prove that they can still win an All Ireland so we know what we will be facing but it is something that we can only look forward to.
 “This is the level we want to be playing at so we have to go out there confident in our own ability and confident that if we perform well that we will have a very good chance of winning.”