It was a “tough day at the office” according to Fermanagh manager Sean Duffy as he watched is side slide to a 12 point defeat at the hands of Longford in this opening National League Division 3B fixture.
The first half was a competitive affair with the eventual winners entering the break two points to the good.
The sides had shared ten scores but crucially Longford had struck for a goal after only seven minutes through Luke Kelly.
The goal was a crucial moment in that first half but so too was the sending off of Fermanagh’s Matty Teague. The centre back saw his afternoon cut short through two yellow cards and while the first was merited the second was certainly towards the harsh end of the scale.
On top of Teague’s absence Fermanagh were short a number of regulars with the free scoring Sean Corrigan among them. Declan McGarry is also out with injury and his physicality was certainly something that Fermanagh missed, while another experienced operator, Andrew Breslin was also missing against Longford.
Fermanagh had first half points through Shea Curran and JP McGarry.
Curran fired over three frees and one from play with McGarry chipping in with a point from play to boot.
In the second half the scoring pace slowed considerably with only Curran from a free and Thomas Cleary raising white flags for the visitors.
Longford, however, were able to step up their performance a gear or two with Eugene Kiernan notching a goal after his move to the full forward line although this green flag was of the softest variety. Paddy Walsh, Paddy Farrington and Cathal Mullane were all impressive for the victors as Fermanagh failed to get grips with the Leinster men.
After the game Fermanagh manager Duffy was pragmatic and honest about his side’s performance.
“We were second best for a lot of it and there is no point in saying otherwise. We held our own in the first half and missed a few chances in the second half for goals but then they just got on top and it was one way traffic from there,” rued the Fermanagh boss.
Mark Slevin at full back was consistent for the Erne men with débutante Diarmuid Russell also performing admirably in that full back line.
Further out the field John Duffy and JP McGarry had their moments.
Fermanagh will take on Warwickshire this Saturday in round two in Brewster Park and the exiles will be a tough proposition.
They defeated Sligo in the opening round with former Antrim star Liam Watson scoring the crucial goal.
“The defeat means that if we want to make a league final we can’t afford to lose any more games so that is our aim now, “ stated a realistic Duffy.
Fermanagh are likely to still be without Breslin and McGarry but the sharpshooting Corrigan should be back and his live wire presence in the forward line is something that Fermanagh will need if they are going to get the victory they need to get themselves back on track to promotion.