Fermanagh minor manager Phil O’Connor had no complaints as his side made their exit from the Ulster Championship at the hands of Monaghan on Saturday evening in Clones.

Fermanagh had stayed in touch in the early stages but the loss of captain Eoin Beacom was a big blow to O’Connor’s side and Monaghan began to pull clear as half time approached before pushing on for the victory in the second half.

“We knew beforehand that Monaghan were going to be a serious challenge. They are a very good outfit and there is no doubt that they have some very, very good players and they were the better team on the day,” said O’Connor.

“I thought our gameplan at the start was working, we were frustrating them, we went 0-03 to 0-01 up and we were happy enough with things at that stage.

However, the loss of Eoin Beacom after ten minutes was a major blow both as a leader and player. Beforehand, you worry about losing any key players because as a small county you maybe don’t have the strength in depth that other counties have.

“Their midfield got completely on top and we had no answer at all and we were forced to try and kick short kick outs because we couldn’t kick it long.

“As I say, we knew Monaghan were a very good side and I would be very surprised if they don’t go on and get to an Ulster final.”

What did please O’Connor though was the battling qualities of his side who kept going to the end despite playing second fiddle to the opponents.

“The pleasing thing was that we played right to the end, we battled to the final whistle and all the lads kept working which was good to see because I’m sure in the past many a team would have thrown in the towel and got beat by 20 points and not seven points,” he commented.

For Fermanagh minors, this defeat brings the curtain down on their season and O’Connor feels Ulster should maybe look at the structure used in the likes of Leinster and Munster where they have a backdoor system in operation at minor level.

“Teams in the likes of Leinster and Munster they have a backdoor system in the minor championship but unfortunately in Ulster it is not the case so when you are beaten, that is your season over. There is no second chance for teams in Ulster apart from the beaten finalist who go into the All Ireland series,” he stated.

While that is the end for this current group at minor level, O’Connor is hopeful that they will stick together as he feels that they could make an impact at U20 in two years time.

“If they want to put in the effort and the hard work, there is boys there that if they stick together for the next couple of years, they can make an excellent U20 team and can ask questions at that level, I’ve no doubt about that.”