For Fermanagh manager Emmet Curry there was a mixture of emotions after the game.
Having watched his side come back from nine points down with a stirring comeback in the final 15 minutes he was understandably proud of their fighting display, but he was also honest enough in his appraisal that Derry will be kicking themselves not to have seen out the game;
“Let’s be honest, if you are nine points up in the second half you should be winning the match. Derry will have to be unhappy not to have got the win and from our point of view we didn’t play well in the first 45 minutes, nothing like we can do. We just didn’t turn up.”
The Erne ladies certainly looked off colour in the first three quarters of the game and it looked like it was going to be another heartbreaking day at GAA headquarters and Curry speculated that perhaps the venue played a part.
“I don’t know, maybe Croke Park was a factor, it is hard to know, Derry were better than us and that was disappointing. But at the same time you have to hand it to the girls for the way they fought back,” Curry stated before elaborating on the spirit within the team;
“They don’t know when they are beaten. They just kept working hard and you have to say fair play to them, they just kept going and we get to go at it again. It was a brilliant comeback.”
Curry was an animated figure on the Croker sideline and you could see him willing his side on in those final ten minutes as they threw everything at the Oak Leaf girls. Curry and his management team made a number of switches and changes throughout the game and the substitutes certainly had a big impact on the game, something the Fermanagh boss acknowledged.
“I thought Blaithín Bogue and Dani McMannus played really well when they came on. It shows we have really good options on the bench but it doesn’t always work out that you make the right switches but today I thought it did.”
The replay will take place in two weeks time and Curry knows that it is sure to be another tight affair when the two sides meet again;
“It will be close, we know that. Derry had nothing to lose today and you could see that in how they played so we will have to be better in two weeks time,” he explained.
In replays much will come down to what team learns the most from the drawn encounter and with this in mind the Fermanagh girls will be back out and working hard;
“We will be back training on Tuesday night and start fresh again and try and make sure that we are a bit sharper and that we start a lot sharper the next day,” Curry stated.
There is no doubt that no stone will be left unturned by the Erne management team as they look to ensure that these brave Fermanagh ladies are ready for another tilt at All Ireland glory on Sunday week.