It’s a bright evening, the sun is shining at Brewster Park and Fermanagh manager Rory Gallagher has arrived early ahead of team training.
Gallagher is a relaxed figure as we take a seat for a chat about this Sunday’s big Ulster final clash against Donegal although his focus is clearly on doing everything he can to get a performance out of his players in Clones.
Of course, the opposition are well known to the Fermanagh manager as he spent seven years working with the Donegal players as an assistant manager and then manager and he acknowledges that there is an advantage in that although for him the key thing is making sure they get their own performance right.
“There is no doubt that’s an advantage,” he said. 
“It is better to give your players that level of preparation. I think that’s a huge part of the game, you have to know where they are strong at and where they are not. At the same time though I wouldn’t let it consume us. The biggest thing we have to do is make sure that we prepare really well and that we train really well and we do everything that we can to give the best performance we can possibly give.”
Fermanagh have been improving over the course of the year but Gallagher still feels that there is more to come from his troops as they head into Sunday’s game.
“At times during the year we have given really good performances but I don’t think we have given anywhere near to the complete performance and I see a lot of improvement in us and that’s the challenge for us. I think the longer the season has gone on the better we have got and we need to make sure in Clones that the performance is a lot better than it was against Monaghan,” he added.
Gallagher was in St Tiernach’s Park for Donegal’s demolition on Down in the semi-final with Declan Bonner’s side getting on top early on and staying in control throughout.
Gallagher is keen that his side make a good start to the final, which is something they have done in the majority of games they have played this season. But he stresses that they have to remain composed if they don’t get the start they are looking for.
“Whether it is Fermanagh against Donegal or Derry against Down, no team wants to give the opposition a start. We have started nearly every game this year really well and on the front foot and we would like to do that again. But we also know that if we don’t then we have got to work our way back into it. We’ve been through these scenarios in training. You can’t live in a perfect world were everything is going to go your way, that’s the test of character you have and we seen it down in Longford when we looked as if we were gone going into injury time but we didn’t panic and we won the game. That’s the composure you need and you have to have it in the first minute as much as the last minute,” he said.
Gallagher is also very aware of the attacking threat that Donegal pose and he believes that it is important for his side to get a strong footing in the middle third so as they are more on the front foot.
“Probably where one of Donegal’s greatest strengths is in comparison probably to Armagh and Monaghan is that they have more scoring threats from all over the pitch. We are well aware of that and it is up to us to manage that situation and get our match ups right. 
“We have to focus on ourselves and bringing a really top level performance. We need to be better in the middle of the field because if we have more of the ball we will be attacking more and defending less,” he said.
Fermanagh will also have to deal with the fact that this is their first final in ten years and the nerves that come with an occasion like this but Gallagher is positive that this won’t be an issue.
“I think if you look at both our championship games, there was very little nervousness. They got stuck into it and took good control of the games early on. They showed a lot of hunger and made good use of the ball, they defended with good discipline so I don’t see the occasion being a problem whatsoever for ourselves. I just think there is that level of maturity in them and they have great belief because of the way we have prepared all year,” he said.
As the manager suggests, his players belief comes from the work they have done on the training ground and he is in no doubt that they are where they deserve to be.
“You will only feel good about yourself when you do the right things. You can’t just decide in the week of a championship match that you are going to get into good habits. I don’t mean good habits off the pitch, that’s just part of it, I mean good habits on the training pitch, good habits in games, showing that desire, hunger and effort to put the team first with or without the ball and the boys have done that. 
“I told them, it is a really nice feeling being in an Ulster final, where, in my opinion, they deserve to be given the ability they have and the effort they are prepared to put into their football. It is a nice thing for ourselves and Donegal at the minute to be in the showcase event in Ulster and that’s a very privileged position to be in but one you have to make the most of.”
One thing that has stood out this year is the strength that Fermanagh have had on the bench and Gallagher says that is something that they have worked towards. 
“We have maybe chopped and changed the team a bit during the league, not necessarily because somebody deserved to be dropped but because we wanted to give more exposure to more players. We are just delighted that the players have stuck at it because it is not easy when you are not getting the game time you might want.
“We are delighted to have Tomas back in the equation, he has only really been back in full training this last number of weeks and he is chomping at the bit. Seamie is good to go, Ciaran started the last day, Danny Teague came on, Ruairi came on, big Tom Clarke has got a bit of exposure. We wanted to develop 23, 24 championship players and the longer we go on in this season, the more games them boys can get then the better they will be.”
And now he wants his players to go on and deliver that first Ulster title for Fermanagh.
“Because Fermanagh have never won an Ulster Championship it is all about trying to get to an Ulster final. In my lifetime this is only the third Ulster final that Fermanagh have been involved in. 
“I feel very fortunate to have been involved in it on five occasions with Donegal to this point and I’m just delighted for the players and the boys that have worked hard that they now have this opportunity to be at the forefront of Ulster football for this period. The challenge for myself and the rest of the coaches is that they deliver a performance worthy of it,” he concluded.