Sunday’s Ulster final defeat to Donegal was a hard one to take but Fermanagh full forward Conall Jones is keen that they pick things up and try and make a push to reach the Super 8s.
Having had a couple of days to digest the loss in the decider, Jones told the Impartial Reporter on Tuesday that the important thing now is to reset their goals and try and keep their season alive as long as possible.
“I know that it is going to be very hard for everyone to lift themselves after that but that’s the reality of it, that’s what we have to do. The target now is to get to the Super 8s and if we do that then it will be a really successful year.
“It is tough but life goes on and you have to lift yourself. We are one game away from the Super 8s and if we can put in another good performance and reach the Super 8s then you can start again and try and get a couple of good performances in it,” said the Derrygonnelly clubman.

There has been clear progress made by Fermanagh in 2018 with promotion gained to Division Two in the league and victories over Armagh and Monaghan in the championship leading to a first Ulster final appearance in ten years.
And Jones argues that for Fermanagh to improve then reaching the Super 8s and playing the top teams would be the best learning ground for them.
“That’s where you want to be. You want to be playing the likes of Donegal in Ulster finals and you want to be playing the likes of Kerry and Galway and whoever in the Super 8s. If you want to improve and you want to claw back any deficit then you need to be playing these Division One teams more than once a year,” he stated.
Jones returned from a year away travelling at the tail end of the club season in 2017 and made an impact for Derrygonnelly as they progressed through to the Ulster Club semi-final.
That followed by a call up by Rory Gallagher to the Fermanagh squad and Jones has nailed down a starting slot of his own throughout the season. The big Harps man is pleased that he made the decision to come home and felt that Fermanagh had the capabilities to go on a run like they have done.
“It was well worth the decision to come home. With the management in place you thought that Fermanagh could do something good here. The age of the players and the character and the commitment of the team, I knew we were capable of more than what we have been doing,” he said.
Fermanagh’s wins over Armagh and Monaghan had the squad in a very positive frame of mind going into the meeting with Donegal and Jones felt they were ready to meet the Donegal challenge.
“I was quietly confident going into the game. We had a lot of hard work done throughout the year in terms of ourselves and our fitness. In terms of bringing energy to the game, our attacking with ball and our defensive shape without the ball, I thought we were in a prime position to take on Donegal,” he commented.
However, Donegal simply proved too good on the day and Jones believes that it showed the difference in playing Division One football and Division Three football. 
“Looking back at the game, it probably is the difference playing a Division One side compared to playing Division Three football all year. 
“Donegal were very good, they were very fast and they were very patient. They made the right passes all the time. They attacked us down the wings and with that pace and decision making they got in for their two goals from the wings. When you are playing Division Three opposition they don’t go for it as much as Donegal did.
“We had set out to man mark three or four of their players but we also knew that they had players who could also shoot from distance and it is very hard to try and marshal all their players. Unfortunately, they got in for their goals early on in the first half and it really did knock the stuffing out of us,” he added.
A lot has been made about the Donegal attack and the scores they have been putting up but they also flooded men back behind the ball when they had to. It was their ability to counter-attack at pace though that Jones thought was the major thing. 
“Everyone is talking about Donegal being such a great attacking team but they also had 14 men behind the ball at a lot of the stages as well. 
“As teams have seen against us, it is not easy to breakdown that mass defence and because they are very good at counter-attacking, once we were turned over in the middle third of the pitch they hit very hard and very fast.”

The Fermanagh support had descended on Clones in huge numbers to get behind the team and Jones described the backing that they got as ‘phenomenal.’
“The Fermanagh support was excellent and outnumbered the Donegal supporters despite the size of Donegal. 
“All I could hear was Fermanagh supporters when I was running out and you are trying to stay composed and keep your head on the game. The Fermanagh support was phenomenal,” he said.
And he is hoping that the support will get behind the team in big numbers again when they play their Qualifier game next weekend.
“We’ll re-group and refocus and wait to see who we get in the draw. We would love to see such a great Fermanagh support out the next day because it is such a massive game, if we win it we are in the Super 8s. I really think that support could really push us on the next day,” he stated.