On the face of it a six point defeat at home paints a rather sorrowful picture. But the truth is much more nuanced than that and upon reflection Fermanagh should perhaps take some of the extenuating circumstances that were at play into account.
I’m not one to make excuses but the reality is that Fermanagh played for 65 odd minutes without the three players who have spent the most time at midfield over the past three seasons.
Eoin Donnelly is the best midfielder in Ulster and he was black carded after only eight minutes. Ryan Jones is injured and Richard O’Callaghan, whose influence and ability to break up play and win primary possession has always been underestimated by many supporters, is travelling for the year.
All of this is not to say that Lee Cullen or Aidan Breen, who moved to the engine room after Donnelly’s early departure, are not capable; far from it. Both have played well in that midfield role this year but they do need the foil of a bigger more physical presence beside them to flourish to the full.
Of all the teams to play having been shorn of Donnelly, Jones and O’Callaghan, Galway were always the most likely to take full advantage. Their towering midfield pair, not to mention Thomas Flynn at wing forward, meant they had a wall across that middle third that made things very difficult. On top of that Galway made a conscious decision to push up on Fermanagh’s defenders which meant the option of a short kick out was nullified in the second half.
The physicality of Galway around the middle, coupled with the high press of their forwards was perfectly illustrated when the visitors midfielder Paul Conroy caught a Fermanagh kick out, powered through the middle and kicked a wonderful score.
Like the goal within 30 seconds of the resumption this score was a hammer blow for Pete McGrath’s men.
Fermanagh will need to look at other ways of retaining possession from the kick out moving forward. If they feel they are out-gunned physically at midfield and if the avenue of the short kick off has been closed off they will to need to be able to create space on the wings for half forwards and half backs to claim clean ball. Accurate kicking, unselfish running to free up space and good hands the key to this strategy.
Sunday’s defeat really was the perfect encapsulation of how important breaking even at midfield is, whether this be by winning clean possession or hoovering up the breaks. One of the reasons that Galway scored so freely in the second half was that they had the lion’s share of the ball. On top of this one - perhaps unintended - by product of them pushing up on kick outs meant that when they did win the ball, Fermanagh did not have the luxury of a sweeper. Galway had the numbers and it told in their ability to cut through the Erne defence.
In that sense it was in marked contrast to the first half where the Connacht men adopted an approach that saw at least 13 men behind the ball every time Fermanagh were attacking. I actually thought Fermanagh played quite well going forward in that opening 35 minutes and was particularly impressed by the patience shown and the link up play between Sean Quigley and Eddie Courtney.
Quigley dropped deeper out the field and time and again was able to find Courtney, whose movement was excellent. The Aughadrumsee attacker scored two fine points and I felt had he pinned the ears back on one or two more occasions he would have had even more joy. If Courtney and indeed Eoin McManus, who was injured at the weekend, can push themselves forward this season they could be real assets to the cause.
Opposing teams are going to look to Tomas Corrigan and Sean Quigley as the two players they need to shut down first and this leaves room for others to make hay. I remember lining out alongside Rory and Raymond Gallagher in the full forward line for the last five league games in 2002 and it was much easier to win the ball and be productive when the least capable defender was marking you.
Courtney in particular has a huge role to play if he can continue to improve as he is an out and out inside forward who has the ability to win the ball and score. These qualities do not grow on trees. If he continues to work on his movement and ball winning ability and couples this with a touch more direct play he could be the missing piece that McGrath has been openly looking for over the past 18 months.
In conclusion Fermanagh should not be too disheartened with the defeat on Sunday. In terms of black cards, injuries and players missing it was a perfect storm.
If Ryan Jones and Mickey Jones are back from injury for the Cork game and if Donnelly plays the full part Fermanagh will have the knock on effect of having Barry Mulrone and Aidan Breen operating in the half back and half forward lines.
Add to this Lee Cullen who is progressing well in that area and all of a sudden Fermanagh look very imposing themselves.
Pete McGrath believes his side are well capable of getting the victory in Cork and looking at things objectively it is hard to disagree with that appraisal.