Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath feels that Fermanagh’s immediate future at senior level could be harmed by a poor record at underage level.

Fermanagh’s championship record at underage level has not been good in recent years with the county struggling to be competitive on the provincial front at either U21 or minor level and McGrath’s U21s suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Cavan last Wednesday night in the Ulster Championship.

“We were very well beaten on the night. The U21s as a group of players did all that was asked of them in terms of training and at times they were asked to train in very, very poor conditions up in Lissan over this last four or fives weeks and to an extent this worked against them. But I feel that it is something that Fermanagh have to look at, the record at Minor level and U21 level is very poor over this last ten years,” he stated.

The Fermanagh U21 squad only had one player involved with the senior squad this season and McGrath feels that it is crucial that you have players coming through this age group and progressing into the senior set up. And he acknowledged that the current U21s were simply not as physically developed as they need to be to challenge at this level.

“We knew that they were limited and physically in many ways they were not as strong as they should have been for fellas of 20 or 21 years of age and that showed against Cavan,” said McGrath.

“Ultimately minor teams and U21s eventually feed into your senior team so it has to be a source of concern that Fermanagh are struggling at these levels. You look at Monaghan, they won an Ulster U21 title last year and they are coming through to their senior team.

“Tyrone won an All Ireland U21 title two years ago and they are coming through into their senior team and these are guys with a winning mentality. It’s something that needs to be seriously addressed,” he added.

Fermanagh have taken steps to address these issues and following a review into the coaching structures in the county there was the appointment of two full time posts with Shaun Doherty appointed Football Development Coordinator and Eoin Bradley as Athletic Development Coach.

Both men are working diligently with all of Fermanagh’s underage players in an effort to address the areas that McGrath has concerns about but the Down native still believes that more needs to be done.

“I think the appointment of the two men is a step in the right direction but something has to be done to look at the more immediate issues. It is alright talking about kids at school and U13 and U14s but I think Fermanagh need to be looking at 16, 17 and 18 year olds and try and get a handle on those players.

“It has to be an issue of major concern looking forward to the well being of Fermanagh football over the next five or ten years. You take players and maybe minors who haven’t won a game, then they come to U21 level and they say what’s the point to training our legs off because if we are to play Derry or are drawn against Cavan we know what the results going to be, and I’ve found that.

“We had a number of players on our U21 squad last year who didn’t commit this year and I think it was out of apathy and that inevitability. If that gets into the mentality of players at that age then you definitely have a problem.”