Fermanagh looking to lower the Banner
Editorial Department • Published 9 Feb 2012 13:00
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Fermanagh's Conor Quigley fires over a point during the victory over Clare in the league last season.<<
Fermanagh will get their season off to a belated start on Sunday when they host Clare at Brewster Park in this NFL Division Four contest.
Peter Canavan's Fermanagh squad were left twiddling their thumbs last weekend in snow-hit London as their game against the Exiles was a casualty of the weather but they will be hoping to hit the ground running on Sunday against the Banner County.
This is not a game though that Fermanagh will expect to have all their own way with Clare coming into the contest on the back of last weekend's fine victory over Waterford in Cusack Park, Ennis.
Clare were to run out eight point winners at the finish, 1-17 to 0-12, and that will be a warning to Fermanagh that they are not going to be easly beaten at Brewster Park.
The fact that Clare now have a game under their belt while Fermanagh's first game was postponed will also be an advantage to the visitors and Fermanagh will need to be up to the pace from the off on Sunday.
It could be pointed out that Waterford finished the game with 12 players while Clare also had a man sent off, all for second bookable offences, but that would not be doing justice to Clare's performance on Sunday.
They held a three point lead at the break, 0-09 to 0-06, and that would have been greater only for two splendid saves byu the Waterford goalkeeper in the first half.
When Clare then bagged their goal midway through the second half it put an end to the Waterford challenge and the Banner men ran out comfortable winners.
There is no doubt that this is an important game with Peter Canavan recognising last week that you cannot afford too many slip ups in this division if you want to be in the hunt for promotion but Fermanagh will feel that they have the players to see off the Clare challenge.
Canavan will be looking to turn Brewster Park into a fortress and has already witnessed the side winning two game sin the ground already since he took charge, albeit in the McKenna Cup against Antrim and Queens.
The league is, undobtedly a step up from the McKenna Cup, but this is a game that Fermanagh are more than capable of winning.
The two sides met at the same venue in the league last year and it was Fermanagh who romped to victory on that occasion, 0-17 to 0-09, in one of the best performances under then manager John O'Neill.
A shaky start had seen Fermanagh fall behind 0-05 to 0-01 but from that to the finish it was all one way traffic with Ryan Jones and Daniel Kille to the fore.
This is likely to be a much changed Fermanagh side that takes the field against Clare this Sunday compared to last year and a winning start to the league would be just the boost needed going into a two week break.
The team for this Sunday could well be along the lines of the one that was named for the London game, and on paper it looks a strong side.
Ronan Gallagher was given the nod in goals and he brings with him vast experience behind a full back line of Niall Bogue, Barry Owens and Johnny Woods.
Ryan McCluskey will man the centre half back position while Conor Quigley and Barry Mulrone could line up either side of the captain.
Fermanagh will have noticed that Clare racked up a big score last week so they obviously have attacking talent in their ranks with the full forward line of Tubridy, Donnelly and Clohessy accounting for 1-13 between them on the day.
Eoin Donnelly had been lined up to make his National League debut against London alongside James Sherry and both provide Fermanagh will plenty of height in the middle third while in attack Canavan will be looking for the likes of Seamus Quigley, Paul Ward and Daryl Keenan to get the scores for his side.
Indeed, the postponement of the London game may have been a help to Seamus Quigley who was an injury concerning going into the game but has now had a further wek to recover from the hamstring strain sustained against Tyrone.
Quigley will be the fulcrum of the Fermanagh attack at full forward but the management will want others to help out the big Roslea man in the scoring stakes as he accounted for the bulk of Fermanagh's scores during the McKenna Cup.
If required, the manager also has plenty of firepower in the wings in the likes of Daniel Kille, Eamon Maguire, Mark Little and Shane McCabe.
A good crowd will be expected at Brewster Park on Sunday and, while a tough test is on the cards, hopefully they can witness the side making a positive start to their league campaign as they look to get among the early promotion candidates.
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 09 Feb 12
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