Those who tuned in to hear the score on Sunday evening would have been forgiven for thinking that Fermanagh were totally outplayed. The ten point win certainly flattered Monaghan and was not a true reflection on how this game panned out.

For large parts of the game Fermanagh were the better team; defensively on top and easily winning the midfield battle. The work rate and desire of the whole team was emphasised by my man-of-the-mMatch, Eoin Donnelly, but it was the more clinical Monaghan forwards who eventually turned the game in their favour.

Sitting beside Seamus McEneaney at the game he quipped that, “Monaghan did not perform”. My response was, “Fermanagh didn’t let them”!

Systems of Play In the first half, defensively, Fermanagh’s match-ups were perfect. Marty O’Brien stuck with Conor McManus all day, Tiarnan Daly battled manfully with Kieran Hughes and, with Dessie Mone playing the sweeper role in front of Tomás Corrigan and Sean Quigley, this freed up Ryan McCluskey to do likewise for Fermanagh.

Dropping deeper than normal, McCluskey helped shut Conor McManus out of the game – it wasn’t until the sending off that he got any space – causing him to drift out the field to obtain possession. As well as double teaming McManus, McCluskey was able to get across to collect breaks from Tiarnan Daly and Kieran Hughes.

Both teams found it difficult to break through the crowded area of the 45 yard line and, at times, it was ponderous with copious hand passing over and back in this section. Early on, Fermanagh had little return from the long ball into the full forward line and they changed to a more direct running style with great scores coming from Ryan Jones, Tomás Corrigan, Eoin Donnelly and Decky McCusker. Long distance scores are great to watch and can be a lift to the team and the crowd but to win championship games, opportunities need to be created closer to goal.

The issue Fermanagh had was that they were on top defensively and dominating midfield but had little to show for this on the scoreboard. Too much ball was being turned over on the Monaghan 45 causing the pressure to be right back on the Fermanagh defence. Something had to give and eventually the diagonal ball into Hughes, along with the pace of Karl O’Connell and Owen Duffy breaking through, began creating space for scores.

Turning Point From a Fermanagh perspective, the sending off may have been the key turning point. Monaghan might argue that at three points ahead and beginning to gain momentum, they would have won the game out anyway. It just would have been interesting to see how the final ten minutes would have panned out if it had remained 15 v 15.

Mistakes Fermanagh made a lot of unforced errors and mistakes that presented Monaghan with opportunities to score. At five points each, Fermanagh would have been happy entering the dressing room but a couple of slip-ups left them two points in arrears, giving the game a totally different complexion at half time.

Just as it seemed Fermanagh had momentum with three points in a row, the game changed again in a period between the 55th and 58th minute. Fermanagh missed two opportunities to close the gap further and this was then followed up with the sending off. The combination of these events handed the initiative back to Monaghan and derailed any chance of Fermanagh getting back into game.

Refereeing decisions In general, the referee had a good game and let it flow but with what can be classed as a biased view, I felt that a few calls worked against Fermanagh. A few incidents stand out that could have had a huge bearing on the game.

In the first half, it was clear that Tiarnan Daly was taken out and stopped from going for a return pass by Kieran Hughes. Given Hughes’ influence on the game, a black card early on would have curtailed Monaghan’s attacking play.

Just after half time, Darren Hughes made a heavy challenge on Ruairi Corrigan. At the time I thought it was just a late tackle and little more than a free but TV replays show it to be very late and a yellow card was justified. The question is was the sending off incident more or less dangerous than Hughes’ late tackle on Corrigan?

In fairness to the referee, he took advice from his umpires before showing McCluskey the line. Ryan will be the first to admit that he was silly and petulant in his actions but it was not an action that warranted a red card.

Panel To progress through ‘the back door’, playing week after week, a strong panel of players is required. Pete McGrath has used 21 different players in the two games so far in the championship. The return of Antrim will present a different challenge with both teams likely to be in a stronger position from their last meeting.

McGrath introduced four players against Monaghan who will all feel they have a strong case to make the starting team. The next day out they will need to find a replacement for Ryan McCluskey. Aidan Breen will likely fill this role but strong competition will come from James McMahon – if fit – and Damien Kelly. Ruairi Corrigan brings a lively presence to the forward line but to progress we need to become more clinical in front of goal and more tactical offensively.

For nearly sixty minutes, Fermanagh put it up to Monaghan and stayed in the game, but in the end the scoreboard is all that counts. The Ulster Championship is gone for another year and it was certainly not for the lack of effort from this team. A good run through the qualifiers beckons!