Quietly but confidently Antrim will travel down the M1 motorway to Brewster Park, this Sunday. Last year, Fermanagh sent the Saffrons packing, beating them in the Ulster Championship quarter final and again in the All-Ireland series.
But it’s a very different team that will run out on Sunday. With the return of quality players like Kevin Niblock and brothers Tomás and Michael McCann, to the panel this year they are stronger and more experienced. The side-line set-up looks differently too. Frank Fitzsimons has brought in Gearóid Adams as joint manager and former World Champion boxer Brian Magee, is the Strength and Conditioning coach.
Adams wore the saffron jersey for 13 years, making his inter-county debut in 1992. 
“We’re definitely the underdog because Fermanagh football has stabilised big time. They maintained Division Two status and while we will be playing Division Three next year, there is still a massive gulf between two and three. From our encounters last year, they (Fermanagh) won both, so we’ll go in as underdogs and that suits us well. All the pressure is on Fermanagh to improve from their great championship run last year,” claims Adams.
Antrim lost the league final to Louth on April 22 in Croke Park by 3-12 to 1-14. A late Louth goal turned the game in favour of the Wee County as Antrim left headquarters empty handed. Adams knows a different level of performance will be needed on Sunday:
“The league final was a bit of a wake-up call for us. We have trained well since it and up until that we prided ourselves on our tight defence and being able to keep other teams away from our goal. We conceded three goals in the final, so we know we’ll have to tighten up on that. It was a good experience though and it gave the boys a better feel of what they might expect come the Ulster Championship.”
Fermanagh and Antrim are no strangers to each other in the Ulster Championship over the past couple of years. Last year, Adams watched on as Fermanagh ran out with an eight point win.
“I was watching from the stands last year and I was sitting there and knowing the boys well, I knew we should have given a better account of ourselves. This is a new squad though and a new management duo. It’s all about developing the talent that we know is in this panel.”
And there is talent in abundance and Pete McGrath will not underestimate that. Kevin Niblock is as good as any player in Ulster on his day, with his strong runs and ability to take points, he could cause Fermanagh trouble. Kevin O’Boyle is solid in defence and will strengthen the half-back line. The McCann brothers, Tomás and Michael bring a wealth of experience with Tomás finishing as Antrim’s highest scorer in the league:
“Tomás is in great form” says Adams. “He is enjoying his football at the minute but he also realises that we’ll be stepping out against a Division Two outfit but on his day he is very hard to mark.”
The return of Tomás and the other key players certainly make Antrim a more formidable opponent this year, he says:
“The boys have definitely strengthened the squad but the boys who got game time last year because players weren’t around have also gained from that experience. It’s a good mix of youth and experience and it’s up to Frank and me to decide who our best fifteen are.”
Whether we can expect to see many changes from the team that lined out just over a fortnight ago remains to be seen:
“To be honest we’ve been telling the boys all positions are up for grabs. Some gave very good performances in the league final and some could’ve done better, so we haven’t even finalised our twenty-six, never mind our fifteen.”
The St John’s clubman was assistant manager during Liam ‘Baker’ Bradley’s tenure in 2012 but admits his role as joint manager is a “step up”.
“It’s enjoyable. The McKenna cup was a learning curve and we enjoyed the National League, remaining unbeaten until the league final. The plan was to get out of Division Four and we did that so, so far it’s satisfactory. As joint manager the year goes by very quickly, we’ll be hoping for a longer year this year.”
Winning ways has returned to Antrim football and that is in no small part down to former World Champion boxer Brian Magee’s influence:
“Brian brings such a positive mind-set and makes you think like a winner and never give up” says Adams. “He knows what sacrifice these players are giving and his strength and conditioning has been first class. The boys have really enjoyed having him on board.”
Adams is confident ahead of Sunday: “We definitely respect Fermanagh but we know if we play to our potential we’ll not be too far away. Both teams have excellent forwards, so we’ll be trying to nullify their threat. We need to take the game to them from the start and protect our goal as much as possible. I think it will be a tight game but if we play and believe in ourselves, we can win."