‘There is still a serious regret, we weren’t that far away’ - McGinnity

McGinnity was the star player on the team that defeated Derry and Tyrone to clinch their place in the Ulster final against Armagh but in the decider they came up just short with the Orchardmen finishing up 0-10 to 1-04 victors.

“I suppose the regrets grow as you get older because you are further away from doing anything about it. Maybe it is natural, Fermanagh and Roslea had some great days but all I can remember is the disappointments that you can’t do anything about now,” says the Shamrocks legend whose performances in the 1982 season saw him become Fermanagh’s first ever All Star.

Reaching an Ulster final for Fermanagh was a big step, it was a first since 1947 and the county have only reached two others since then in 2008 and 2018, but McGinnity felt at the time that they were more than capable of holding their own in the province.

“I know that the team had been building from winning the McKenna Cup in 1977 and we were competitive from then on.

“It wasn’t a one year wonder from our point of view, we had won some difficult matches and we had played in a couple of National League quarter finals like against Mayo in Carrick on Shannon and I remember being disappointed about the result in those matches. The players and John McElroy and JJ Treacy in the management would have felt that we were improving,” he added.

The squad though was without two talented forwards who would certainly have given the side an added dimension if they were available that year.

“John Donnelly decided to retire from county football but was still playing very, very well for his club, and another fella who was maybe one of the most outstanding footballers that Fermanagh ever produced in Jimmy Cleary was away in Spain with Northern Ireland at the World Cup. The significant thing about both those boys is that John, despite starting his career as a corner back, he ended up being one of the best ball winning forwards about and Jimmy had the sweetest left foot and was just such a player. They were both forwards and you know yourself that forwards are at such a premium in Fermanagh,” he explained.

A number of other players had come and gone in the years prior to 1982 and that still niggles a bit with McGinnity.

“In the early 70s Fermanagh won an Ulster Minor League and played in two Ulster Minor Championship finals. We also won two Ulster U21 titles and were beaten in two All Ireland U21 finals and that group of players from 72, 73, should have been maturing into a really formidable force around 75 and 76.

“By the time we got to 1982 though Ciaran Campbell, myself and Barney Reilly were the only three players who were involved in those U21 Finals who were playing for Fermanagh.

“As it turned out for one reason or another by the time we got to the late 70s and early 80s that generation of players were no longer playing or available,” said McGinnity.

As the championship approached though in 1982, Fermanagh were well placed for a good run in the competition.

“We were in a good place, confidence had grown and other little things had happened as well.

“Dominic Corrigan had come on board that year, he was a scoring forward, and a few things like that made a significant difference.

“There is footage floating about of a session in Irvinestown and looking back at it, that was a fairly confident bunch of players I thought.

“We were happy in our own skins is what I would say.”

Derry were first up for the Ernemen in Irvinestown and Corrigan popped up with what proved to be the winner in added on time as Fermanagh progressed on a 1-09 to 1-08 scoreline.

“It was an incredibly gritty performance in Irvinestown,” said McGinnity.

“We knew Peter Greene was a good goalkeeper, we knew the full back line was going to sort out 99 percent of the problems they were posed. You had Pat McCann had centre half and Phil Courtney’s fitness at midfield so most of those things were going to be there or thereabouts and that day in Irvinestown against Derry we showed those things.”

That win set up a clash with neighbours Tyrone in Breffni Park and Corrigan and McGinnity kicked Fermanagh’s 1-08 between them while at the other end of the pitch Kieran Campbell did a good job on Frank McGuigan as Fermanagh sealed a one point victory and their place in a first Ulster final since 1945.

“That was a dirty, wet day and nothing about it would suggest that it was a day for football. Our captain Arthur McCaffrey was sick that day and didn’t travel so I ended up being captain which obviously gives me a bit of added pleasure. Dom’s scoring that day was important but there was a lot of good gritty stuff done in difficult conditions.

“It was a breakthrough performance and it was just a pity that we didn’t go on and finish it off,” he commented.

McGinnity also has a clear memory of hearing a familiar voice during the parade in Cavan.

“I was leading the team around in pouring rain and as I was going by I heard this shout of ‘come on McGinnity’ and I looked over my shoulder and it was a boy from Roslea called Mickey Joe Connolly. He was there is a white shirt, opened to the waist and it was sticking to him, he was drowned. I remember thinking to myself, that’s some loyalty and determination.

“Well, it was only in 2008 that I found out the story of that. Mickey and four others had gone to McGinnity’s pub in Cavan and as they arrived down to the match they saw a couple of boys ducking down into a hedge so they made a go for it. Mickey Joe was the last man and just as he was going through the hedge an Ulster Council official grabbed him by the collar of the coat. He wriggled out of his own overcoat and his jacket and as the man pulled the coat and jacket off him he ripped the buttons on his shirt so that’s how he ended up at the match with no overcoat!”

With Armagh having progressed from the other side it set up a meeting in Clones between the two sides and McGinnity states that they prepared well for the game.

“John McElroy and JJ had us well prepared. John was in touch with Sean McCague and he came in and spoke to us so there was a lot of effort going in behind the scenes. One of John’s strengths would have been assessing the opposition so we were well clued in that way. Obviously we knew Armagh well anyway as we had played them in a number of times in the championship,” he said.

The final was played in sweltering conditions in front of an 18,000 crowd and Armagh led by two points at the break, 0-05 to 0-03, with Fermanagh struggling to make an impact in attack against a tight marking Armagh defence. However, a spectacular McGinnity goal followed by a point from a free by the Roslea man put the Ernemen in front with the game in the final quarter.

It was not to be though as Armagh, with half time substitute Joe Kernan an influential figure, bossed the closing exchanges, rattling over four unanswered points to claim the win.

“It is disappointing and we didn’t play as well as we played in the previous game against Tyrone.

“When we did get our noses in front Armagh were able to rally but it was disappointing as we weren’t that far away, it wasn’t as if we were beaten by six or seven points. There is still a serious sense of regret there, to be beaten by three points, it is a kick of the ball,” added McGinnity.

It had been hoped that this would be stepping stone for Fermanagh and they looked to be contenders again in 1983 when they beat Down in the first round but defeat to Cavan followed in the semi-final.

“I’m not sure that beating Down the following year in the championship did us that much good as it meant that people were thinking that the ball is going to keep on rolling here and we’ve a better shout this year and then we got beaten by Cavan in the semi-final.

“After 1982 you would have been hoping to get back to another Ulster final but we didn’t get back there until 2008 under Malachy (O’Rourke) and we’re still waiting on that first Ulster title. You have to keep believing though that it will happen some day,” he said.