FERMANAGH Manager Jonny Garrity says that his side are where they aimed to be at this stage as they saw off the challenge of Limerick on Sunday to set up an All-Ireland Junior Final clash against Wicklow on December 5.

“We are over the moon, and it is exactly where we aim to be. Coming towards the end of the All-Ireland, we want to be in the mix and we are delighted to be there.

“It is down to the girls’ hard work and putting in a good performance on the day, and we intend to build on that,” said Garrity.

A brilliant start to the game that saw Fermanagh bag four goals in the opening quarter was the platform for the victory, and Garrity says that they had aimed for a good start to the semi-final tie.

“We targeted inposing ourselves on the game and setting some sort of foundation, and we managed to do that in devastating fashion.

“We are over the moon with how we started the game – we gave ourselves a real cushion, and we managed to hold on to it quite comfortably to the end of the game,” he said.

And the Manager was pleased with how clinical his side were in that opening period.

“We are blessed with good finishers. Eimear, Joanne and Roisin finished the goal chances very well, and I think more than that, it was getting the points as well and getting the scoreboard ticking over, and we managed to do that as well,” he added.

Fermanagh also displayed a high work rate throughout the contest, and Garrity wants to see more of that in the final.

“There was a very good intensity from the start, and it shows what we can do when we get the right tempo.

“We have been working on that and the girls are in great shape – they are fit, and they are hungry, which showed, and it is something we will be looking to replicate the next day as well.”

While Fermanagh were comfortable winners, goalkeeper Shauna Murphy was called on to make a number of top-quality stops and Garrity was delighted with her performance.

“She probably had more to do than we wanted her to do, but that’s why she is in there – because we know that if the other team does have chances, we have somebody who will be equal to them on many occasions.

“She was on top of her game against Limerick; I thought she was excellent, and she is a fantastic goalkeeper,” said the Erne boss.

That Limerick were able to score four goals and create a number of openings though is an area that the management will look to address ahead of the final showdown against Wicklow.

“It is something that wouldn’t have been as glaring a worry when you are 12 points clear, but at the same time, we don’t want to be coughing up those opportunities if we can help it.

“When you are that aggressive, attacking-wise, sometimes you will leave a gap or two at the back and that’s what happened.

“We also have to pay credit to Limerick, who did very well to create those opportunities – they moved us around at the back, and they had a game plan of their own which certainly was effective in some ways.

“It is, though, one of a number of areas that I feel we can improve on but I think we are building on top of a very strong foundation,” he stated.

Fermanagh played Sunday’s game without Captain Courteney Murphy, and key attacker Blaithin Bogue, and Garrity feels that it shows the strength of the squad that those players who replaced them in no way weakened the side.

‘The quality in the group’

“It is a testament to the quality in the group and the desire within them as individuals to come in and make us stronger that we can lose players and carry on so seemlessly.

“We have a fantastic squad and we are not afraid to use them,” he said.

Indeed, Fermanagh used all their substitutions and Garrity felt that those who came in helped lift the tempo again.

“The tempo gets raised up all over again, such is the quality, fitness and energy coming off the bench.

“That is something we have done every match, and something that we will continue to do, because playing the way we play is tiring – it expends a lot of energy, and you are not going to do it with 15 players, you need your 20 at least on any given day.”

Now the focus will switch to Wicklow, and Garrity is expecting a tough test against a side they lost to in their opening group stage by four points.

However, he believes that if they can show improvement in certain areas, then they will give themselves every chance of coming away as champions.

“We would respect Wicklow as the strongest team along with ourselves in the grade, and it is a fitting final, to be honest.

“While we respect them, I don’t think we are going to fear them, we are going to go in trying to implement our system a little better than we did the first day against them.

“We limited them to four or five points from play the last time, and the aim would be to replicate a strong defensive performance like we managed, but also show them what we can do, going forward, like last week,” he concluded