Fermanagh manager Jonny Garrity believes that they can continue to progress and prosper at Intermediate level after securing their place in the higher grade for next season following victory over Wicklow in the All Ireland Junior Championship final in Parnell Park on Saturday.

Garrity has now completed two years in charge of the squad and having suffered defeat in the final last year they bounced back in style this time around to claim the silverware and their spot in the Intermediate Championship for 2021.

“It is the natural step for the group and there is some exciting players coming through at youth level and we are delighted they will be introduced at a higher standard.

“It is very difficult to get out of Junior football and we are just thrilled that we have done that,” he said.

And when asked what is next for this group, he stated that is in their own hands.

“That’s up for them. I thoroughly believe in the age profile, the ability and, of course, the youth players that are coming through, that there is no reason that this team cannot continue to progress in the fashion that they have done in recent years. “As I say, it is an exciting time and I certainly think that they are going to be well able to live with things up in Intermediate next year,” he added.

In the lead up to Saturday’s decider Garrity had felt that the key to success was for his side to implement their game plan and to do it with intensity and they did that at Parnell Park.

“We certainly achieved both of those things and I think they were central to victory today,” he said.

He was also delighted with how quickly Fermanagh got into their stride on Saturday with Roisin McDonald having the ball in the net from the first attack of the game.

“It was fantastic, we have a habit of getting good starts in recent weeks so to do it on the biggest day of all is very pleasing and it certainly put us on the right track and we were never behind after taking that early lead.

“There was a whole lot of hard work though in front of us at that stage and thankfully we managed to keep the intensity up.”

There was also no doubting Fermanagh’s character as they refused to wilt when Wicklow came on strong at the start of the second half.

“I was absolutely thrilled with that because a team with a weaker mentality would have perhaps folded at that stage but it just wasn’t an option for us today. The girls refused to accept that eventuality and they worked extremely hard,” he said.

And when the pressure was on they came up with the big score of the game in the shape of Eimear Smyth’s second half goal.

“It was a big score, especially given the circumstances. They had just equalised and although they were a player down they were coping well with that.

“We wanted to make hay and take advantage of the numerical advantage that we had and the goal was paramount in doing that.”

Despite late Wicklow pressure, Fermanagh were able to see out the game after this and given the performance Garrity says he could have taken defeat as they had played to their potential.

“I could have lived with it even if we hadn’t won today. We played to our capabilities and I always felt confident that if we did that we would win.

“Last year was disappointing because we just didn’t look like ourselves and on that particular day it didn’t happen for us so today it is very pleasing that we managed to do exactly what we wanted to do and like I suspected it was enough to get us over the line,” he stated.

So, what does the win mean to this group?

“It is incredible,” said Garrity. “You have a shared goal for a couple of years and you are working towards that, everything you do is trying to get you closer and closer to it so I’m delighted for that to happen.”