Fermanagh’s Aidan Breen was frank in his assessment of the county’s departure from the Ulster Championship last Saturday.

The 10 point defeat to Monaghan looked likely from early on but what hurt the most for the Tempo club man was the performance of Fermanagh.

“Monaghan were a lot superior in every department,” said Breen, reflecting on last week’s quarter-final.

“I think the most disappointing thing from our point of view is that we brought no fight. And when you let good teams play they will destroy you and unfortunately, that’s what happened.

Opportunities

The ease at which Monaghan were able to move the ball from defence to attack put Fermanagh on the back foot and with forwards of the quality of Jack McCarron, Conor McManus, Micheal Bannigan and Aaron Mulligan on hand to finish the job.

While at the other end, Fermanagh had opportunities but Breen felt it was that bit harder to work a score. Something that shows the difference between the top teams and those below.

“When you come up against a higher opposition you have to be taking any chances you can get.

“They are not going to passing up any opportunities like that with some of the forwards that they have available there.”

Although not named in the starting 15, Breen was introduced in the first half for Kevin O’Donnell as a blood sub helping himself to two points.

He admitted it was tough not starting after some positive performances but that is the nature of football.

“Obviously it was disappointing not to be starting but there are 32 men on the panel and you can’t play everyone. If you weren’t disappointed about not getting on then you shouldn’t be there you know. Every man wants to play.”

‘Clawed it back’

The game had begun to get away from Fermanagh around the time of his introduction but Breen felt there were chances for his side that could have brought them back into contention.

“If we could have clawed it back to a three or four-point game I think with that penalty shout in the second half it would have been a two-score game and maybe it would have put a bit of doubt in their mind.

“We would have hit 1-03 on the bounce at that stage and had all the momentum. But the call didn’t go our way and on championship day you need every bit of luck going we just didn’t get it.”

It is the second consecutive year Fermanagh’s season has ended at the first hurdle in Ulster. Breen feels they need to sit down and take a look back at the season.

‘Anti-climax’

“It’s a bit of an anti-climax with all the build-up to perform so flat and for two years in a row not perform at all and go out with a whimper, it is very deflating but I suppose there are a lot of counties in the same boat.

“There’s no sugar coating it we have won two games and drew one game in the last two seasons. We have to sit down collectively when the dust settles and take a good long hard look at where we are going to go.

“At the minute it is a bit raw but there are positives to take from the year with the likes of some of the younger boys being brought in and there are a couple of others to come in,” added Breen.