Fermanagh joint Manager Tony Collins says that his side are relishing the prospect of taking on Donegal after they saw off the challenge of Down at Brewster Park on Saturday.

Fermanagh lost to Donegal when the sides met in the opening round of the Ulster Minor League but Collins believes that they are much improved from that day.

“We were missing key men at that stage when we went there in the league, and it was the first time we had a competitive game together.

“We made silly mistakes and a lack of composure with goals cost us, but again even at that, in the second half we pushed hard.

“It was maybe a 10- or 12-point victory but it wasn’t really a fair reflection on it,” said Collins, who added: “Look, we know they are formidable; they beat Derry, Sligo and ourselves in the league, and only missed out on a final spot due to scoring difference.

“They are a strong team but we are looking forward to the challenge.”

And Collins is in no doubt that the players will take great confidence out of their win over the Mournemen, which was their first victory of the season.

“The win will definitely spur the boys on and give them a great confidence. We just failed to get over the line in some of the league games; there were a lot of patches of good play in the league, but it was good to finally get that win,” he added.

The Erne management also believe that there is plenty of room for improvement ahead of this weekend’s encounter.

“It was a good performance but it could be improved too. There are a lot of things to work on in regards to scores that were missed in the first half that left it tighter for us than it really should have been. Again though, they showed resilience and determination to finish the game out.”

Fermanagh got off to the perfect start to the contest when they had the ball in the net inside the opening minute, although they should have been further ahead than five points at the interval.

‘A brilliant start’

“It was a brilliant start with Tiarnan Wray’s goal and I suppose it settled any nerves that there may have been and they were able to build upon that.

“We should have been a lot more ahead at half time, but we couldn’t have asked for much more.

“Normally, our first half would be poor but it was much better on Saturday and it was encouraging to see it,” he commented.

Down rallied early in the second half but Fermanagh were able to weather the storm and pull away again.

“We knew they would come at us and we were worried that we would rue those missed chances, but there is a bit of steel in these boys.

“We weren’t overly concerned but then we had the opportunity from the penalty and Kealan [Fitzpatrick], but he then stepped up and kicked two frees under pressure with his left and he’s right-footed. We were able to put the foot down when it counted,” he said.

And Collins also felt that his bench made a positive impact when called upon, with Tiarnan McKenna in particular impressing.

“ Tiarnan McKenna came in and got the penalty and set up two other scores, and it was good to see Kai McGoldrick back after a lengthy spell out and they helped to settle things back down for us.

“There is some talent there, and it is just a matter of them all showing up on the day and performing.”

Now Collins wants a clinical performance from his side as they look to progress further.

“It will have to be clinical up front; we can’t afford those kind of misses against a team like Donegal. We will have to be incisive and make any opportunities count.

“We need to up our performance against a strong opponent,” he concluded.