Fermanagh Manager James Daly feels that it would be a big step in his young side’s progression if they could land the Ulster Junior Football Championship title when they take on Antrim on Saturday.

Daly believes that winning is a habit and claiming the silverware on Saturday would only benefit his charges.

“Getting some silverware under our belts would be massive for these girls because it is a young team and it would stand to them, going forward.

“I always say that winning is a habit, and the girls had been in a habit last year of losing. You want to break that mould and get in the habit of winning games and expecting to win games,” said the Erne boss.

However, he knows that his side face a huge task on Saturday against a Saffron outfit that handed Fermanagh a six-point defeat only a couple of weeks ago.

“You would have to say that they are favourites because they are coming off last year’s All Ireland final in which they were narrowly beaten, and I’m sure they will feel that they are the team to beat.

“They beat us by six points two weeks ago, but all we can do is prepare and look at a few things we maybe could have done differently, and maybe done a wee bit better, and that’s what we have been working on this past two weeks.

“We feel we have made some progress and hopefully it will work out for us on the day,” added Daly.

So, what did he feel were the issues in that last encounter?

“First and foremost, I think we were very nervous starting off.

“At times then we got too defensive, and when we shifted the ball up the forwards there weren’t enough options, so we had to tweak that a bit and we have been working on getting the ball into the right people’s hands and at times taking the shots.

“We have also been trying to be a bit tighter at the back,” he commented.

The loss to Antrim meant that Fermanagh had to take on Derry for a place in the final, and Daly believes that the extra game was important in rectifying any problems they had against Antrim.

“It helped – the things we did poor against Antrim the last day, we went to work on again against Derry, and as poor as Derry were we were good, and that’s all we can take out of the game – that we played well.

“It was definitely a well-worth exercise for us but the thing now for us is to go into this game and hit the ground running in the first couple of minutes, and target the people that hurt us the last day on their end of it, and get our forward play going a wee bit better on our end,” he said.

Fermanagh also have the advantage of having played that game against Derry in Healy Park – the venue for Saturday’s decider – and Daly feels that the wide pitch will work to his side’s strengths.

“The game under our belts in Healy Park should serve to us. We are familiar with the changing rooms and all those things, and it is also a wider pitch than what we played Antrim on the last day and that should suit us.

“When you have the likes of Eimear, Blathain and Laura up front, you want as much room and space for them to make their runs. There are lots of things that we hope we can take advantage of,” added the Fermanagh Manager.