Winning an Ulster title with Enniskillen Gaels is the goal for Conor Love – and if not this year, then he states that the experiences that they will gain from playing the likes of reigning Ulster and All-Ireland champions Kilcoo will be invaluable in helping them achieve that goal further down the line.

After defeat in last year’s Championship final to Derrygonnelly, Love acknowledges that winning the Fermanagh title this year was the main goal, but having achieved that he says that the focus soon switched as they were keen to test themselves against the best in Ulster.

And he believes getting that win against Gowna is an important step for this group of players.

“Going into the year, we had never won a county title and that was the main goal, no matter what.

“But, if we were realistic, we knew that it would come for us at some stage or another, and now that we got that it just resets and it gets us into that mindset.

“My own goal – and a lot of the other lads’ goals – is to win an Ulster title some day with the club, so building towards that we knew that getting a first win in Ulster would be massive if we want to kick on in the future.

“Now, we know we are in unchartered territory at the minute, but if we get a win next week it just goes on again and speeds up the process.

“It [playing in Ulster] is just what we’ve all wanted to do; it has been in the back of our minds, the county title as I said was the forefront, but ever since that final whistle went against Belleek, we just switched straight to the next game and that is the best way forward,” he said.

A defeat to Kinawley in the group stages of the championship may have been looked on as a setback for the Gaels but since then they have been building momentum and Love feels that they have been getting better with each game.

“I was lucky enough to be part of the Ulster Club winning team at Minor, and also with the school, and you don’t realise these things are happening until it’s over, but you do realise when you are in the moment that things are snowballing.

“Momentum carries you and you are not thinking about it. These are massive goals and ambitions that you have at the start, but you don’t think too much about that – it is about getting the next game going.

“After the Kinawley game we had a good hard look at ourselves but we never let it get to us. We knew we were better than that and since then it has been getting better and better.”

And Love believes that the challenges that they faced in Fermanagh helped them when they took on Gowna in the Ulster quarter final in Brewster Park a fortnight ago.

“Fermanagh club football is in a great position, you only have to look at the run Derrygonnelly had last season, and games are so tough in the league and championship and that really helped us when we stepped into Ulster.

“Yes, it [Ulster] is a step up, intensity-wise and physicality-wise, but footballing-wise we felt at home and it was really enjoyable to play that game last week,” he said.

And having come through that game on a penalty shoot-out, it is the might of Kilcoo that lies ahead for Enniskillen this Saturday night in Armagh.

The Down side are red-hot favourites to progress to the Ulster final and Love knows that they are going to be a further step up.

“At the start of the year we weren’t looking towards this but now that we are here it is so exciting.

“We’ve watched Kilcoo this last few years and it is another level of stepping up but you couldn’t ask for anything better.

“Stepping into Ulster is one thing and then stepping up to meet the All-Ireland champions is another level again, and it will be a great experience.”

This could be looked upon as a daunting task for the Gaels, but Love says that they will go into it with no fear and instead will embrace the challenge.

“There is not one thing to fear.

“At the end of the day we are realistic, we saw what Kilcoo did last year, and if we lose we lose, but it is about improving constantly and getting these experiences in the bank.

“The experience we will get from playing Kilcoo will be invaluable for us as a team, moving forward. It is these games that will make us better for the future.

“But, don’t get me wrong – we want to win this game, no matter what, and that’s what we will be aiming to do.

“And to do that we have to have no fear, because going into the Kilcoo game with fear is what they feed upon.”