Gutted Fermanagh team manager Kieran Donnelly was deeply disappointed to have victory snatched so cruelly from his young side by a Cork side who came good in injury time.

But he praised his side for all the positive things they did over the 77 minutes.

“It was very frustrating but there were quite a lot of very good things we did in this match.

“I felt we should have been four or five points up at half-time given the amount of possession we had.

“We were well on top, but the scoreboard did not reflect that.

“We had two good chances of goals in each half and had they gone in would have been massive scores and especially the second one so close to the end of the game when we were winning by 0-14 to 0-13.

“Shane had a great game for us and he brought massive energy to his game and Garvan Jones kicked some great scores for us.”

He added: “We were three points up with five minutes to go in normal time, but this Cork side play off-the-cuff and have huge physical size and if you switch off, they will get a goal.

“They have powerful runners and great physical presence and that really told in the final minutes and we struggled to live with that but I thought that for a large part of the game we managed possession really well as we made them chase shadows.

“It is never easy to lose by a point and you can over-analyse it but I said to the players at the end of the game that if they take this level of performance into the next few games we won’t be far away.

“We have Armagh next week and that is a huge match for us.”

When asked if keeper Sean McNally’s departure was a factor in the defeat Donnelly said: “ Sean was excellent and is very good at the shorts before the 45 as we did not want to be keeping it long into the middle.

“He brought that level of composure, but we are lucky to have Ross Bogue to come on as well.

“It is never easy to come in off the bench, but I thought he did well.”

When asked if he had any comment on referee Anthony Nolan’s free count to Cork in the final stages, he said: “I have no comment to make on the referee.”

But his tone spoke volumes of eloquence.

Donnelly took off Sean Cassidy who had scored well and the Erne manager explaining that having players to bring on is a "good option" for Fermanagh. 

“Sean Cassidy had a very good game and hit a few fine points in the first half but Diarmuid King came on and he is a good option.

“It is a squad game, and we want to use our bench.”

But the Ernesiders face an even tougher test next week when Armagh, who drew with Donegal, roll into Brewster Park next weekend.

Donnelly is well aware of the challenge the Orchard County will bring and they are also the Erne County’s opponents in the Ulster Championship in April.

“Yes, it’s a bit of a double fixture and us losing puts us under a bit of pressure.

“It is all about finding that balance.

“Armagh are on a massive high and they have a huge squad and again they are all big games and ones we are really going to have to focus on.

“But our level of performance in the opening games is something that we can take massive positives from.

“And we just have to carry it into next Saturday.”